The Story Keeper ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Story Keeper by Kelly Rimmer


Published as The Midnight Estate
in Australia, New Zealand, & UK

NetGalley

In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow finds solace in the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, the rambling family estate she once called home. Intent on restoring it, she discovers the keys to more than just the dilapidated mansion—beneath the crumbling plaster and dust are secrets that have been buried for a generation.

When a curious book, The Midnight Estate, catches her attention in her late uncle’s library, Fiona is plunged into a tale that mirrors her own—a story of love, loss and betrayal. But as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Fiona must ask herself: Is the true mystery the one hidden within the walls of her ancestral home, or is it within the pages of a book that chose her as much as she chose it?

Told in a dual narrative and set against the Gothic backdrop of Wurimbirra, Kelly Rimmer, bestselling author of The Things We Cannot Say, weaves an intricate and compelling tale, inviting readers into the heart of a family’s deepest secrets with an absorbing book-within-a-book mystery.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Books About Books, Australia

The How/Why: Listed in NetGalley, requested and approved. 

Day 1: Book-Within-a-Book is a fascinating spin on dual timeline. I'm enjoying both stories. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

🎉 Overall Enjoyment? 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

🎣 Did it grab and keep my attention? 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣

🗣️Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes ➕

🕮 Would I want a sequel? Maybe 🤷 Not really necessary but I would definitely hop on it. 

📚 Would I want to read more books by this author? Yes ➕

💣💥 📢 Content Warnings? D0mɇstic AbŲsɇ

🌶 Spice? No

🌪 Plot Twist? Yes

👟 Pace? Very good

💻 Tidbits ~ FaB-U-louS! I absolutely LOVED this story within a story.  

Story 1 - Fiona, recently single due to her husband and best friend, who also happen to be her business partners, have fallen in love and separated her from her marriage and bought her out of their architectural business.
Her beloved Uncle Tad has died and left his Wurimbirra Estate to his son Jon who loathes the house. Fiona grew up in the house and has the greatest of childhood memories living at the estate, rumored to be haunted. Uncle Tad was an eccentric author and loved telling stories to Fiona when she was a child so she's sure the haunted status is just an exaggeration of Uncle T's fabricated tales. 

After it sits abandoned for a while Jon sells it to his cousin Fiona who is more like a sister and best friend to him. She's going to need to find a place to live anyhow. She is going to renovate it back to it's former glory. Fiona's mother is livid because Uncle T had a provision in his will that the house was not to be sold or renovated. But it's still in the family so that's okay, right?
Wee tad of a side story - her teen crush and neighbor has also just moved back and is VERY willing to help out... No it doesn't flip to a romance novel, just a little wiggle of the eyebrows.

Story 2 - A dusty box was sitting on the kitchen table. Fiona opened it and found books Uncle Tad had ordered before he died titled The Midnight Estate. Fast forward: it's about a kind man who helps rescue a young married woman from her D0mɇstic AbŲsɇ situation. It's an elaborate rescue, not without consequences.

A Book Within a Book - Fiona starts reading us the book. She realizes that a lot of the story is mirroring her own family's story. Could these secrets somehow tie into her family history as well?

As she would end her day and pick up the book, I found myself thinking "oh good, back to The Midnight Estate" wanting to know what happened next right along with her. Then in the morning I was wondering what her Momma had up her disapproving sleeve today. I thought the Book-Within-a-Book was a fascinating spin on dual timeline. I enjoyed both stories and I didn't want it to end. 

This one quickly moved to the top of my five star favs this year. 

Note: US and Canada is schedule for release July 21, 2026 under the title of The Story Keeper. First published in July 2025 in Australia, New Zealand, UK under the name The Midnight Estate. 

🎧 Narrator: Siho Ellsmore - Excellent

🎧11:15 hours 🕮 336 pages

Not yet published. Expected 7-21-2026

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Audio, and Harper Collins for the free ALC in exchange for my honest review.

 

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12 and counting

Extra Tidbit - This is listed as Historical Fiction, however the historical part is mostly the gothic setting of Wurimbirra Estate more so than historical events. 

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