The House Saphir By Marissa Meyer-YA Romantasy Murder Mystery Review

 

Book Synopsis

This is the tale of Bluebeard as it's never been told before--a romantasy murder mystery.

Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the family business, eking out a paltry living by selling bogus spells to gullible buyers and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place.

Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir—otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu—who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien's great-great grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu's ghost, she can’t resist. A paid vacation at Armand’s country manor? It’s practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.

But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation—and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she’ll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.

But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself.

Book Details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ FABER AND FABER
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 6, 2025
• Genre: YA Romantasy
• Edition ‏ : ‎ International Edition
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571396976
• ****I received a complimentary book from publishers, publicists, NetGalley, book tours, and or authors.  A review was not required and all opinions and ideas expressed are my own.****
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My Review

I was so excited to dive into The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer. I’ve always loved her books, and when I saw this described as a "thrilling romantasy" that’s part ghost story and part murder mystery, I was sold. Honestly? It pretty much lived up to the hype.

The story follows Mallory Fontaine, a girl who can actually see ghosts. To keep her and her sister, Anaïs, afloat, they run fake tours and sell "haunted" trinkets. Their luck changes when Armand Saphir offers Mallory a deal: exorcise a ghost from his family’s massive estate, the ghostly murderer Monsieur Le Bleu, his great-great-grandfather, and he’ll pay their rent. What starts as a (somewhat) easy job quickly spirals into a dangerous game of murder, magic, and dark secrets.

Since this is a Bluebeard retelling and I hadn’t read the original story, the twists were all new to me. Even though Mallory is the lead, I absolutely loved Bastien’s dead wives. As ghosts, they brought so much humor to a book that gets pretty dark.

The story starts a bit slow, but the tension really ramps up once they’re trapped at the creepy House of Saphir. While I wished the romance between Mallory and Armand had a bit more spark, the real heart of the book is the fierce loyalty between the two sisters. I also loved the monster hunters, Fitcher and Constantino—they added some great levity while helping take down Bastien in the final act.

Watching Mallory finally find the power to banish Bastien to the underworld was the perfect ending. If you want a fast-paced, atmospheric mystery with heavy Gothic vibes and high stakes, you need to read this. It’s spooky, tense, and totally worth the ride.

****Meet Author Marissa Meyer****

Marissa Meyer is a fangirl at heart, with a closet full of costumes, a Harry Potter wand on her desk, and a Tuxedo Mask doll hanging from her rear view mirror. Han and Leia are still her OTP. She may or may not be a cyborg.

Marissa is also the NYT bestselling author of a number of books for teens, including The Lunar Chronicles, the Renegades Trilogy, and Heartless.

Sign up for her newsletter at http://www.marissameyer.com or follow her on social media:

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~*~*~*~*Purchase The House Saphir~*~*~*~*

HERE:

Paperback-https://a.co/d/gBVHN8s

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