Genres
Friday, 18 December 2015
Eve (A Christmas Ghost Story) by Shani Struthers
Reviewer: Gillian Hamer, author of The Charter, Closure, Complicit, Crimson Shore & False Lights (www.gillianhamer.com)
What we thought: There's nothing better than a chilling ghost story on a dark winter's night, and I was totally absorbed by this story and look forward to reading more from this author. And as an aside, I thought the cover fitted the genre perfectly, the spooky, aged photos with faces blanked gave me a shiver before I even read the opening line!
A Yorkshire village, Thorpe Morton, has been haunted for a century by 59 victims, many of them children, of a terrible tragedy that was never really explained. The author clearly loves her research, and I found the background fascinating and well delivered. Lead characters are psychic investigators, Theo Lawson and Ness Patterson, who arrive in the town to attempt to give peace to the disturbed spirits, but are led on a journey of problems that lead to a tense and emotional climax.
Eve is a well thought out and gritty ghost story without all of the 'fluff' usually associated with Christmas-themed books. It's certainly does its job by drawing the reader into the series of books, and touches on many topics, like social equality, that you wouldn't expect to find in this genre.
Highly recommend and I look forward to reading more from this author!
You’ll enjoy this if you like: PD James, MR James.
Avoid if you don’t like: Ghosts and Yorkshire.
Ideal accompaniments: Boiled suet pudding and a half of stout.
Genre: Paranormal.
Available from Amazon
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