A House of Ghosts by W. C. Ryan

A House of Ghosts
By W. C. Ryan
Published by Zaffre (4 October 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher's description

Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives.

At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends on the island, the guests will find themselves trapped. Soon one of their number will die.

For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one . . .

My verdict
I loved this spooky book, with its wartime theme, haunted house and claustrophobic Island setting.

House of Ghosts is an old-fashioned ghost story set in 1917, mixed with Christie-type classic crime and espionage. It's grim, dark and chilling, highlighting the mental and physical scars of the returning soldiers and the grief of the families of those who didn't return from the war at all.

Here, you have a locked room scenario, with an authentic array of characters trapped on a windswept island off the Devon coastline, a murderer among them. There are grieving hosts, dubious clairvoyants, dedicated staff and some unexpected house guests. The two main characters, Kate and Donovan, investigate lies and deception, murder and sabotage. The house, Blackwater Abbey, is a character in its own right, with its ghostly corridors, secret passages and tunnels and creaky floorboards.

Short snappy chapters keep the storyline moving at a fast pace, with lots of cliffhangers, heart-pounding moments and surprises in store. I was having such a great time reading this murder mystery that I really didn't want it to end. Despite its unsettling nature, the book is filled with humour, creating an enjoyable atmospheric read. I don't know if this is the start of a series. But I'm hoping there will be another book featuring Kate and Donovan, with more espionage and ghostly goings-on.

Perfect for dark stormy nights, as well as cold winter one!

Susi Holliday's spooky holiday snaps!

I am delighted to be today's stop on the blog tour for The Lingering by S.J.I. (Susi) Holliday. I love looking at Susi's holiday posts on social media, as she's been to some fascinating (and often scary-looking) places. So I asked her if she would share some of her spookiest destinations on Off-the-Shelf Books today. The Lingering was published by Orenda Books on 15 November 2018.

Susi Holliday's spooky holiday snaps!

Growing up near Edinburgh, there was never any shortage of eerie places to discover in my youth – the old town streets are oozing with dark history, especially Mary King’s Close - the street full of plague victims that was blocked off – while all the inhabitants were still alive; and Greyfriars Kirkyard – the most haunted graveyard in the world – where George ‘Bloody’ Mackenzie imprisoned the covenanters and left them there to die. So, with that morbid history imprinted on me from the start, it’s no great surprise that I developed a fascination with the creepy and macabre on my travels… here’s a small selection of my favourites.

A scary Mexican saloon

No Scum Allowed Saloon’ – a bar in White Oaks, New Mexico. Once a mining community, and now officially a ghost town, this place was once frequented by Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. We stayed in a dilapidated mobile home on an old rock mine… and didn’t sleep a wink. 

Eerie desert sands

On the same trip, we visited White Sands National Monument – an eerie desert of gypsum and calcium sands, bordering the White Sands Missile Range, where they tested the first atomic bomb.

Haunting Chinese memorial

Nanjing Massacre Museum, China – a haunting place filled with the bones of the dead. I found out about it after reading Mo Hayder’s book ‘Tokyo’ and became fascinated by a dark period of history that I had previously known nothing about. This led me to read Iris Chang’s book ‘The Rape of Nanking’ – and it was only when I saw the memorial to her here that I found out that she had committed suicide two years earlier, purportedly haunted by her research.

Statues of remembrance

Jizo Statues, Kamakura, Japan – another thing I learned about in Mo Hayder’s book – these are statues to remember unborn babies. It is believed that as the babies did not have the chance to build up good karma on earth, Jizo helps smuggle the children into the afterlife in the sleeves of his robe. Beautiful concept, but chilling, nonetheless.

Gothic Yorkshire ruins 

Whitby Abbey, Yorkshire – classic gothic pilgrimage spot, famous for being the place where Dracula came ashore as ‘a large dog’ and proceeded to climb the 199 steps which lead up to the ruins. The steps are a bit of a challenge, but it’s a must-do to get the full experience. There’s a youth hostel attached to the abbey, which is still on my ‘must-stay’ list.

Dracula's Transylvanian castle

Bran Castle, Transylvania – the famous ‘Dracula’s Castle’ – very difficult to get to, and while it’s a fascinating place, the journey there via a (possibly) psychotic Romanian taxi driver was more frightening than Bram Stoker’s book, the true story of Vlad the Impaler, and the tourist-eating brown bears that roam the mountains, all put together.

Czech church of bones

Kutna Hora Ossuary, Czech Republic – a church full of bones, apparently decorated by a mad monk… again, while the place itself was quite eerie, it was far more chilling walking the streets of this almost deserted town in the Czech countryside.

Creepy Cornwall moors

The Jamaica Inn, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall – nothing much to report during the day, although walking across the moor in the fog is quite an experience – but come night-time, when the bus parties of cream-tea tourists have departed, this place is more than a little creepy… another place where I didn’t sleep a wink!

            

About S.J.I. (Susi) Holliday

S.J.I. (Susi) Holliday is a pharmaceutical statistician by day and a crime and horror fan by night. Her short stories have been published in many places and she was shortlisted for the inaugural CWA Margery Allingham prize with her story ‘Home from Home’, which was published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in spring 2017. She is the bestselling author of the creepy and claustrophobic Banktoun trilogy (Black Wood, Willow Walk and The Damselfly) featuring the much-loved Sergeant Davie Gray, and has dabbled in festive crime with the critically acclaimed The Deaths of December. Her latest psychological thriller is modern gothic with more than a hint of the supernatural, which she loved writing due to her fascination and fear of ghosts. She is proud to be one of The Slice Girls has been described by David Mark as 'Dark as a smoker's lung.' She divides her time between Edinburgh and London and you will find her at crime-fiction events in the UK and abroad. 

Find S.J.I Holliday on Facebook, on her website and on Twitter - @SJIHolliday

About The Lingering

The Lingering

By S.J.I. Holliday

Published by Orenda Books (15 November 2018)

Publisher's description

Married couple Jack and Ali Gardiner move to a self-sufficient commune in the English Fens, desperate for fresh start. The local village is known for the witches who once resided there and Rosalind House, where the commune has been established, is a former psychiatric home, with a disturbing history.
When Jack and Ali arrive, a chain of unexpected and unexplained events is set off, and it becomes clear that they are not all that they seem. As the residents become twitchy, and the villagers suspicious, events from the past come back to haunt them, and someone is seeking retribution...


Here's a snippet from my review: 'Susi Holliday has created a brilliant combination of psychological thriller and ghostly mystery - a 'chiller thriller' or 'ghostly noir'.'

Read my full review here.

Follow the Blog Tour

The Lingering by Susi Holliday

The Lingering
By Susi Holliday
Published by Orenda Books (Ebook - 15 September; Paperback - 15 November)

Publisher's description

Married couple Jack and Ali Gardiner move to a self-sufficient commune in the English Fens, desperate for fresh start. The local village is known for the witches who once resided there and Rosalind House, where the commune has been established, is a former psychiatric home, with a disturbing history.
When Jack and Ali arrive, a chain of unexpected and unexplained events is set off, and it becomes clear that they are not all that they seem. As the residents become twitchy, and the villagers suspicious, events from the past come back to haunt them, and someone is seeking retribution…

My verdict
Writer Susi Holliday combined with publisher Orenda Books is a winning formula for me. Susi is one of my favourite authors, and I love her writing, having watched it develop from her Banktoun Trilogy crime series through to last year's festive crime novel The Deaths of December and now The Lingering, a cleverly plotted ghostly thriller that left me tingling. This certainly proves her versatility as a writer, and I can't wait to see what's coming next.

I don't want to give away too much about The Lingering. For me, it was all about thrills, chills and surprises, and I wouldn't want to deprive anyone else of that experience. But I will say that it has an amazing sense of foreboding from the start and one particular 'gasp out loud' game-changing moment somewhere along the way before the end.

The characters are very real, from newcomers Jack and Ali to 'Fairy' Angela and Smeaton - a group of people who have made Rosalind House their home, a self-sufficient commune where they can escape from their previous, often-troubled lives. I found myself right inside their heads, whether chapters were written in the first or third person. Susi Holliday has created one of the most 'seemingly ordinary' evil protagonists I've come across for a while.

Rosalind House is a key component of the story, bringing the characters together and also the past and the present. This former psychiatric home has a disturbing history and is filled with secrets. When newcomer Ali experiences some strange happenings, it makes her (and made me, as the reader) wonder what horrors took place there, what evil lingers there and whether it is the house itself or the occupants, past or current, causing the darkness within its walls. The vivid descriptions made me feel like I was there too, experiencing some shocking moments - there are couple of scenes in particular that have remained in my head.

The Lingering is a dark, creepy story delving into the true nature of evil. Is it born, taught or guided? Nature or nurture? And can you ever escape from your past mistakes? Susi Holliday has created a brilliant combination of psychological thriller and ghostly mystery - a 'chiller thriller' or 'ghostly noir'.

Put this on your shopping list!