Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive straight into my latest review.
Here we are at the start of July. A brand-new month, we’re over halfway through the year, and it’s been very hot lately. Too hot for me. My sleep has been suffering, and I’ve found myself quite irritable. All the more reason to find somewhere shady and cool to enjoy a good book. However, I’ll be the first to admit that my reading has slowed down a little.
But even when I slow down, I can’t come completely to a halt, and I continue my mission of reading Goodreads Horror Afficionados recommendations. This time it’s the turn of Philip Fracassi’s The Autumn Springs Retirement Massacre.
Fracassi’s latest offering focuses on Rose DuBois, a resident of the titular retirement home. She’s in her seventies and lives a peaceful life among the other residents. There are always events happening, such as chess club and movie night. One of the other residents – known by his surname, Miller – has taken a shine to her, but Rose continues to resist his advances.
Things take a turn when one of the other residents is found dead in their room. The majority of people don’t blink an eye. This is a retirement home, after all. The people who live there are old and are bound to die at some point. Besides, this death looks like an accident. Rose is the only person who thinks something suspicious is going on, but nobody listens to her.
Rose’s opinion is strengthened when the body count rises over the coming days and weeks. The other residents begin to agree with her, especially Miller – although it’s possible that he has an ulterior motive for siding with her. Most of the authorities still don’t believe her. They don’t consider old people dying in a retirement home newsworthy of investigation. It is up to Rose to prove that something is rotten in Autumn Springs Retirement Home.
First of all, this novel was a Goodreads Horror Afficionados recommendation, but personally I didn’t think it had the feel of a horror novel. To me, it felt more like a murder mystery. I’d compare this book to Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, except Rose DuBois mostly works alone, unlike the gang of four in Osman’s series. It’s in the descriptions of the murders where this novel tiptoes into the horror/slasher category. This is a good book, but not what I was expecting for a novel whose title is a play on the Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
My Goodreads Rating: ★★★★☆(4 stars)
