★★★★★ 5-Star Medallion Winner – Readers’ Favorite
★★★★★ 5-Star Medallion Winner – Reader Views
For fans of Anne Rice’s The Witching Hour, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, and Tananarive Due’s The Good House.
The curse flows through her veins, but so does the cure.
Dr. Evangeline Beauford has spent eighteen years studying blood’s secrets in Boston, anything to avoid returning to Beauford Grove. But when her estranged sister’s posthumous letter arrives, she has no choice.
The family’s olive plantation shouldn’t exist in Alabama soil. The ancient trees shouldn’t weep crimson sap. And Evangeline’s own blood work reveals impossible anomalies her scientific mind can’t explain.
Hidden in the grove, she discovers the truth her mother died protecting: their family’s unnatural prosperity was forged through a sinister pact between French colonists and enslaved practitioners of African and Haitian magic. Both bloodlines were bound to the land through rituals paid in blood.
Now the pact is demanding its due.
Evangeline must confront the dark legacy woven into her DNA and the dormant power awakening inside her. Her medical expertise may hold the key to breaking the cycle or become the final sacrifice it demands.
Editorial Reviews
Jessica Barbosa for Readers’ Favorite ★★★★★
Beneath Beauford Grove is a haunting tale set in the deep South with a unique plot and an unexpected twist. E. Denise Billups crafted a spellbinding novel with a haunting atmosphere that sets the stage for a creatively imagined plot, unlike anything I have read before… This book delivers blood pacts, generational trauma, and an eerie atmosphere that left me with a lasting impression and a thirst that could only be quenched by reading to the end. Excellent work!
Terri Stepek for Reader Views ★★★★★
Ms. Billups has woven the ages and generations together in a way that allows both mysticism and science to intertwine… I found myself thoroughly enjoying this tale — one that has one foot in ancient beliefs and the other squarely planted in modern times. Emotions run high at times, and tension keeps its taut grip on the reader throughout this Southern Gothic beauty. Billups’ pacing is well done, and the buildup to the final chilling showdown is fraught with a myriad of possibilities… Readers who enjoy horror with supernatural intrigue, as well as fans of historical fiction, thrillers, family sagas, and tales of suspense will enjoy Beneath Beauford Groves by E. Denise Billups. I’m excited to have read this first book in the series and anxiously await the continuation of this intricate and visceral tale. There’s more to this, and that’s great: bring it on!
Billups has an ability to transport a reader into her stories, you feel the story take hold and surround you. — Emmeline Everdeen, Goodreads
Darkly enchanting, wondrously imaginative, and utterly chilling, Beneath Beauford Grove is another stunning work of speculative fiction from Billups. Highly recommended. — Rose Auburn Reviews
The author’s writing is beautiful and evocative, drawing the reader deep into Eva’s grim plight. — Kelly Miller, Goodreads
Seamlessly blends supernatural magic with modern day medical science. — Ritu, Goodreads
You find yourself rooting for Eva as she uses her modern medical knowledge to fight against an ancient evil. — Danielle Buchino, Goodreads