The Secret of the Three Fates - Jess Armstrong

I really enjoyed The Curse of Penryth Hall - the first book in this series from Jess Armstrong. The second book, The Secret of the Three Fates is newly released. 

 

Our lead character is again, Ruby. She was quick minded in the first book and that trait has only grown. She continues to speak her mind. She is still working for Mr. Owen and they have an upcoming trip to buy some rare books. But that's not quite true. Instead, Mr. Owen has them up in the Scottish Hills - attending a séance. And one of the attendees has been killed....

The supporting cast play their roles very well. But there's one player named Ruan Kivell, who is definitely more than a supporting player. He's a Pellar - a term I had not come across before. "A Cornish term for a sorcerer or wizard." Ruan and Ruby have a history and this new book visits that history and builds on it. 

The plot is wonderfully rich. I like the time period and how that period opens up so many other ways for the plot to go with magic and gothic in the mix. Again, I wasn't able to out the culprit before the last pages. Another great book from Jess Armstrong. See for yourselves - read an excerpt from The Secret of The Three Fates. I'll be waiting for the third entry!

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library - Hester Fox

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is Hester Fox's debut novel. 

I loved the cover and the title promised a good read. (Isn't that true of all books with 'library in the title?)

1929 England. Twenty three year old Ivy Ratcliffe inherits Blackwood Abbey and becomes Lady Haywood overnight. She is a very distant relative of the last Haywood and had never known the man. But she's excited about the move...

Oh, all the pieces are here for a read with lots of Gothic influence. A young woman alone in the world, staff that are standoffish and secretive, a handsome jack of all trades, a smarmy antagonist, secrets and a manor with a dark history. Also - a library to rival those of any university. Ivy loves books and is thrilled to be the new mistress of the library.

So, up to a certain point, the book was following a script that I had excited and was enjoying. Then Fox threw in a spanner and changed the direction things were going. I now understood how the prologue would tie in. I'm going to be a bit obtuse here as I don't want to provide spoilers. The initial bit of the new direction was quite good and I was on board for it. I did question Ivy's ignoring of some 'episodes'. But that was part of the Gothic feel as well. But as it progressed, I had a little bit of doubt. I wasn't completely sold on the catalyst for what transpires. Another thing that annoyed me a bit was the amnesia that Ivy develops. She becomes the quintessential unreliable narrator. I felt like some of the interactions (yes, no, maybe so) played out one time too many perhaps. 

But that aside, I think this is a good debut and I would pick up Fox's next book. See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Last Heir to Blackwood Library. 

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall - Katie Lumsden

There is no better book to read on a dull and rainy day, than a Gothic mystery. The weather in my part of the world was the backdrop on a wet Sunday for Katie Lumsden's debut novel, The Secrets of Hartwood Hall. The cover and title promised the perfect tale. 

What makes this genre such a favorite of mine? Well let me tell you... it's the historical time frame, the run down manor, the village nearby and it's refusal to have anything to do with the manor and it's inhabitants, the whisper of ghosts, the knock in the night, the mixed personalities of the staff, including the handsome gardener, the mystery that surround the Lady of the manor and her son and last but not least the new addition to the manor - a recently widowed governess. Oh - and secrets - lots of secrets!

Katie Lumsden's book is set in 1852. She has captured the social strata, manners and mores of the time period. Her descriptions of the setting(s) are rich in detail and provided strong mental pictures for me. The cast of characters is perfect and I really liked Margaret as a lead character. She isn't one to accept all of those rules and expected behaviors. Hers is the only point of view. Lumsden has taken all of those facets I look forward to and added her own touches to the Secrets of Hartwood Hall. The ending caught me off guard as I had expected a different outcome. On reflection it's a fitting one that's perfect. 

If you enjoy this genre, than this is a book for you. See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Secrets of Hartwood Hall. I quite enjoyed this debut and wouldn't hesitate to pick up her next book. More please!

The Beloveds - Maureen Lindley

I love the cover of Maureen Lindley's new novel, The Beloveds. Those overgrown vines covering the door hint at a tangled tale within.

And it is. Sisters Betty and Gloria have never really got along. Everything seems to come easy to the sunny-natured Gloria, but not so for Betty. Betty is not one of the "Beloveds". In her own words..."I am not one of the Beloveds. You know those people with a star above their heads: loved and admired, lucky in love, lucky in everything."

Betty yearns for the day when Pipits, the family home will be hers by birthright as the oldest child. The house speaks to Betty and she loves it and the gardens surrounding it. But when the girls' mother dies, she leaves the estate to Gloria - and that does not sit well with Betty. Not at all.

What follows is a dark and twisted tale of Betty's attempts to regain what she sees as her birthright. Initially I could understand Betty's anger and resentment. But Lindley takes Betty further down the path of animosity and obsession than I could have imagined. Her schemes to take back Pipits grow darker and more dangerous. As does Betty's mindset. The reader is along for the ride as she descends into what can only be termed madness. And yet.....I still felt sorry for her.

"It's true that I have learned how to appear calm when I am angry. But that doesn't mean I don't feel things. To have my way, I practice charm, keep my true nature hidden. People find it hard to deal with a person who doesn't emote in the way they expect. The want you to empathize with their trivial problems. They shy away from superior intellects, so I find it easier to act the part of loving sister, forgiving sister-in-law, accepting friend. I'm a good actress."

The Beloveds is told through Betty's point of view, with Gloria's actions and dialogue as seen by her. I wondered about Gloria - is she really the 'Beloved' she appears to be? Or is she aware of what losing the house has done to Betty?

I quite enjoyed the descriptions of Pipits and the grounds. The house is also a character in the book, not just a setting.

Deliciously dark and disturbing. The publisher has described The Beloveds as "An exploration of domestic derangement, as sinister as Daphne Du Maurier’s classic Rebecca, that plumbs the depths of sibling rivalry with wit and menace." Quite apt I would say. Read an excerpt of The Beloveds.

Foxlowe - Eleanor Wasserberg

Foxlowe is Eleanor Wasserberg's debut novel.

I loved the cover - creepy, Gothic looking manor - there can only be a good story lurking behind those rusty closed gates.

Foxlowe is the name of the estate, tucked away in the moors and crumbling into ruin. But it is home to a number of people living communally. There are three children in the group. One barely remembers the 'Outside', one was born in the house and one arrived as a baby. Their world is Foxlowe - they've never traveled outside it's confines. The narrator of the story is Green - the girl born in the house.

While the adults believe they are living in an idyllic world, this is far from the truth. Relationships begin to crumble, the rituals meant to keep their collective safe don't seem to have the same power and as the children grow, some of them begin to wonder what is Outside the gates. Is it truly the Bad that they've been warned about?

Green's voice is by turns fierce, frightened, clear and confused. The three have no reference beyond what they have learned from the adults in the group. I desperately wanted to rescue them. Freya is the leader of the group and oh, she was easy to despise. We can see that many of her rules and ceremonies are harmful, yet the Family seem to blithely accept them.

Descriptions of the house were detailed - I had a vivid sense of place.

I literally couldn't put the book down, caught up in this 'utopian' setting. The arrival of the end of part one caught me unawares. I had unanswered questions! Part two takes a circuitous route from present to past that again, only encourages the reader to keep turning pages late into the night.

The last chapter and especially the last paragraph were unexpected, negating the ending I anticipated. One last shiver before I closed the cover. I really enjoyed Foxlowe. I had no idea where Wasserberg was going to take her story - I quite appreciate a book being unpredictable. Read an excerpt of Foxlowe.

Black Rabbit Hall - Eve Chase

I absolutely adored this book!! Black Rabbit Hall is Eve Chase's debut novel. I can't imagine how she will follow it up - but I will be waiting for her next book.

1969: Amber and her siblings live with their parents at Pencraw Hall, affectionately called Black Rabbit Hall by the children. Life is idyllic, until a single stormy night irrevocably changes the direction of their lives forever.

30 years later: Lorna and her fiancé John are driving the back roads of Cornwall (England) hunting for a Pencraw Hall, that advertised itself as a wedding venue. When they finally come across it, Lorna feels a odd sense of.....something....recognition?

I love dual narratives, past and present being slowly revealed, until the stories inevitably collide, revealing the final connections and resolution.

Amber and Lorna are both wonderful protagonists, each with a distinct voice. I found myself more caught up in the past. Perhaps because it is these events that shape the future? I grew so invested in the lives of the Alton children and found myself cursing the antagonist of the book out loud. I'm trying to not give away too much, but oh my goodness - she is truly, truly nasty.

All the absolutely delicious elements of a Gothic tale are in place - a creaky, crumbling old mansion filled with the detritus of its glory days, a cantankerous old woman in situ who has been hanging on to her secrets for many, many years and a housekeeper who has lived her whole life in that mansion as well. Dark woods and overgrown gardens surround the house, adding to the wonderful atmosphere Chase has created.

Chase drops clues along the way - single sentences that say so much about what has happened. I found myself talking out loud again - quite saddened by some of those past events. And just as some of those past events are revealed, the narrative changes to the present day. For me, this always guarantees being tired in the morning, as I just have to read 'one more chapter'.....and then another and another.

Black Rabbit Hall is hands down one of my fave reads for 2016. Read an excerpt of Black Rabbit Hall. Recommended for Kate Morton fans. You can connect with Eve Chase on her website, as well as on Twitter and find her on Facebook.

The Lake House - Kate Morton

Kate Morton has done it again - her latest release, The Lake House, is an absolutely fantastic read.

I was hooked from the opening page...

1933. "Back when it first happened she'd considered confessing, and perhaps, in the beginning, she might have. She'd missed her chance though and now it was too late. Too much had happened: the search parties, the policemen, the articles in the newspapers pleading for information. There was no one she could tell, no way to fix it, no way they would ever forgive her. The only thing left was to bury the evidence."

What happened? Who is speaking?

Morton again employs a then and now narrative from 1933 to the current 2003. (I love this format - but it keeps me up very late reading 'just one more chapter'!)  One of the main characters is writer Alice Edevane, who pens "crime novels reviewers liked to describe as 'psychologically taut' and 'morally ambiguous whydunits' as much as they were whos or hows." But, the greatest mystery in Alice's life is what happened to her wee brother Theo in 1933. Alice now makes her home in London, but still owns the Edevane family's Cornwall country house, unlived in for over seventy years. Detective Sadie Sparrow is on forced leave from the London force and retreats to her grandfather's home in Cornwall. While on a run, she stumbles across the abandoned estate deep in the woods.

Delicious, delicious premise!

Morton transports us back to 1933, a time of innocence, a time of  stricter social mores, a time where duty and responsibility took precedence, a time where 'things' were kept quiet and secrets were born. Morton's description of the country estate, Loeanneth, the rooms, the halls, the grounds - and the lake house, were vivid and detailed, creating a rich backdrop for the events that take place. And in seventy years, we see the estate through the eyes of Sadie. The grounds seem to echo and exude the memories of the family and its past glory. "Something niggled about this place. An odd feeling had come over her since she'd climbed through the gate, an inexplicable sense of things being not quite right."

The characters were just as richly drawn. I had a strong mental image of every character, no matter how minor their role. (I must admit to Alice being my favourite.)

And then there's the plotting. Brilliant. The past is slowly revealed in the 1933 chapters, with bits and pieces being added as the book progresses. Morton has the reader thinking one way, then changes direction with each new revelation added. In the present, that same past is being just as slowly uncovered. The reader is lucky enough to be privy to both stories - we know more that Alice and Sadie. Or do we? I was quite sure I could predict where and what the endgame would be - and I'm happy to say I was wrong. Along with the intensely intricate plot Morton has woven, a secondary theme of mothers and motherhood is explored.

As Sadie says..."there was nothing as thrilling as unravelling a puzzle, particularly one like this..." The Lake House is absolutely, positively recommended - it's one of my fave reads for 2015. Read an excerpt of The Lake House. 

Fiercombe Manor - Kate Riordan

I love old houses and forgotten corners - there are so many stories to be told and remembered.  Kate Riordan's latest book, Fiercombe Manor has one of those stories....

1933 England. Young (and naive) Alice Eveleigh has gotten herself into 'trouble' with a married man. Her mother calls upon an old friend to take Alice in until the baby is born. That friend, Mrs. Jelphs, is the housekeeper of a old manor in a forgotten corner of the Gloucestershire countryside. Mrs Jelphs and old gardener Ruck are the only two staff (and residents) of the Stanton estate.

All the elements are there for the perfect Gothic mystery - young, curious woman, old retainers, crumbling house with closed off rooms, secrets alluded to, and clues to the past. Riordan seals the deal with a delicious piece of foreshadowing.....

"When I think back to the memory, that first glimpse of Fiercombe Manor and the valley it seemed almost entombed in, I cannot recall any sense of unease......It seems amazing in light of what happened, but I can't say I felt any foreboding about the valley at all." " I could never have imagined all that would happen in those few short months and how, by the end of them, my life would be irrevocably altered forever."

Riordan's novel is told in a past and present narrative. The past is from thirty years early and is Lady Elizabeth Stanton's story. Old letters that Alice uncovers begin to fill in the past for her, but the reader is privy to more through Elizabeth's voice. I found myself reacting more to Elizabeth's timeline, caught up in the past.

"There's an atmosphere, though, as if something of what's gone before is still here, like an echo or a reflection in a dark pool."

Cue delicious tingle.....are there ghosts? Can the past reach out to the present? Is the sad history of Fiercombe Manor going to be repeated?

Riordan's setting is wonderfully drawn - I could easily imagine the uneven stone floors, the crumbling outbuildings, the gardens and the dusty rooms. Time is also well done, with the social graces and mores of both time periods captured. Riordan also explores an issue that has a foot firmly in the present. (Sorry, I'm being deliberately oblique so as not to spoil the book for future readers)

This novel is fairly lengthy at 400+ plus pages, but I enjoyed the slow unfurling of this novel. Riordan keeps the reader in the dark until the final chapters - and only then reveals the end of Elizabeth's story. Alice's story has a fairytale ending, perfect for this tale. (I have a 'thing' for covers. I loved this one - I wanted to go exploring myself!)

Fiercombe Manor is best read in a comfy armchair within a lamp's circle of light with the wind whistling outside at night. Oh, and a pot of tea. Read an excerpt of Fiercombe Manor. Fans of Kate Morton would enjoy this book.

"Kate Riordan is a British writer and journalist who worked for the Guardian and Time Out London. She is also the author of Birdcage Walk and is already at work on her third novel. Born in London, she now lives in the Gloucestershire countryside." You can find Kate Riordan on her website and connect with her on Twitter.

See what others on the TLC tour thought - full schedule here.

The Vanishing - Wendy Webb - Review AND Giveaway

I love creaky old houses, dusty attics and ghost stories. So does Wendy Webb. She's taken on the modern Gothic in her last two novels and again with her latest book, The Vanishing.

Webb sets the stage with a prologue from 1875 - a seance gone horribly wrong in the mansion known as Havenwood.

Present day. Julia Bishop's life is a mess. Her husband has died - but not before he swindled hundreds of people of their savings. He's gone, the money is gone and any friends Julia had are gone. She has no family either. So, when a stranger shows up offering her a job as a companion to his reclusive mother, she has nothing left to lose by saying yes. He's offering her the opportunity to start again and completely vanish from her current life. Oh, the job just happens to be at Havenwood....

Now, there's nothing better than immersing yourself in a spooky tale on a cold winter's night. So, although I found the premise a little bit flimsy and questioned some of Julia's actions,  I just went with it. Because, I really wanted to see what secrets the mansion held. What happened there in 1875? Why has Julia been sought out as a companion? Where would Webb take her story from this beginning?

I had great fun imagining walking through the many wings of Havenwood - the library particularly caught me! All the hallmarks of a great ghost story are here - mysterious family matriarch, son who travels a lot but discourages others from leaving the estate, handsome stable hand, a wonderful set of dogs who can sense things not seen and more.

While not overly frightening, The Vanishing was a lovely, atmospheric read for a miserable day. (The power goes out during a snowstorm at the mansion. This actually happened at my house that day as well!) Webb throws in a delicious twist at the end that was perfect.

Read an excerpt of The Vanishing. You can find Wendy Webb on Facebook and on Twitter.

And thanks to the great folks at Hyperion Books, I have a copy to give away to one lucky reader. Simply leave a comment to be entered. U.S. only, no PO boxes please. Ends Feb 15/14.

The Fate of Mercy Alban - Wendy Webb

I've always loved creaky old houses and  dusty attics - I sit and wonder about who once lived there and what their life was like.

Wendy Webb gives free rein to her imagination in her latest book The Fate of Mercy Alban.

When her mother dies, Grace Alban and her daughter Amity return to the family estate on Lake Superior. The faithful family staff are still in situ - Jane, her husband and a driver. They've been there from the beginning - bearing witness to the lives of the wealthy and influential Alban family.  And they've been there for the tragedies too - the family seems to have more than their share of heartbreak. Is is just bad luck or is there some truth behind the whispers of a family curse? "...accidents, death, scandal, and even murder have taken place in the house over the years."

Grace herself has stayed away for over twenty years- a response to a tragedy that is slowly unveiled over many chapters. While sorting through her mother's papers, she comes across a packet of letters that challenge everything she thought she knew about her parents - and revives her interest in a night that the Alban family has kept shrouded in mystery for decades. But some secrets don't want to see the light of day......

Webb has crafted a modern take on a classic genre - the Gothic ghost story. Family secrets, haunted houses, family curses with a little witchcraft thrown in as well. Webb's plotting is intricate and keeps us guessing with many red herrings and switchbacks on the way.  For me, The Fate of Mercy Alban was plot driven. I was much more interested in where Webb was going to take her story than the characters. Although all the right elements are in place, I didn't really ever engage with Grace.

I enjoyed the book within a book technique that allowed us to learn secrets of the past along with Grace.

This was a fun read for me, not overly scary, but definitely entertaining. I really like the cover art and once you read the book, you realize the title is quite clever as well. What did I love the most? The house - I want to explore all those hidden passages and back staircases to unused rooms.......Read an excerpt of The Fate of Mercy Alban. Also chosen as a February 2013 Indie Next List Great Read. You cand find Wendy Webb on Twitter and on Facebook.