Category: Gothic mystery

The Torments by Michael J Malone (Annie Jackson Mysteries #2)

Hiding from the world in her little white cottage on the shores of a loch, Annie Jackson is fighting to come to terms with the world of the murmurs, a curse that has haunted female members of her family for centuries. While she is within the ancient, heavy stone of the old dwelling, the voices merely buzz, but the moment she steps outside the … Read More The Torments by Michael J Malone (Annie Jackson Mysteries #2)

The Murmurs by Michael J Malone (Annie Jackson Mysteries #1) revisited

Book two, The Torments, in the Annie Jackson Mysteries is out soon, so I’m reposting my original review. On the first morning of her new job at Heartfield House, a care home for the elderly, Annie Jackson wakens from a terrifying dream. And when she arrives at the home, she knows that the first old man she meets is going to die. How she … Read More The Murmurs by Michael J Malone (Annie Jackson Mysteries #1) revisited

The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory, The Burial Plot is an unstoppable historical thriller about murder, manipulation, and a young woman trying to wrestle power from the hands of a dangerous man. But he’s always one step ahead . . . London, 1839. Where the cemeteries are full and there is money to be made in death, Bonnie and Crawford … Read More The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal

My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part Two

Here are my favourite 10 books of 2024 Part Two, not counting audiobooks. Quite a disparate selection for a change. Away Weekend by Lesley Fernández-Armesto Geraldine is divorced. Her military ex-husband Jonty has run off with Sally, leaving Geraldine with only her apricot poodle Bolly. She now lives in a tiny mews house in St John’s Wood. Then she meets Ellis, smooth, handsome, American, … Read More My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part Two

Fyneshade by Kate Griffin narrated by Charlie Sanderson

Many would find much to fear in Fyneshade’s dark and crumbling corridors, its unseen master and silent servants. But not I. For they have far more to fear from me… On the day of her grandmother’s funeral, Marta discovers that she is to be sent to be governess at Fyneshade, her charge the young daughter of the owner, Sir William Pritchard. All is not … Read More Fyneshade by Kate Griffin narrated by Charlie Sanderson

The Black Feathers by Rebecca Netley

Where ghosts tread, black feathers fall . . . When Annie marries widower Edward Stonehouse and arrives at Guardbridge, his estate on the Yorkshire moors, she thinks she has finally put darkness behind her. She is mistaken. Edward’s sister, Iris, still lives in the family home. A taxidermist and medium, she urges Annie to watch out for black feathers – claiming that they mark … Read More The Black Feathers by Rebecca Netley

The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell

From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a gripping tale of obsession, superstition and ambition, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Victorian London. Be careful what you wish for it may just come true. At The Mercury Theatre in London’s West End, rumours are circulating of a curse. It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic … Read More The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell

The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell

As the age of the photograph dawns in Victorian Bath, silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. Still recovering from a serious illness herself, making enough money to support her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric has never been easy, but then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another… Why is … Read More The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell

Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson translated by David Warriner 

Art expert Emma Lindhal is anxious when she’s asked to appraise the antiques in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found. As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery yields clues that lead to another, Emma becomes determined to uncover … Read More Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson translated by David Warriner 

Jump Cut by Helen Grant

The Simulacrum is the most famous lost movie in film history – would you tell someone your darkest secrets, just to lay hands on a copy?  104-year-old Mary Arden is the last surviving cast member of a notorious lost film. Holed up in Garthside, an Art Deco mansion reputed to be haunted, she has always refused interviews.  Twitter #JumpCut @helengrantsays @Fledglingpress @KellyALacey @lovebookstours #JumpCutTour #Ad #LBTCrew #BookTwitter Instagram @helengrantsays Now … Read More Jump Cut by Helen Grant

The Murmurs (Annie Jackson Mysteries #1) by Michael J Malone

On the first morning of her new job at Heartfield House, a care home for the elderly, Annie Jackson wakens from a terrifying dream. And when she arrives at the home, she knows that the first old man she meets is going to die. How she knows this is a terrifying mystery, but it is the start of horrifying premonitions … a rekindling of … Read More The Murmurs (Annie Jackson Mysteries #1) by Michael J Malone

The Belladonna Maze by Sinéad Crowley

An old house can hold many secrets. Hollowpark in the west of Ireland certainly does. At the heart of the gardens is an intricate maze, named after a deadly poison, Belladonna. If you know the way through, it’s magical, a hiding place and playground like no other. If you don’t, it’s a place of fear and sinister riddles, where a young girl once went … Read More The Belladonna Maze by Sinéad Crowley