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Stefani Milan grew up in an entertainment family where music and creativity were encouraged. One of her fondest memories as a child was pretending she was an archaeologist in her backyard. She had her green and pink caboodle, and she had just discovered the Queen of Egypt’s sacred blue crystal that could transport her to anywhere in the world. Of course, it was only a mud-covered rock, but her vivid imagination led her to explore her artistic archetype. She wrote music and stories, sang, played the flute and piano, and acted in various school plays from elementary school to college. Every experience is a potential story in her eyes. She visualizes stories as films, and when she writes novels, she writes for the screen. The Secret of Kolney Hatch is a murder mystery set in 1926 London and Scotland and is rooted in the shadows of the Jungian archetypes. Much of Stefani's free time is spent studying books about metaphysics, psychology, the brain, alternative healing, gemstone healing and spirituality. She brings an element of her studies into her writing. Each character is carefully crafted from her in-depth studies of personalities, psychology, and archetypes, and of course, is sometimes based off of people she meets. Stefani's intention is to see her novels on the big screen some day. She also intends to write self-help books. For now, she will continue to work on the long line of fiction stories she has waiting to be told and shared with the world.
Reviewed by Katelyn Hensel for Readers' Favorite
Stefani Milan takes us into the world of the depraved and mysterious in The Secret of Kolney Hatch. When a London murder strikes home to Paul Watson, being so reminiscent of his mother's death half a decade prior, Watson decides that there is something that needs doing in order to solve these murders. He enters the Kolney Hatch Lunatic asylum to leave the trauma of his past where it should be, but soon begins to discover that there is a twisted secret behind the facade of the asylum. As the plot thickens, Paul struggles to leave behind what he has now discovered, even as his neighbor Petunia gets sucked into even more details surrounding the murders.
I thought that the cover was beautiful, and right in line with one of the themes in literature lately which is to show very close up detailing of an eye. While not original, really, this is nonetheless captivating and catches one's attention right off as something that the reader should at least pick up and take a look at.
After that initial look, there is no doubt in my mind that the reader would continue to pursue The Secret of Kolney Hatch. Lunatic asylums are some of my FAVORITE settings and images that a novel can have. Immediately there is a tension, unease, and simply disturbance while reading a plot that keeps you on the absolute edge of your seat as you explore the depths of depravity that can occur when the weakest minds of human society are placed in the care of those who have dark, weak hearts. Stefani Milan has struck thriller/mystery gold with this one and it should be a fan favorite of anyone in the genre.
