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Murder Under The Tuscan Sun – Rachel Rhys

An isolated castle, a deadly crime. Is this real or a nightmare?

In a remote castle high up in the Tuscan hills secrets are simmering among its glamorous English residents:

The ailing gentleman art-dealer
His dazzling niece
Her handsome Fascist husband
Their neglected young daughter
The housekeeper who knows everything
and Connie, the English widow working for them.

Every night, Connie hears sinister noises and a terrible wailing inside the walls. Is she losing her grip on reality?

Or does someone in the castle want her gone?

I received a review copy from the publishers and was invited to join the blog tour by Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours.

I find myself reading another historical thriller. While I’d normally say this was most unlike me, it really isn’t at the moment – I have been loving the recent selection of books I’ve picked up which have transported me back in time and has allowed the respective authors to set their characters into some utterly fascinating locations. No surprises for guessing where the events of Murder Under the Tuscan Sun will play out – the lure of an Italian setting drew me to the title, the added bonus of seeing Rachel Rhys as the author convinced me this was a book I wanted to read. I was NOT disappointed with this decision.

Murder Under the Tuscan Sun (hereafter “Tuscan Sun”) very much benefits from the wonderful job Rachel Rhys has done in capturing the feel of the Tuscan castle and surrounding area where heiress beauty, Evelyn Manetti, and her handsome husband, Roberto, live. Into their grand residence where the Manetti’s live with Evelyn’s young daughter, her ailing uncle and the local woman that acts as their housekeeper arrives Connie Bowen.

Connie is approaching fifty years of age, she’s lost her husband after a largely loveless marriage and also lost her beloved daughter; so it’s just Connie and her son James. James does what he can to support his mother but her finances are tight and, to James’s horror, she has found a position in Italy where she will be a career/companion for Mr North – once a renowned art expert but now in poor health.

Connie helped treat soldiers who had been injured during the First World War, despite her lack of formal training she feels able to care for one individual and is thrilled to be offered the post. She makes plans to depart for Florence much to James’s horror.

On arrival at the Manetti’s beautiful home things seem ideal, a young besotted couple living in a beautiful corner of Italy and Evelyn is delighted Connie will be able to look after her uncle. But soon things start to sour. The Manetti’s relationship with Evelyn’s daughter is strained and distant. Mr North is an objectionable patient. Their beautiful home is dark and terrifying of an evening – stories of the ghost of a young girl who played violin can’t be forgotten when Connie hears violin music in the dead of night.

Connie continues to try to make the very best of her new role but it’s draining and challenging. Her hosts are an odd couple and Connie is horrified to discover Mr Manetti is a fascist and a prominent member of a right wing party. His treatment of his wife concerns Connie and how both Manetti’s treat their housekeeper also shocks her. Connie’s confidence starts to wane and the lack of trust and support she receives compounds this.

Tuscan Sun is very much Connie’s story and Rachel Rhys masterfully charts her concerns, frustrations and her slide into self-doubt. There are clearly many things amiss in this idyllic home but can Connie keep her wits about her to provide the care and support her patient needs and can she keep on the good side of her employers to ensure her employment does not end in disgrace or disaster?

This is a beautifully written story and a masterful depiction of human behaviours and emotion. There is a constant edge of unease and concern for Connie and much of what she is prepared to accept, in deference to her employers, and because of the conduct expected at that period in history, caused this reader some frustration. Kudos to Rachel Rhys here for getting me so invested in these characters.

Murder Under the Tuscan Sun, fabulous writing, claustrophobic thrills, brilliantly realised characters – great reading to be had here.

Murder Under the Tuscan Sun is available now in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/murder-under-the-tuscan-sun/rachel-rhys/9781529176575

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February 22

The Golden Key – Marian Womack

1901. After the death of Queen Victoria, England heaves with the uncanny. Séances are held and the dead are called upon from darker realms.

Helena Walton-Cisneros, known for her ability to find the lost and the displaced, is hired by the elusive Lady Matthews to solve a twenty-year-old mystery: the disappearance of her three stepdaughters who vanished without a trace on the Norfolk Fens.

But the Fens are an age-old land, where folk tales and dark magic still linger. The locals speak of devilmen and catatonic children are found on the Broads. Here, Helena finds what she was sent for, as the Fenland always gives up its secrets, in the end…

My thanks to Polly Grist at Titan Books for the review copy and a chance to host this leg of The Golden Key blog tour.

It’s 1901. The Queen is dead and at the start of the 20th century the “norms” of Victorian England are being challenged a bit more than some may have considered possible during the long reign of Victoria. One notable change is a rise in spiritualism and the need for people to reach out and contact the deceased. As has always been the way; the rise in demand will increase the number of spiritualists who may appear and make themselves available. Through the story of The Golden Key I enjoyed seeing the spiritualists and mediums that arrived in London were being challenged and treated with suspicion by the Gentlemen who sought proof their craft was real. Seances in controlled situations were demanded, investigations into how the spiritualist could possibly know personal information about their paying customers were conducted. I also very much enjoyed being reminded that these gatherings and seances would take place in the spiritualist’s home, an evening gathering in the parlour where dark rooms were lit by candles and shadows dominate the proceedings – it creates wonderful imagery.

Much of The Golden Key is viewed through the eyes of Helena Walton-Cisneros. She is a feisty and determined character, indeed the first time we meet her she appears shifty, out of place and then to avoid scrutiny she delivers a single blow to our (then) narrator to render him unconscious. What a great way to introduce the lead character, though perhaps not so great for our other main voice (Sam Moncrieff).

Sam’s story is interwoven with that of Helena. He is plagued by recurring dreams of a terrifying house and he cannot recall if he has visited the house in question or if it is a figment of his imagination. He feels Helena may be able to help him find some answers, however, he also has a degree of caution and suspicion around her skills. When he challenges her to read his cards and asks that she does not try to embellish her performance and just deal in facts Sam finds there may be more to Helena’s skills than he is willing to accept.

The story is, at heart, an investigation by Helena into the disapparance of three sisters on the fens many years earlier. This issue fades into the background for parts of the story but the narrative keeps us pushing along and often incidents which appear unrelated can be tied to the main story. As befits a Victorian ghostly story the narrative can be fanciful in telling and once or twice I was re-reading passages to re-affirm to myself what had just occurred (the curse of being something of a skim reader). I was most happy when the ghosts were abound or the seances were ramping up but I did enjoy watching Helena piece together elements of the case she had been engaged to investigate.

Crossing a ghost story with a historical novel is always great for that creepy, gothic vibe and The Golden Key ticked all the boxes in that regard. Once the characters had been established and the tale picked up pace I found I was drawn into the story and every creak of my house would make me jump.

Fun reading – slightly too flighty in the narrative at times as events jumped around a bit more than I had expected but a good tale running through this one and ghostly appearances are always time well spent in a book.

The Golden Key is published by Titan Books and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1789093252/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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September 26

Bone China – Laura Purcell

Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft’s family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken.

But Dr Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the same disease in the cliffs beneath his new Cornish home.

Forty years later, Hester Why arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralysed and almost entirely mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try and escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers that her new home may be just as dangerous as her last.

My thanks to publishers, Raven Books, for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

Now that the nights are “fair drawing in” it is very much the time to start looking for the best of the creepy, gothic stories to read on the dark and stormy nights. While I cannot deliver on the appropriate weather conditions I *can* bring a good wee story to your attention which very much meets the creepy gothic criteria.

Laura Purcell’s Bone China takes the reader to Cornwall back in the days when large residences had housekeepers, ladies maids, butlers, coachmen and a plethora of other staff to keep a household ticking over. The families who owned these homes seemed to be measured by the size of their staff, the skill of the cook etc. So when we meet Hester Why as she travels to Cornwall the reader is not sure why she is leaving a good role in London to take on a position in a rundown old home in one of the remotest parts of the country.

From the very outset it becomes clear Hester is not in a good place. Sneaking drinks of gin from a flask which she tries to conceal from other passengers and trying to ensure she does not draw any attention to herself. However, her attempts to remain unnoticed will be dashed when her carriage is involved in an accident and her skills are needed to help save the life of a fellow traveller.

Arriving at her new place of employ in a muddy and bloody state Hester is surprised to find she will be sharing room (and bed) with another staff member – a marked comedown from her previous role in one of the most illustrious homes in London.

The narrative jumps back to Hester’s former life when she was known by a different name and when her previous mistress treated her with favours and comfort above societies norms of the time.

Back to Hester in her new role at Moroven House. It is a constantly cold place. Her new mistress is near invalid who has an unhealthy obsession with sitting by her china collection and appears terrified to leave her plates and cups unattended.

Her new mistress has a young ward in her care but the two never spend any time together and the ward is watched by another servant who has little time for Hester. The mysterious pair spend time in a different part of the house and Hester finds that the child plays in a the middle of a ring of salt – a ring which should not be broken. Hester scorns their backward belief in sprites and fairy-folk but as the story unfolds it does seem that there are strange goings on at Morvoren House.

As the blurb above indicates there is another character to feature prominently in Bone China…Louise Pinecroft. The author takes us 40 years into the past to see the mistress of the house as a young woman. Her father is a brilliant doctor who is devoting his time to find a cure to the terrible disease consumption. Louise is convinced her father is on the path to a major breakthrough but at what cost to his own health?

Laura Purcell is, without doubt, one of the best of the current crop of newly published authors who are making a real name for themselves. Few can match her when it comes to penning gothic chillers as she captures the atmosphere and feeling needed to carry off these stories. If you get the chance to pick up her terrific debut, The Silent Companions, then grab it – that one was special.

Bone China. Clever, unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable – watch out for it.

Bone China is published by Raven Books and is available in Hardback, Digital and Audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1526602539/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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September 3

House of Spines – Michael J Malone

Ran McGhie’s world has been turned upside down. A young, lonely and frustrated writer, and suffering from mental-health problems, he discovers that his long-dead mother was related to one of Glasgow’s oldest merchant families. Not only that, but Ran has inherited Newton Hall, a vast mansion that belonged to his great-uncle, who appears to have been watching from afar as his estranged great-nephew has grown up. Entering his new-found home, he finds that Great-Uncle Fitzpatrick has turned it into a temple to the written word – the perfect place for poet Ran.

But everything is not as it seems. As he explores the Hall’s endless corridors, Ran’s grasp on reality appears to be loosening. And then he comes across an ancient lift; and in that lift a mirror. And in the mirror … the reflection of a woman …

A terrifying psychological thriller with more than a hint of the Gothic, House of Spines is a love letter to the power of books, and an exploration of how lust and betrayal can be deadly…

My thanks to Karen and Anne who allowed me the opportunity to join the House of Spines blog tour

This is the type of review I hate writing – the one where I enjoyed a book so much that I don’t think I can put the rights words together to convey how much I lost myself to this story.

Ran McGhie seems to be the luckiest fellow in the West. He has been left a sizeable property on the outskirts of Glasgow (one of the posh bits of town) and charged with looking after the immense book collection that his great uncle amassed during a long and prosperous life.

It transpires that Ran’s mother had fled the family home many years before and turned her back on her kin. Ran grew up oblivious to his mother’s background but we learn that his (secret) family have not entirely ignored Ran. His great uncle kept an eye on Ran down the years and has come to the conclusion that in a family of odious and self-serving Fitzpatrick’s that Ran McGhie can keep his legacy going. The family solicitor reaches out to Ran and tells him that his crushed wee flat will soon be replaced by the sumptious Newton Hall. He will have a house with a huge number of rooms, a housekeeper and gardener, a private lift, a pool, a gym and most significantly an enormous library but there are conditions attached to the inheritance.

Ran accepts his good fortune and tries to settle in his new home. But something odd seems to happen in Newton Hall and Ran finds his sleep becomes disturbed, he is drawn more than once to a mirror and in the reflections he sees a woman.

What had been a creepy story suddenly ramps it up several notches and I was hooked. A giant mansion house with the promise of a ghost soon gives us a disturbing insight into the dark history of a family where money has been no object and the family members are all too used to getting their own way.

Ran was not the only potential heir to the Fitzgerald estate and it does not take long before “new” family members will make themselves known to Ran – they have their own plans for Newton Hall and are keen to keep Ran onside to help them fulfill their goals. Following Ran through the story I could not help but cheer him on as he learns to stand up for himself in the face of the arrogant elite class. But there was worry too as Ran is out of his depth and fighting more than one battle (no spoilers) things look bleak.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoyed House of Spines. I love a ghost story, I love a mystery and I love how Michael J Malone delivers such engaging characters. He sure knows how to plot a twisty, pacy tale and he caught me off guard more than once. House of Spines is a belter – you need this in your life.

House of Spines is published by Orenda and available from 15 September 2017 in both paperback and digital format – you can get a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Spines-Michael-J-Malone-ebook/dp/B06Y6LSMBS/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

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