My Review (5 stars out of 5)
Finance solicitor Kate is wrenched from her legal firm when her estranged sister is admitted to hospital. Sibling Emma’s children need someone to take care of them until their mother is well enough to take over. Unfortunately, the relationship between the two sisters is not on an even keel, and due to a falling out several years earlier, Kate hasn’t even seen her sister or Emma’s offspring for some time. Picking up the children, Kate takes them home—to a gatehouse in the grounds of a creepy old house. Exploring Rookswood House, Kate discovers something of the history of the two sisters who lived there. But the house isn’t all it seems, and a spooky photograph leads Kate to think the place may be haunted. Along with a potential developer, Kate begins to dig into the secrets of the house, as well as coming to terms with her own difficult past…
This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’m happy to report that for the most part it is very well written, imaginative, and gripping. There were a couple of issues, but we’ll come to those in a moment. Ms Westwood has an engaging writing style, and the story drew me in from the first page. The plot is intriguing, and it was hard to see where it might lead. All the characters, particularly Kate and the scary head teacher, are totally believable and the twisty turny bits were a nice surprise when they came up. The author manages to keep the tension simmering away all the way through and while the clues are there, the denouement wasn’t at all obvious.
Having said that, there were a couple of Americanisms (e.g. ‘Me either’), which jarred in an otherwise very English setting. The other point (which I’m sure is just me being picky) is that the voice of the ‘weird sister’ seemed unnecessary. I think the book would’ve work just as well (perhaps better) without it.
Anyway. An entertaining and clever tale that kept me reading right to the end.
Author Bio
Lauren Westwood is an author of emotional women’s fiction and intelligent romance novels.
Social Media Links
NB This post first appeared as part of the Blog Tour for The House of Light and Shadow, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources
Colin Garrow 
hi Colin, I like that this book had a good twist you didn’t guess. A strong recommendation.
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Yes, it’s nice when you can’t work out the denouement.
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