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The Devil and Mrs. Davenport: A Novel

Paulette Kennedy

Lauren Ezzo

Brilliance Audio

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Amazon

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The bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain and Parting the Veil mines the subtle horrors of 1950s America in a gripping novel about a woman under pressure—from the living and the dead.

The first day of autumn brought the fever, and with the fever came the voices.

Missouri, 1955. Loretta Davenport has led an isolated life as a young mother and a wife to Pete, an ambitious assistant professor at a Bible college. They’re the picture of domestic tranquility—until a local girl is murdered and Loretta begins receiving messages from beyond. Pete dismisses them as delusions of a fevered female imagination. Loretta knows they’re real—and frightening.

Defying Pete’s demands, Loretta finds an encouraging supporter in parapsychologist Dr. Curtis Hansen. He sees a woman with a rare gift, more blessing than curse. With Dr. Hansen’s help, Loretta’s life opens up to an empowering new purpose. But for Pete, the God-fearing image he’s worked so hard to cultivate is under threat. No longer in control of his dutiful wife, he sees the Devil at work.

As Loretta’s powers grow stronger and the pleading spirits beckon, Pete is determined to deliver his wife from evil. To solve the mysteries of the dead, Loretta must first save herself.

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Posts about this title from ash.reads.horror

ash.reads.horror\ \ ash\ \ • Jul 3

It's time to wrap up what I read in June. I read a total of 15 books this month! \ \ Also, stay tuned for some Bindery updates!\ \ What Hunger by Catherine Dang--A coming of rage cannibalisim story dealing with loss and tragedy. 4 stars\ \ Going To The Six by A.C. Hessenauer--A found footage, documentary style horror novel about the discovery of a sunken ship in Lake Superior. 4 stars\ \ The Vessel by Adam L.G. Nevill--A woman takes the job of caregiver to an CREEPY elderly lady. 5 stars\ \ Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson--Steeped in Irish folklore, this book follows a child's tv show keeping a sinister goat puppet in a box. 3.5 stars\ \ Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward--Nowhere is a place where runaways and lost kids can go for safety. The ranch is also the place of a murdered movie star. 3.5 stars\ \ Corpse De Ballet by Megan Kearney-- A graphic novel reminiscent of Suspiria following a cut-throat ballet school. 4 stars\ \ Ghost Beach by R.L. Stine--Two kids are visiting family on a possible haunted island. 4 stars\ \ The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy-- A 1950's housewife starts getting visions from ghosts--one being a girl who was recently murdered. 5 stars\ \ Decomposition Book by Sara Van Oh--A woman staying in a cabin finds a dead body and its journal. 4 stars\ \ Muñeca by Cynthia Gomez-- A witch takes the job as a caregiver to a woman trapped in her own body. 3.5\ \ Her Last Breath by Taylor Adams--A twisty thriller of a woman fighting for her life in a cave system. 5 stars\ \ The Anomaly by Michael Rutger-- A crew of explorers travel to the Grand Canyon to see if they can find a legendary cave. 5 stars\ \ Twisted Tales To Tell In The Night: Another Halloween Anthology-- A fun, nostalgic Halloween collection of short, spooky stories. 4 stars\ \ The Tumor In The Clay by Nick Francis--A Graphic Novel about an elderly man who is a retired surgeon. He elects to try and take his tumor out at home in his bathtub. 5 stars\ \ Odessa by Gabrielle Sher-- When his daughter is murdered, a Jewish man will stop at nothing to bring her back. Even if she comes back changed. 4 stars.

June-Wrapped

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ash.reads.horror\ \ ash\ \ • Jun 7

\ \ Hello everyone and welcome back to what I'm reading this week! So sorry for the radio silence last week, but let me tell you...last week was the week from HELL at work. I came home every day EXHAUSTED and uninspired. I worked nearly 45 hours last week. Short staffed due to vacations. GOOD TIMES...\ \ Anyway, I'm back at it this week. I have an interview with Adam Nevill in the works so stay tuned for that, along with some more book recs.\ \ I also wanted to relaunch my book club here and was interested if anyone would be interested in joining? If so drop a comment down below!\ \ Now on to what I'm reading this week!\ \ \ \ Decomposition Book by Sara Van Os\ \ A woman discovers a corpse in the woods and subsequently forms an unusual connection with the deceased through their journal.\ \ \ \ Corpse de Ballet by Megan Kearney\ \ A graphic novel perfect for fans of Black Swan and Suspira. A girl arrives mid year to a dancing boarding school only to find that one student went missing before she arrived. \ \ \ \ The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kenndey\ \ I'm buddy reading this one with my friend @Death By TBR Books\ \ A domestic housewife in the 1950s starts hearing voices from the other side from a local girl who was murdered. \ \ \ \ Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson\ \ Seeped in Irish folklore, this novel follows a family two decades apart, all centering around a child's tv show with a sinister underlying plot.\ \ What are you reading this week?](https://ashreadshorror.binderybooks.com/item/rIgn2RlD1S786QUuBhgu/)

What I'm Reading This Week

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Posts about this book from across Bindery

ash.reads.horror\ \ ash\ \ • Jul 3

June-Wrapped

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ash.reads.horror\ \ ash\ \ • Jun 7

What I'm Reading This Week

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Kurryreads\ \ Kerry\ \ • Aug 29 2025

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[Killer Reader Weekend \ \ May 8-10 at Riverhouse Lodge in Bend, Oregon\ \ Further Details, Pricing, & Interest Form can be found on my website here: https://kurryreads.com/pages/killer-reader-weekend\\ \ Tickets are going FAST - limited on-site accommodation tickets left\ \ In conversation with many great authors, but here are the AMAZING authors who have confirmed attendance so far!!!\ \ \ \ We are also SO lucky that many book content creators have signed on to attend as well ◡̈ \ \

Killer Reader Weekend: Update

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Aug 16 2025

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[Hello My Friends,\ \ I've been working on so many thing but Return to Office has been kicking my butt, so I'm a bit behind on sharing!\ \ I'm so excited to be able to share our first WOMEN IN HORROR BOOK BINGO CARD!\ \ If you've been around for awhile, you are familiar with my Indigenous Book Bingo Cards (we currently have 3!) These are available in my Instagram Stories and in our Community Discord! (Join now if you haven't already!)\ \ I had so much difficulty limiting this to 25 books, so if you fear your favorite female author is missing, don't! There will definitely be more rounds of this game!\ \ I was STUNNED to see that with a total of 191 works being nominated for the Stoker Award best novel that only 26 WOMEN have been nominated since inception! (33 total as some were nominated more than once). That number is egregious. When Tananarive Due won in 2023 for The Reformatory, the last woman who won in the category was Caitlin R Kierman (who is problematic and not recommended) in .....2012!!! There have been times when every nominee in the category were men. There has NEVER been a time when every nominee was a woman.\ \ Women write incredible horror every year. Let's work together to help people read more women. I'll come up with some prize options and will post them in the Discord! There will be one more card coming this year, likely in December!\ \ Our Community Discord also hosts our Women in Horror book club. This month we are reading The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia and next month we are reading The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Canes (and I've partnered with Berkeley to do a giveaway, so stay tuned!) I've also been working on some upcoming chats! If you're an author who would like to participate in chats, please reach out directly.\ \ If you appreciate the work that I'm doing there are three ways to support!\ \

1. Go Shopping From This Post. I receive a small percentage from any purchase you make on Bookshop or Amazon from this post, including books not listed.\ \
2. Upgrade your membership to the $5 or $12 tier. This community is striving to make change in the publishing industry. We are dedicated to publishing YA and Adult fiction by Indigenous authors and horror books written by women. Voices that need amplifying! We are currently guaranteed publishing one book per year. My goal is to be able to publish 4. My current goal is to reach 10,000 total subscribers. If you cannot afford a paid tier right now, please refer your friends join as free or paid members! And if you're reading this and not subscribed, please do so now!\ \
3. All paid subscribers get behind the scenes access to the publishing industry and as we only recently selected a book, this is amping up now! Paid subscribers also get early copies of the books. Additionally, $12 and $25 subscribers get their name on the collaborator page!\ \ \ Thank you so much for being a member of this community!\ \

She's Heeeere! Women in Horror Book Bingo

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Madisoncanread\ \ Madison\ \ • Jun 27 2025

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ICYMI - Horror Books I Will Never Stop Recommending

All Books Linked

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Madisoncanread\ \ Madison\ \ • Jun 27 2025

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Welcome Earthling Annie! Thank you for joining! \ \ \ \ Happy Cancer Season! Cancers are known for how nurturing and emotional they are but they're also fiercely protective and will always have your best interest at heart. Book recommendations that scream Cancer energy. \ \ These have characters that are protective in their own ways.. lol \ \ They Never Learn - The MC is taking out men at the college she works at for doing awful things and will never see justice. SHE'S the justice\ \ The Echo Wife - Try not to read the book description for this one, going in not knowing a thing is the best way! (Obviously check TW if needed) \ \ Dearest - Motherhood is hard but harder when your estranged mother comes to help, or is it? \ \ The Devil and Mrs Davenport - Woman gets the flu, starts seeing visions about what happened to the missing women in her area. There is nothing like this book. \ \ The Dark Becomes Her - I am the youngest of 3 sisters, I know my sisters would be Ruby Chen to help me from being possessed. This book is seriously underrated. If you like a possession story, this is one of the best ones out there. \ \ My Heart Is a Chainsaw - Jade is a Cancer and no one will be able to convince me otherwise. This story is not only a horrifying slasher, it's also deeply emotional. I love Jade, she is one of the greatest MCs in horror.\ \ Monstrilio - Mother cuts out a piece of her sons lung and nurtures it turning into a creature who she raises as her son. This one feels so obvious for me.\ \ The Secrets of Us - Another sister who will go to the ends to protect her sister. Is it obvious my sister is a Cancer? One of my favorites from Lucinda Berry! \ \ Upgrade for $5 or login

CANCER SEASON BOOK RECS

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Madisoncanread\ \ Madison\ \ • May 22 2025

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Books written by women ♥️

Books written by women ♥️ #madisoncanread #horrorbooks #thrillerbooks #horrorbywomen #darkbooks #booksbywomen

20 books

Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • May 19 2025

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Women in Horror. Do our tastes align?

Women in Horror edition! Drop your score below! Did you know that my publishing imprint on Bindery has expanded? We are publishing books by Indigenous authors AND horror books written by women?! And you can help us, by showing up to support (even as a free follower!) I have almost 6,000 followers here and it would be everything if all of you would go and follow me right now! #womneinhorror #horrorbooks #bookrecs

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Jun 10 2024

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[Here is everything I read, watched and listened to last week.\ \ 1. Exhibit: A Novel by R.O Kwon\ \ This is a short novel (around 200 pages) about an Asian woman who works as a photographer. She tells her husband she wants to be hit during sexy time and he does not understand. She finds excitement with an injured ballerina.\ \ Literary fiction. Lush poetic prose. Heavy on character, light on plot. I enjoyed both of the female characters passion for their art and for each other. Highly recommend.\ \ 2. The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy\ \ This is a 1950s gothic thriller about a psychic housewife, an abusive husband, a murdered girl and a paranoraml psychologist.\ \ I read this one for my Women in Horror book club on Fable. I loved this book! Very atmospheric. I would highly recommend for fans of Shirley Jackson and Simone St James. Very quited, understated gothic horror. I appreciated the author's note discussing the books that she read for research. That is always a huge plus for me. Would love to see a sequel about her daughter and her inherited powers and the salons she held in the 70s.\ \ Wachting\ \ 1.** Interview With The Vampire- Episodes 4-5. (amc plus)**\ \ I don't think there is a better show on TV right now. Acting, set design, writing. I am warming up to Armand, though Lestat dominates when he is on screen. I'm curious on what the show is going to bring as Armand seems to be the scary one and the detective warns us that Louis is worse. I didn't read the books so I am not sure how closely the show is following the books.\ \

1. First Omen (available on Hulu)\ \ This was probably the best horror movie I have watched this year so far. I have not watched the original series so I am going to start that this week. Good writing, great images, great score. Not a lot of jump scares, which I appreciate.\ \ Listening\ \
2. **Noah Kahan **\ \ 6 months into the year, Noah Kahan and Hozier still dominate my playlists. I am thinking that I need to branch out and listen to a new artist/album every week because I easily fall into the habit of just repeating the same album (last year it was Florence and the Machine) I think this week I will start with Chappel Roan. Feel free to suggest some music below. Much like my reading style, I really do like it all.\ \ This Week's TBR\ **1. Braiding Sweet Grass, Robin Wall Kimmerer (**Indigenous Non-Fiction)\ **2. The Davenports, Krystal Marquis **(Ya Historial Romance)\ **3. The Ruins, Scott Smith **(survival horror)\ \ What are you reading?\ \ ​](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/74hYNf1RkEGQ8kmliKni/)

Weekly Reading, Watching, Listening Update

An Update On Content Consumed Last Week

5 books

3

Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Jun 1 2024

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Hello Everyone,\ \ Books for June have been selected in both of my Fable Bookclubs.\ \ Good Day To Read Indigenous is going to be reading The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters:\ \ From Amazon: A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a family, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years\ \ July 1962. Following in the tradition of Indigenous workers from Nova Scotia, a Mi’kmaq family arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come.\ \ In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective.\ \ Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.\ \ For fans of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.\ _**Women In Horror **_is going to be reading The Devil and Mrs. Davenport\ \ From Amazon:\ \ The first day of autumn brought the fever, and with the fever came the voices.\ \ Missouri, 1955. Loretta Davenport has led an isolated life as a young mother and a wife to Pete, an ambitious assistant professor at a Bible college. They’re the picture of domestic tranquility—until a local girl is murdered and Loretta begins receiving messages from beyond. Pete dismisses them as delusions of a fevered female imagination. Loretta knows they’re real—and frightening.\ \ Defying Pete’s demands, Loretta finds an encouraging supporter in parapsychologist Dr. Curtis Hansen. He sees a woman with a rare gift, more blessing than curse. With Dr. Hansen’s help, Loretta’s life opens up to an empowering new purpose. But for Pete, the God-fearing image he’s worked so hard to cultivate is under threat. No longer in control of his dutiful wife, he sees the Devil at work.\ \ As Loretta’s powers grow stronger and the pleading spirits beckon, Pete is determined to deliver his wife from evil. To solve the mysteries of the dead, Loretta must first save herself.\ \ If you haven't joined the bookclub yet there is still time. The Devil and Mrs Davenport is available on KU and the author has offered to meet with us on Zoom at the end of the month!\ \ ​\ \ ​

June Book Club Selections

Selections For Indigenous Book Club and Women in Horror Book Club

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