Cards on the Table by Lana Harper and Jill Gagnon:

4 stars

When a too-good-to-be-true opportunity to make some real money falls in their lap, Tori and Cassie Bishop are skeptical…until circumstances leave them little choice. Carpe Diem. Though they were recruited to entertain a sick old woman with an interest in the occult, they quickly realize all is not as it seems. The creepy mansion is full of suspicious characters, and events quickly spiral out of control.

What a deeply ironic title; literally no one has their cards on the table. This book is a guessing game of who to suspect most…without knowing entirely what to suspect them of. There are several reasonable options. Think Knives Out, but with witches.

This book is difficult to quantify. On one hand, the plot largely follows a known plot pattern, but does so reasonably well. On the other, there was a twist, well-seeded so an engaged reader could make a few cunning deductions, that livened things up considerably. Emotionally, some parts were genuinely stressful—evocative, but not entirely pleasant. I’m torn on the ending. I like one part and not the other.

Tori—I may be biased; I identified with her more—showed definite growth. Cassie attempted to grow, but switched naivete for cynicism until her sister corrected her mindset. The desire to grow is admirable; to struggle with it, human. This started as a criticism, but now I’m coming around to it. There is deep friction between Cassie’s rose-colored perspective and Tori’s more informed acquaintance with reality.

Brynn was fun; Rose was both delightful and irritating by turns. I haven’t made up my mind about Parker. Linda and Callum—well, there’s one (or more) in every family. Detective Hillary was, to be honest, a wasted opportunity. He could have brought a bit of comedy, competence, or a fresher version of the bumbling, puffed-up detective. Instead, he was a bit standard, though his role was brief.

The two areas where the story truly shines are style and emotional impact. It reads as a fairly straight narrative, not poetic and not too puzzling, but there is a subtlety I very much admire. It’s a risk; it requires attentive reading, but once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Again, emotionally, I needed a breath here and there. The Bishop sisters’ history is not an easy one. Almost everyone in the story has some degree of trauma—well, people do, don’t they? The biases that betray themselves, the sibling drama, the struggle to survive all feel heavy. I’d advise reading this when you’re already in a good mood; if you're already dealing with a few things, read at your own risk. Maybe have some Twizzlers near at hand—something to gnaw on a bit.

Cards on the Table will have fairly wide appeal in the contemporary fantasy genre—there’s mystery, personal growth, and a light whiff of romance. The setup is familiar, but it does take a few risks.

Thank you, Ballantine/Bantam, for the opportunity to read Cards on the Table. I received a complimentary copy through NetGalley, and I am voluntarily writing this review.