What Remains of Teague House

What Remains of Teague House by Stacy Johns
4/8/25; 432 pages
Poisoned Pen Press

What Remains of Teague House by Stacy Johns is a recommended mystery and dysfunctional family drama.

When the Rawlins family matriarch Val unexpectedly passes, all three adult children, Jon, Sandra, and Rob, rush home. Val’s younger sister, Phil, has been caring for her sister for years and also lives at the house. When Sandra and Jon find a finger sticking out of the freshly disturbed ground at what was a pet cemetery on their land, the police are called. They discover five bodies. The most recent one was Gayle Bethested, a local teacher and mother. The other bodies appear to be older. Are the bodies connected to their father’s suicide years earlier or is something else going on?

The narrative introduces all the siblings and their complicated relationships in short chapters. Jon recently lost his wife and Sandra has been helping him care for his son. Robby's marriage is on shaky ground due to his serial philandering, including an affair with Gayle. The relationship between Val and Phyllis is also developed starting when they were teens in 1972 and follows them into Val's marriage. Added into the mix is private detective Maddie Reed, who believes her missing foster sister may be one of the victims.

They are all grieving the death of their mother but it becomes clear that she really was lost to them long before, even before their fathers death. Adding to the menacing tone of the narrative are the bodies found on the land, questions about who could be responsible, and murky memories from their childhood. There are plenty of dark secrets in the house, including secret hiding spots. And they all have their own secrets they are keeping hidden while trying to untangle who could be responsible for the bodies buried on their land. And why is Aunt Phil so anxious to leave on her cruise soon after the funeral?

The plot is very slow moving and flipping between the multiple points-of-view doesn't work well as the complications increase. At some point, I began to lose patience with the slow reveal of more and more intricate clues, switching between points-of-view, and little to tie everything together, especially when one early clue made it clear who they should be looking for. By the time the final denouement arrived, I just felt relieved a conclusion was reached. Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.