The book follows an antique appraiser that returns home, only to be confronted with the horror of Red House and with her own personal tragedies.

Soon after her disappearance Catherine claims to have made contact with Alice's ghost, which prompts her adoptive parents to send her to therapy.

She takes on a job as an antique appraiser for a local handicapped man named Leonard and also manages to romantically re-connect with Mike.

After an unspecified amount of time Catherine is persuaded to take on a job cataloging the contents of Red House, the home of the late M. H. Mason, a local eccentric known for his antique dolls, puppets, and morbid taxidermy displays.

Critical reception for House of Small Shadows has been mostly positive,[1][2] and the book received praise from Rue Morgue and The Independent.