Review: Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead

Poison Wood

by Jennifer Moorhead

Release Date: October 28, 2025

2025 Thomas & Mercer

Ebook ARC; 327 Pages

ISBN: 978-1662531439

ASIN: B0DK3XYJK3

Audiobook: B0FB12KNX8

Genre: Fiction / Mystery

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3.75 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

As a teenager, Rita attended Poison Wood Therapeutic Academy for Girls in that forest, but the school shuttered its doors after a series of disturbing incidents. Now the man who confessed to the murder of her classmate has recanted, and Rita’s father, the judge who put him away, has fallen ill.

Summoned back to those haunted woods, Rita sorts through the mysteries of a rotting schoolhouse basement. She digs up emotions she buried along with her mother—and secrets she’s tried hard to forget. But when her investigation spreads to her family tree, the TV cameras swing her way. How far will she go for a story that could threaten everything and everyone she loves?

 

 

My Thoughts

Poison Wood is the second book that features this main character, but can definitely be read as a standalone. I enjoyed the creepy elements to this story that was more mystery based rather than horror based, and thought the descriptions were quite good as I felt like I could picture myself being right there. And while I enjoyed the mystery quite a bit, I did have some issues with the character development of the MC.

 

The atmospheric vibe of this story was very compelling and the author managed to keep up that feeling and tension throughout the book, something that I really enjoyed, without descending into supernatural horror elements, something else I appreciated. It's not that I don't like a good supernatural book, but honestly, I get irritated at misleading marketing tactics. The plot moved along rather quickly and while I did guess who was the culprit rather early on, there were enough twists and turns and red herrings, that I did change my mind a couple of times and then went back to my original thought. When an author keeps you guessing like that, even when you think you are sure, I like that the plot can mess with my head a little bit to make me second-guess myself. 

 

The 'academy' was my favourite part of the book and maybe that has to do with my horror loving little side as I found it creepy and unsettling. The author did include some journal entries from the time the girls were there, but you had no idea which girl wrote what so it left you guessing as to what was happening and who was involved. This author's writing style definitely appealed to me as I am a reader who likes to figure things out as they happen and hates being told and explained everything like I can't do it on my own. In mean, isn't that the point of mystery novels? 

 

My main issue with the book was the MC, Rita. Having returned home for several reasons, she is the perfect person to look into what happened at the academy all those years ago as she was actually a student there at the time. However, I just couldn't get invested in Rita as a character and she irritated me to no end. She was supposed to be this award-winning reporter, but she didn't come across that way to me, at all. In fact, she seemed more like a busybody, one who didn't really look at things factually, but more emotionally.  I understand she was going through this crisis, but I also felt the author didn't do her character justice, making her seem more whiny than someone who maybe struggled with the loss of her mother all those years ago as well as the trauma of being sent to a school for wayward girls. And her decision at the end? Where did that come from?

 

Verdict

Poison Wood was a decent mystery with a lot of atmosphere, focusing on the discovery of a skeleton at a school for girls that had been closed years ago. I thought the mystery itself had a lot of twists and turns and was quite interesting, but I wasn't a fan of the character development of the main character which affected my investment in the overall story.  That being said, I am interested enough to want to read the next book to see what happens next.