Marla by Jonathan Janz is a supernatural murder mystery blended with horror and witchy vibes, all set in a small town.
Marla is a novel that slowly creeps into your soul. It is a horror novel that sets up a mystery around it. The vibes are witchy, but there is also an ancient evil that feels mythological in nature. The horror reminded me of Hereditary meets Longlegs.
The mystery takes place in a small town where bodies are piling up. The murders seem impossible, and every victim looks scared to death. The evidence points to no one, but one cop has seen Marla every time before a death occurs.
I loved the background we get for Marla. She is a shut-in who the town has turned into a myth, along with her mother Irene. The townspeople believe they are witches and evil in some way. The way Marla, her mother, and the house are described reminded me of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.
The pacing in Marla is very good. The novel has a cast of 5 or 6 characters whose perspectives we get. The perspectives rotate and give the town more character. We are able to experience deaths from different perspectives, which adds to the mystery surrounding Marla. This is my second Janz novel, and I found the pacing in Marla to be so much better than Wolf Land. My big callout with Wolf Land was that I wanted the story to switch characters more often.
The character work and the town reminded me of the way Robert McCammon and Stephen King set up their towns and characters effortlessly. You believe that everyone in town knows each other and everyone’s business. I thought all the characters were written well. The characters you are supposed to hate, you really hate, but they still feel like real people.
There is one very big twist in the story that I liked a lot, but I also had a problem with how it was solved. You have two characters coming to the same conclusion at about the same time. I felt one of them figuring it out was a stretch. That was the only false note I felt in the story. The twist itself was very good and jaw dropping once everything was explained.
The ending was very good and raised the stakes. The narrative made me unsure if our heroes would make it out. The final scene was good and very creepy.
Marla was published on August 18, 2026, by Blackstone Publishing.
Why did I read Marla by Jonathan Janz?
I first read Jonathan Janz in the The Stand anthology The End of the World as We Know It. I loved his short story “Lenora.” It was a story full of heart and heartbreak set in the world of Stephen King’s The Stand. I wanted to read more.
I read Wolf Land. It was one of the most disturbing books I have read, but his character work was good. I enjoyed parts of it, but it didn’t hit me the way “Lenora” did. I got to meet Jonathan Janz at a signing, and he joked about how disturbing Wolf Land was compared to “Lenora.”
Then I read Marla, and it was exactly what I wanted: creepy, horror filled, gory but not extreme, full of heart, and filled with real characters.
Marla is a book that Janz fans have been talking about for a while. It was originally released as a limited edition four years ago by Thunderstorm. The run was only 500 copies. Everyone said how great it was, and I was able to get an ARC thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley. I was happy Marla was getting a wider release, and it is good and living up to the hype.
Plot Summary:
Unexplainable murders are happening all over the small town of King’s Branch. Every time a murder has happened, Marla, the town recluse, has stared at Detective Carl Lancaster from her window. Carl has heard the rumors around town that Marla never leaves the house. Is she a prisoner of her mother, or is she a witch?
Carl believes in his bones that Marla is connected to the murders, whether she is an omen of them or the cause. Carl will have a harder time proving it as more bodies pile up.
What I Liked:
The way the novel flows from perspective to perspective. This was used very well to keep the pace up and connect the characters to the town.
The characters are all great and well written. There are some characters you hate and others you love. Janz gives you reasons for all your emotions.
The puppy scenes are adorable, and I can happily say that the puppy lives. Janz has tormented me with death before, so I was happy to see the puppy live.
I love the background we get on Marla’s family and where they came from.
What I Disliked:
The way the mystery was solved was too coincidental. I didn’t like that it was two characters coming to the same conclusion at the same time. They each had a piece of the puzzle, and it would have been better if the reader could have seen those pieces come together.
Recommendation:
Marla is a great witchy mystery. The book is about an ancient evil that is still surviving in today’s world. Janz has written a great small town horror novel. I recommend that my followers not miss Marla.
I already own Veil by Jonathan Janz, and after reading Marla, that book just jumped up my TBR.
Rating:
Marla by Jonathan Janz
4.5 out of 5
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