A Book Club Kit for The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen

The

Shape Night of

TESS GERRITSEN

BOOK CLUB KIT

Letter from the Author Dear Reader, I’m thrilled to share The Shape of Night with you!

One of my favorite TV series as a kid was The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, starring Hope Lange. It’s about a widow who moves into an old house that’s haunted by a long-dead sea captain. Their romance is sweet and purely chaste, but as someone with a twisted imagination, I couldn’t help thinking: What if the story had a dark and sexy twist?

What if the sea captain’s house has a legacy of past murders, and what if my heroine is haunted by a shocking secret of her own?

It’s a psychological suspense novel with a dark and sexy twist: What if you found the perfect lover, but you’re not certain he’s real—or if he might end up killing you? Unlike my Rizzoli & Isles crime novels, which are focused on hard-boiled police investigations, The Shape of Night is about a vulnerable woman who is very much alone and haunted by a secret shame. When she moves into an isolated mansion on the Maine coast, she begins to fear for her sanity—and her life—but she has no one to turn to. This thriller is told from a very personal, very intimate point of view.

When I began my writing career years ago, I started as a romantic suspense author. And while I’m now known as a thriller writer, I’ve never lost my love for my original genre, which for a writer is a delicate balancing act between murder mystery and romance. I’ve wanted to dip my toes back in those waters, and The Shape of Night gave me a chance to revisit.

I hope you enjoy The Shape of Night. I can’t wait to hear what you think.

Sincerely, Tess Gerritsen

Questions 1. Throughout the book, Brodie’s Watch is described as though it’s a sentient character in Tucker’s Cove, with a power to influence all of its own. Discuss the methods that the author uses to personify the house and how these affect you as a reader.

7. What did you think about the romantic relationship between Ava and Dr. Ben? Did you ever suspect him to have false motives? How did you interpret the treatment of women in the novel by Ben, Brodie, and the other men in the town?

2. Do you believe in the supernatural? Have you ever had an otherworldly experience—perhaps heard or felt the presence of a ghost? Have you ever been somewhere that felt suffused with a kind of magnetic power?

8. In the end, did you find the ghost of Captain Brodie to be benevolent or malevolent? Do you think his ghost was real, or a manifestation of Ava’s guilt? Did you find Ava’s plight sympathetic?

3. Hannibal seems to sense things that Ava is unable to see or hear.

Some pet owners have reported their animals sensed earthquakes before they happened. Have you witnessed any such animal behavior?

4. Throughout the novel, Ava tests a variety of recipes for her cookbook. In what ways does food inform parts of the plot or add to the texture of the novel?

5. In the novel, Ava hires ghost hunters to “ameliorate” the spirit living in her house. Do you think that all of our problems can be solved by science and rational thinking or are there other, more intangible ways of solving them?

6. When a body is dredged up from the water and it is discovered that someone was murdered, the story’s mystery begins to unfold. What is Ava led to believe about Charlotte? How does that tie in to what happened years ago to another murdered woman? Did you see that connection coming?

9. As the plot began to unfold, which revelations surprised you most?

Were you surprised by the twist at the end? Was there anything that tipped you off before the reveal?

10. At the end of the novel, Ava thinks to herself, “Captain Brodie has forced me to face my guilt, to atone for my sins. Now it’s time for me to forgive myself.” Do you think Ava sufficiently atoned? What do you think the author is trying to say about the power of selfforgiveness?

Ava’s Cookbook: LOBSCOUSE

“It’s known as sailor’s beef stew. The recipe originated with the Vikings, but they used fish.

As the recipe traveled with sailors around the world, the fish was replaced with beef instead.”

INGREDIENTS 1½ pounds boneless beef shin, cut into 1-inch cubes 1 tablespoon oil 2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks 1 onion, peeled and cut into wedges 2 small leeks, trimmed and sliced 3 sprigs fresh thyme Salt and freshly milled black pepper 1¼ pints good, hot beef stock Dash Worcestershire or brown sauce 1½ pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered 3 ounces frozen peas

DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. 2. Heat the oil in a large flame/ovenproof dish with a lid and cook the beef for 4–5 minutes until browned. Add the carrots, onion, leeks, and herbs. Season well, pour over the stock, and add the Worcestershire or brown sauce.

3. Top with the potatoes, cover, and cook in the oven for approximately 2–2½ hours until the beef is tender.

5–10 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the peas and return to the oven uncovered for the remainder.

4. Serve this one-pot dish as is.

Credit: simplybeefandlamb.co.uk

Ava’s Cookbook: LOBSTER, CORN ON THE COB, AND POTATOES “This is what I’d call the perfect meal. Simplicity and freshness always wins the day.”

INGREDIENTS 1½ pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes 1 large onion, quartered 2 heads garlic, halved crosswise (do not peel) ½ cup coarse salt 4 lobsters (1¼ pounds each) 4 ears of corn, shucked and halved Drawn Butter

DIRECTIONS 1. Fill a lobster pot or other large pot two-thirds full with water. Add potatoes, onion, garlic, and salt. Cover, and bring to a boil.

2. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until potatoes begin to soften, (8–10 minutes). Add lobsters headfirst. Cover, and cook until shells are bright red (5–6 minutes). Add corn, and cook for 3 minutes more.

3. Remove potatoes, lobsters, and corn from water; discard onion and garlic. Using kitchen shears, clip tips of lobster claws, and let drain. Serve potatoes, lobsters, and corn with butter.

FOR DRAWN BUTTER 1. Melt 2 sticks (8 ounces) of unsalted butter in a small saucepan over low heat until it foams and solids sink to bottom—about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool.

2. Carefully skim foam from top and discard. Pour clear butter into a bowl, leaving any solids in pan; discard solids. Serve warm. (Drawn butter can be refrigerated for up to 1 month.)

Credit: marthatstewart.com

Ava’s Cookbook: WHOOPIE PIE The official state treat of Maine!

1 cup vegetable shortening 2 cups white sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 (7 ounce) jars marshmallow crème

DIRECTIONS

INGREDIENTS ½ cup vegetable shortening 2 cups milk 2 cups white sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 cups all-purpose flour ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Hershey’s®) 1 tablespoon baking soda 1½ teaspoons salt 1 cup milk 1 cup butter at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut and set aside 25 pieces of plastic wrap, about 5 inches square each.

2. For cookies, beat ½ cup of vegetable shortening, 2 cups of milk, 2 cups of sugar, the eggs, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract together in a large mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk the 4 cups of flour with both amounts of unsweetened cocoa, baking soda, and salt until thoroughly combined.

3. Beat the flour mixture into the wet ingredients just until smooth.

4. Scoop up the batter with teaspoons and drop onto ungreased baking sheets in small round dollops about 2 inches apart.

Recipe should make about 50 cookies— they will rise and expand a lot.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are set in the middle (8–10 minutes). Allow to cool on baking sheets for several minutes before removing to finish cooling on racks.

6. To make the filling, place 1 cup milk in a microwave-safe measuring cup and cook in microwave until hot but not simmering, 1–2 minutes. Pour the heated milk into a large mixing bowl. Add the cup of roomtemperature butter, 1 cup of vegetable shortening, 2 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and the marshmallow crème. Beat the mixture on high speed until the frosting is fluffy (5–10 minutes). At first the frosting will appear lumpy—but keep beating.

7. To fill the cookies, choose 2 cookies that are about the same size and spread about 1½ tablespoons of the frosting onto the flat bottom of a cookie. Top with the other cookie, flat side down, cover each new whoopie pie in a sheet of plastic wrap, and place in the freezer. Repeat with remaining cookies and frosting.

8. To serve, remove from the freezer and thaw until very cold but not frozen (10–15 minutes).

Credit: allrecipes.com

Ava’s Cookbook: WHISKEY AND GINGER “The whiskey is performing its magic.”

INGREDIENTS 2 ounces rye whiskey 2 ounces ginger ale (or to taste) Lime wedge Ice

DIRECTIONS 1.

2.

3.

4.

Fill highball glass with ice Pour in whiskey Top with ginger ale Stir and add a lime wedge for garnish

Credit: allrecipes.com