The Custodians
Horror Folk Horror Gothic Thriller Mystery Conspiracy Fiction
Monsters Do Exist and They are One Vacation Away …
By Jacalyn S. Burke · 5-Star Reviews · A Series, Book 1 · Represented by The Rudy Agency
A British couple drives into a remote French village for a vacation to save their marriage. Within days, they’ll be fighting to save their lives.
Catherine and Tom Grayston are already struggling — she feels alienated from her husband, and he’s been carrying a dark secret he can’t name out loud. Rousinac seems like exactly the kind of nowhere place that might fix things.
When the Graystons fail to return to England, Tom’s friend and forensics specialist, David Frankel, sets off to France to find out what happened. He brings a well-known criminal profiler, James Harrison, who can spot telltale patterns in criminal activity with savant-like brilliance.
Their methods clash from the start: David’s forensic logic versus James’s savant-like intuition. But as Rousinac reveals itself, a tight-lipped community, a supernatural presence that dogs their every move, and a conspiracy emerging from tunnels that date back to WW2, their fractured partnership becomes their only asset.
With twisting timelines and a town hell-bent on cover-up, how far down the rabbit hole will they go before they lose their sanity or worse?
Reviews
“From the first page of this riveting novel, I was hooked. There are stories within stories that are all expertly connected, equally compelling, and utterly suspenseful. I do not live out in the middle of the woods, but my home is surrounded by trees and I may or may not have locked my bedroom door when I was reading it…
To describe the various stories would provide spoilers — but suffice it to say, reading this book is time well spent. Haunting and haunted, with an ending that made me gasp out loud. If you are into mysteries, suspense novels, historical fiction, with a dose of what leaves you wondering whether it’s fantasy or real — this is the book for you!”
“Have you ever responded out loud to a book you’re reading? I did! “No! Don’t go in there!” I usually reserve this sort of thing for movies I’m watching, never before a book! What the heck is going on in this quaint little French town? I found myself flipping pages back and forth trying to figure out the mystery before Jacalyn reveals it. I couldn’t. Her clever ability to connect the present to the past was so intriguing, scary, unnerving and completely entertaining. Go on, read it…I dare you!”
“It’s one of those books where you rush to finish the last page of a chapter so you can immediately begin the next. Because out of the periphery, you see it coming and just don’t want to put the book down. Nothing like an idyllic French countryside vacation to calm the nerves and soothe the soul – peaceful, rustic, castles, fields of sunflowers – perfect, right? Wrong. Something is amiss. Find out all about it by journeying through Ms. Burke’s fabulously written book.”
Themes and questions the novel explores
- Small town, dark secret (Stephen King style). How isolated communities protect a dark secret for generations.
- Military History: how WW2 secrets survive in the present through architecture, silence, and complicity.
- The supernatural as an extension of institutional evil.
- The odd-couple investigator: logic versus intuition, and what happens when both are necessary
- Bloodline, inheritance, and the violence of purity myths,
- Twisting timelines: the past and present are not as separate as the town wants you to believe.
Frequently asked questions
What genre is The Custodians?
Thriller/Horror, specifically folk horror with elements of supernatural thriller, WW2 conspiracy fiction, and psychological mystery. A missing-persons investigation in a French castle town spirals into something with roots in the Second World War and a present-day supernatural dimension neither investigator can fully explain. Readers drawn to Tana French, The Wicker Man, or WWII-era conspiracy thrillers will find familiar territory.
Who are the main characters?
The novel follows two parallel threads. The first tracks Catherine and Tom Grayston, a British couple on holiday whose marriage is already under strain when they arrive in Rousinac and disappear within days. The second follows David Frankel, Tom’s forensics-specialist colleague, and James Harrison, an erratic but brilliant criminal profiler, as they investigate the disappearance against the active resistance of the town’s ruling families.
Is this part of a series?
Yes, The Custodians is Book 1 of a 3-book series.
Where is the book set?
Rousinac, a fictional castle town in south-west France, is based on Jonzac, where the author lives. Some of the novel’s storyline is based on true events.
Topics and search terms this book speaks to:
Folk horror novel series Horror set in France WW2 conspiracy horror Supernatural thriller fiction British couple missing France Gothic horror novel Castle town mystery Secret society horror Isolated community dark secret Bloodline conspiracy horror Odd-couple detective series Criminal profiler fiction Forensic investigator thriller Rural France horror Twisting timeline thriller Disappearance investigation novel
This property is represented by The Rudy Agency.