My Five Word TL:DR Review: A View to Die For

I loved It Was Her House First by Cherie Priest.  It was easy to read, the writing is excellent and there’s a mystery at the core of this haunted house that I really wanted to uncover.

Ronnie Mitchell has just bought a house at auction, unseen, with the intention of renovating it and making a beautiful place to live.  What she is perfectly unaware of is that the house is haunted.  It has a tragic past that continues to draw attention, in fact Ronnie isn’t the first person to purchase the place hoping to go to work – and it hasn’t ended well for the previous owners.

By way of a little background.  Ronnie is suffering from a huge dose of guilt, her brother died in a tragic accident and she believes herself to be guilty through neglect.  Ronnie has severe anxiety issues and was, at the time of her brother’s demise, taking medication that left her feeling numb and oddly disconnected with the world around her.  Now, she is able to purchase this huge project courtesy of the money bequeathed to her upon her brother’s death – this was unexpected and Ronnie is determined to make the most of this legacy by renovating this project to the best of her ability.  She’s accompanied by her brother’s girlfriend Kate (another source of guilt for Ronnie as Kate did not inherit a thing).

In terms of the house.  The house was built for Venita Rost, a successful movie star from the silent movie era.  Venita and her husband have an almost idyllic existence shared with their young daughter, that is until Venita’s husband befriends a famous investigator called Bartholomew Sloan.  At first everyone bumbles along quite nicely until Venita starts to develop suspicions about Bartholomew and begins to snoop into his affairs.  Within fairly short order the entire family is dead as is Bartholomew and the house is neglected, standing empty with just the ghosts from the past rattling around.

So, what I really enjoyed about this.

Firstly, the writing.  Priest writes with such flair and confidence.  Her characters all shine off the page and the jump between past and present is handled with finesse.  Clearly, this author knows a thing or two about renovating houses (or she’s undertaken a lot of research) and these elements really play into the story rather than feeling tacked on just for convenience’s sake.  In fact that’s true of the entire story.  There’s substance to everything included.  The house is a gothic masterpiece, the ghosts themselves feel fleshed out and the mystery is the hook that propels everything forward.  Plus the attention to detail, particularly the dialogue which feels really fitting depending which story you’re currently reading.

Secondly, I love a story with a dual timeline and this one is no exception.  We jump back and forth between now and the 1930s and Priest captures the element of both periods so well.  Ronnie is the central pov and she is accompanied by Bartholomew as he follows Ronnie around the house, gradually telling us his story, and of course the mesmerising Venita’s sections told through her water damaged journal.  I loved the way Venita shines from the page, she has a captivating presence and allure that has been honed during her time trapped as a ghost, her fury becoming a thing to be feared.

I loved the house setting.  It really feeds into the narrative with it’s creepy basement, dodgy floors and rat infested walls.  It really is a ‘fixer upper’.  And, it still contains most of the original furniture and trappings, right down to a rather spooky mirror on the Parlour wall.  I also think it worked really well as we flit between the past and present seeing the house in its splendour compared to the spooky thing it has transformed into.

And, I liked Ronnie, she doesn’t always make the best choices or indeed trust her gut instincts but she has a no nonsense approach to the house and it’s strange inhabitants.  Me, I’d be terrified, no way could I spend a night in that house but Ronnie just gets on with it – although she does use alcohol and other ‘things’ to sometimes boost her courage – which sometimes gives off slight ‘whiff’s of unreliability in terms of what she thinks she’s hearing or seeing.

Personally I thought Venita kind of stole the show with her magnetism and her beautifully written journal.  Bartholomew comes across as a slightly lumbering, guilt riddled guy who made bad choices and suffers terrible regrets.

I don’t think I can add too much more.  This isn’t a totally ‘in your face, all out action, story.  It does take it’s time a little to set the scene and develop the characters but this is something I really appreciated as it adds a certain gravitas.

A haunting with a difference, angry ghosts, a vaudevillian style villain and a protagonist determined to make her peace with this house and its strange inhabitants.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4.5 of 5 stars