The Gallagher Place

Julie Doar
The-Gallagher-Place Zibby Media

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Coming December 2, 2025

A layered exploration of family secrets, sibling misconceptions, and an unsolved murder in this chilling debut set in New York’s Dutchess County.

When Marlowe Fisher, an illustrator living in New York City, returns to her family’s bewitching Hudson Valley home for the holidays, she discovers a body in the woods—a murder that draws her back into the haunting case of her teenage best friend’s disappearance two decades earlier. What happened to Nora?

As police descend on the sprawling Fisher property, Marlowe is pulled into an investigation that threatens to unravel the town’s fragile loyalties and expose the shadowed legacy of a weekend home steeped in secrets. Marlowe must confront the fallibility of her own memory and the feeling that everyone—including her brothers—is hiding something if she’s to uncover the shocking truth about her lost friend. In this gripping debut, Julie Doar delivers a chilling mystery that explores the corrosive power of silence and the tension of family secrets.

 

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Coming December 2, 2025

A layered exploration of family secrets, sibling misconceptions, and an unsolved murder in this chilling debut set in New York’s Dutchess County.

When Marlowe Fisher, an illustrator living in New York City, returns to her family’s bewitching Hudson Valley home for the holidays, she discovers a body in the woods—a murder that draws her back into the haunting case of her teenage best friend’s disappearance two decades earlier. What happened to Nora?

As police descend on the sprawling Fisher property, Marlowe is pulled into an investigation that threatens to unravel the town’s fragile loyalties and expose the shadowed legacy of a weekend home steeped in secrets. Marlowe must confront the fallibility of her own memory and the feeling that everyone—including her brothers—is hiding something if she’s to uncover the shocking truth about her lost friend. In this gripping debut, Julie Doar delivers a chilling mystery that explores the corrosive power of silence and the tension of family secrets.

 

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Meet the Author

Julie Doar

Julie Doar grew up in New York. As a child, she was mostly bookish but sometimes a bit sporty (mostly because her dad wanted her to be). She has three brothers who have always made her life interesting. She attended Rice University for undergrad and has always loved academics. Additionally, she realized how much she enjoyed living in different cities, so she spent her twenties moving from Texas to San Francisco to Chicago, and then eventually back to Brooklyn. She's worked as a cold-calling Sales Rep, a Starbucks barista, and a romance novel ghostwriter. Currently, she is a middle school English teacher.

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What people are saying...

“Gothic and twisty! Don’t miss it.”

Lisa Unger

author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six

“A spellbinding mystery of buried secrets and family ties, set in Rip Van Winkle’s Hudson River Valley. In page after chilling page, the haunting revelations pile up in this shocking debut that resonates with the emotional weight of loss—and the even darker truths that can lie beneath it. Julie Doar is a promising new voice in suspense fiction.”

Lloyd Devereux Richards

author of Stone Maidens

"A beautifully written, slow-burn mystery about a woman haunted by the disappearance of her childhood best friend. Everyone is holding a secret, and the ending is a true shocker!"

Sarah Pekkanen

author of House of Glass

“Haunting and atmospheric, The Gallagher Place is a pulse-quickening ride through a beautiful but threatening landscape that will keep you turning pages late into the night. I loved it!”

Katie Sise

author of The Vacation Rental

“This modern-day Hudson Valley Gothic, complete with fog-covered fields, class conflicts, and ancient folklore, will keep you guessing until the final pages. Your heart will ache—and pound—when you discover the real wolf in sheep's clothing. A perfect rainy-day read!”

Sarah Sawyer

author of The Undercurrent