A Box Full of Darkness: Family Secrets and a Past That Won’t Stay Buried

Jan 7, 2026 - Laurie P.
Review

Simone St. James is back with a delightfully ominous and atmospheric story, with a healthy dose of family secrets. In A Box Full of Darkness, readers follow along with three adult siblings when they’re called back to the house they grew up in – a home with memories of neglect and fear – to try to figure out what happened to their six-year-old brother, who disappeared during an innocent game of hide-and-go-seek decades before.

In typical St. James’ style, this Canadian author pulls readers into a sinister small-town story with supernatural vibes and a malevolent presence that will leave readers looking over their shoulders as they turn the pages. It’s not all dark an ominous though; the banter between the adult siblings adds some levity, and fans of this author will enjoy how she subtly incorporates people and locations from a couple of her previous books (The Sun Down Motel, The Broken Girls).

This slow burn story is filled with family drama and trauma, and readers witness how the neglect that the trio of siblings endured in childhood left scars, and how the loss of their younger brother Ben continues to haunt them. Darkly haunting and thoroughly entertaining for suspense lovers, this is a story with a high creepy vibe and lingering uneasiness that doesn’t waver. It will have you both eager and reticent to turn the page and see what else St. James will throw at you.

Laurie P.
Library Assistant, Eastside Branch

Laurie loves interacting with her library customers and seeing WPL’s newest branch become a vibrant community hub. As an avid reader, she enjoys giving book recommendations to customers and providing Readers’ Advisory training to WPL staff. She has a large personal library but often brings home an armful of library books by the end of her shifts. She loves reading physical books as well as using the Libby app to read eBooks or listen to digital audiobooks – particularly when she’s on a walk, hitting the gym or trying to make household chores more enjoyable. In her spare time, she is the book blogger behind The Baking Bookworm and reads voraciously in a variety of formats and genres – thrillers, contemporary fiction and CanLit being her favourites. She regularly attends author events, loves promoting public libraries and connecting with people about all things bookish – in English or American Sign Language (ASL).