As Halloween looms, A House of Ghosts is the ideal spooky treat for you all to enjoy! With murder, ghosts and just the right amount of sexual tension this is a gripping page turner. It is the perfect read as the cold, dark nights draw in.
W.C. Ryan skilfully employs the use of the classic Agatha Christie structure of a remote weekend party setting with murder mystery – yet brilliantly interweaves it with an enticing ghost story. Added into the mix is a wartime drama, espionage and the brilliant use of humour which had me storming through this historic fiction at a rapid pace.
Set during the First World War on the weekend of the 1917 Winter Solstice, Lord and Lady Highmount invite a select gathering to their remote island home, Blackwater Abbey. Along with many of the guests, the Highmount’s have tragically lost loved ones in the war. Hence the aim of the weekend is to hold a seance in the hope of communicating with their lost loved ones.
As Lord Highmount has made his fortune manufacturing weapons, he plays a key role in the war effort. But with many soldiers ill equipped for the horrific conditions on the front line, some blame Highmount for the wartime slaughter. Furthermore it appears that secret war plans have got into the hands of the enemy.
One of the guests at the party is Miss Kate Cunningham, an acquaintance of the Highmount family. However Kate has an ulterior motive for attending – she has been tasked by the Secret Service to go to the party to discover which one of the guests is a German spy. Kate also has a unique gift – she can see ghosts.
Kate is accompanied by her estranged fiance and Captain Robert Donovan, who also works for the Secret Service.
With tensions already high, a storm descends and cuts the island and its inhabitants off. The Highmounts’ and their guests are trapped. Then a murder is committed.
Full of drama and intrigue with short, snappy chapters, I raced through A House of Ghosts and loved every page. It was one of these books where I kept thinking ‘I’ll just read one more chapter‘ and before I knew it, I’d finished it!
Personally I love history and I feel I know a lot about the First World War (I’m a bit of a history buff). However A House of Ghosts introduced me to historical facts about World War 1 that I didn’t know. Yes, I found these facts unsettling, but it was really interesting and I feel people need to know about them.
I thoroughly enjoyed A House of Ghosts and really recommend it – especially if you love a good whodunnit with a bit of a twist. It’s available now, so I urge you all to read it!
Thank you to Tracy Fenton from Compulsive Readers for inviting me to be part of the blog tour to help promote this great read. However a massive thank you to W.C. Ryan for keeping me gripped throughout.
To also read the reviews of A House of Ghosts from my fellow book bloggers, please see below.
Happy reading everyone! 🙂
My rating:
