Recently Read: The Cloisters by Katy Hays

In this edition of Recently Read I’m back with another library-discard-bin find in Katy Hays’ The Cloisters. I would describe this as a sort of dark academia thriller with an oppressive, gothic atmosphere, a mysterious murder or two, and a slippery supernatural undercurrent. Our up-and-coming historian protagonist finds herself drawn into a historical and possibly demonic mystery after beginning work at a museum housed on the grounds of a replica medieval cloister in New York. There, she’s drawn into a messy spider web of relationships between the brilliant museum director, his stunning and consciously wealthy protégée, and an anarchist gardener who tends the museum’s collection of rare and poisonous plants. As a museum-lover with a history degree myself I really loved the atmosphere of this book and the (many) descriptions of the museums, libraries, and galleries where much of the plot takes place. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I found the ending particularly satisfying, but it wasn’t enough of a disappointment to ruin the rest of the novel for me (although it might serve as a reminder of why I don’t typically read thrillers).

For fans of: mysticism, medieval history, mysteries, and other words beginning with m