The Witch's Orchard

By Archer Sullivan

Book Overview

An Instant USA Today Bestseller

A ninth-generation Appalachian, Archer Sullivan brings the mountains of North Carolina to life in The Witch's Orchard, a wonderfully atmospheric novel that introduces private investigator Annie Gore.

Former Air Force special investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught homelife of her childhood. Now, she's getting by as a private investigator, and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up.

Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of one of the girls wants to hire an outsider, and he wants Annie. While she may not be from his town, she gets mountain towns. Mountain people. Driving back into the hills for a case this old--it might be a fool's errand. But Annie needs to put money in the bank and she can't turn down a case. Not even one that dredges up her own painful past.

In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, Annie begins to track down the truth, navigating a decade's worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget. But while the case may have been forgotten, echoes of the past linger. And Annie's arrival stirs someone into action.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250338689
• ISBN13: 9781250338686
• Release Date: August 2025
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Annie Gore is a great PI!

Okay, Annie Gore really knows how to get to the bottom of mysteries and solve cold cases! And I would definitely love to read more books with her expertise, especially if they are as well written as the Witch's Orchard. This was a fascinating case with the missing girls and how it could have been a simple kidnapping but it had the eerie touch of the apple head dolls left in their place and how it happened in a small town up in the Appalachian mountains full of people mistrustful of outsiders and holding many secrets themselves. I also loved the many variations of the Witch of Quartz Creek tale that Annie collected and how it changed depending on how people saw it, as witch that was helpful, or heartbroken, or vengeful. And the addition of the crows nicely upped the creepiness. It may have taken 10 years for Max to raise the money and find a good PI but when he does, Annie sure does get results! Lots of twistiness, lies, secrets, and a right bang of a climax and race to save the innocent which made for a wonderfully written debut! The narrator, Emily Pike Stewart, did a wonderful job in bringing Annie and that town to life. It was super easy to imagine the screaming crows and the race to find Max's sister and the other missing girl. I really hope that Annie will be up to solving more cases in the future because she is absolutely amazing! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to listen to this wonderful audiobook!