Why we’re excited
Cozette Devereux fell for Jens Valmont when they were children, and the two have not spoken in sixteen years. Both come to a family gathering at Hollowmere Manor intent on payback, and then a guest turns up dead, a snowstorm cuts the house off, and a detective has to work out who among them is killing.
H.M. Wolfe is known for Daggermouth, and this is a standalone that swaps fantasy for a country-house murder with a dark romance at its centre. It suits readers who want a locked-house whodunit and a bitter second-chance love story in one book, and who are fine with obsessive leads.
On our most-anticipated list since 22 October 2026. See all the most anticipated books →
What to know about Twelve: A Dark Gothic Mystery Romance
We haven’t reviewed H.M. Wolfe before, so this would be our first look at their work.
At 388 pages it is about the usual length for a romance release this month.
From the publisher
A riveting gothic romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Daggermouth, Twelve is perfect for readers who crave the toxic, obsessive romance of Wuthering Heights, the locked in mystery of Clue, and the corrupt family empire of Fall of the House of Usher.
Welcome to Hollowmere Manor.
Blood will be shed. Secrets will be uncovered. And after sixteen years apart, jealousy, obsession and lust might kill them before the culprit can.
Cozette Devereux and Jens Valmont were once childhood sweethearts. Now, after sixteen years of silence, they are forced back together under the roof of Hollowmere Manor to gather with family, friends and business associates. Both are determined to make the other pay for the heartbreak they inflicted, neither know the full story.
But as their twisted games begin, a body is discovered. Detective Leroy Finch arrives at the manor to investigate just as a blizzard seals Hollowmere from the outside world. Guests become suspects, the dead begin to multiply, and as they race to uncover the killer, the manor’s surviving guests turn on one another.
Betrayals are uncovered, secrets fester in the shadows and beneath the family fortune lies a crime so monstrous someone has waited decades to avenge it. As they hunt for the killer through locked rooms, hidden passages and candlelit corridors Cozette must decide what frightens her the monster hiding inside Hollowmere, or the man who still knows exactly how to destroy her.
Description supplied by the publisher.
We haven’t read Twelve: A Dark Gothic Mystery Romance yet. When our review goes up, it will replace this page.
