My Five Word TL:DR Review: Again With The Twisted Ending

I do like Sarah Pinborough, she has a fantastic imagination and she is the Queen of Twists and in her latest novel she ramps up the tension and creates atmosphere that you could cut with a knife.  On top of this she gives to us a couple and a setting where nothing is at it first appears.  A haunted house with a difference and take a look at those crows on the cover – because they also play a role.

As the story begins Emily and her husband Freddie have moved into a new house in the country.  A beautiful country home by all accounts and away from the hustle and bustle of London.  Emily is recovering from a terrible accident and the peaceful setting will surely help with a speedy recover.  Except, Emily finds the house unsettling, Freddie rushed into the move when she was in hospital and she clearly isn’t fully on board but it is what it is.  This is their new home – bought as seen including things that go bump in the night.

This is a psychological novel.  It insinuates itself, creeps under your skin little by little.  Strange things happen in ‘the house’ and yet Emily is the only one who witnesses these occurences.  Is Emily a reliable narrator or not?  Also, the split povs definitely throw the cat amongst the pigeons as we get to hear the story from both Emily and Freddy’s perspective – and this definitely serves to illuminate some of the cracks appearing between the couple.

On top of this and the strange bumps in the night the house seems to be often shrouded in fog, but of course, winter is reluctant to give up it’s grasp.  And then, we have more people introduced who quite simply serve to thicken the plot.

I had a really good time with this.  The writing is pure Pinborough.  She writes such great characters and her dialogue is always spot on plus the pacing is good and keeps you reading even when you should take care of other things – like sleeping.

The setting is easy to fall into – the house you will probably want to run out of – and the supplementary characters, the all knowing vicar, the enigmatic local artist and of course Freddy – who seems to be escalating in a very strange way – all complement the story really well.

If you fancy some gothic haunting with creepy goings on and unreliable characters, not to mention a twist, that I really didn’t see coming at all, then give this a try.

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

My rating 4 of 5 stars