The Crossed Keys Chronicle

The House on Buzzards Bay

The House on Buzzards Bay cover

Every so often as a reader, you find a book that you vibe with in a way you wouldn’t expect. The House on Buzzards Bay is one of those books for me. I had never heard of the author before; the back cover blurb is mildly interesting, and the cover itself has a vague The Birds vibe to it. I think what ultimately sold me on it was a cover quote stating it was “A classic New England literary mystery.” Never let it be said I’m immune to the charms of marketing!

The core premise of the book centers around a close-knit group of friends who met in college and have mostly stuck together as they’ve barreled into middle age. One ritual that has kept them close is spending summers at our protagonist Jim’s generations-old vacation home on the coast of Massachusetts, which may or may not be haunted. This year, Bruce—an often-absent, reclusive writer of the group—has decided to join the rest of the friends for part of the summer.

I will fully admit my love of this book is purely vibe-based. The crux of the plot is that after a confrontation with Jim on the night of the 4th of July, Bruce goes missing, and soon after, a supposed friend of his named Camille shows up at the house and integrates herself into the group. There are many tangents that never get properly resolved, including a subplot about a group of teenagers jailed for a series of break-ins in the area. One of the weirder details is that Jim and his wife Valentina have a set of twins who are never given names or even genders, as far as I can recall. The kids are mentioned occasionally, but for the most part the story just slides around them as if they weren’t even there.

While I continue to damn this book with faint praise, I will also caution any future reader that the ultimate resolution of the plot feels rushed and very unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, I still loved the book. As a middle-aged man who grew up on the unrealistic example of Seinfeld—where all your friends live next door and you get to hang out forever—I’ve had to face the sad reality that all the people I care about have moved away, and there are no new friends to fill the void. This book makes me believe that it could be possible to have a wife, two nameless children, and a strong set of friends to vacation with. I am less thrilled at the prospect of living in a haunted house, and without any spoilers I’ll also say I wouldn’t want to follow the path of most of Jim’s choices from the 4th of July onwards.

If you’ve read this far and still have even a passing interest in the book, I definitely suggest reading through the first couple of pages. If you find you vibe with Murphy’s prose, I think you’ll enjoy this off-the-beaten-path book.