At Terrington Hall, objects are treasured while people are forgotten.
Chief conservator Amy is restoring the Hurly family’s guilt-stained hoard when a theft forces her to hire Harrison, a security adviser on a personal quest to uncover his own history.
Unknown to anyone, an invisible presence woven into the fabric of the house watches their every move.
When Harrison uncovers a room sealed for decades, the investigation shifts from simple theft to the resurrection of murderous secrets. In a house where the past is too heavy to escape, the dead don’t
need bodies to tell their stories — they just need someone to listen.
One house. Two mysteries. Two centuries apart.
Rachel Walkley is a former librarian and scientist who lives in the North West of England, where she spends her spare time making music and writing. Her debut novel, The Women of Heachley Hall, was
a bestseller in the UK and Australia.
Known for weaving together family secrets, magical mysteries, old houses and inspirational women, Rachel also writes gripping female-led crime novels under the pen name Rae Shaw.
Rachel Walkley’s author website
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My thoughts: This was a really engaging and interesting read set in one of those grand old houses looked after by the National Trust or English Heritage.
During a major restoration and audit, it becomes apparent that someone has been quietly pilfering small but valuable objects from the house, Amy is horrified, as chief conservator it is her job to make sure nothing is missing. Hoping the items will turn up elsewhere in the house, as things have been all jumbled up and no proper list of the house’s contents exists, she keeps quiet, but hires Harrison to draw up a security protocol and keep an eye on things as the work continues.
Harrison has a personal connection to the house and its former occupants, he’s keen to dig through the papers stored in the old school room to look for traces of his ancestors. But what he and Amy find in the house is a hidden history more wretched than they could imagine. It brings them closer together as they determine to bring the secrets into the light and expose them.
This story feels quite timely as more institutions wrestle with the dark parts of their history – from the relationship between the wealth that built these grand houses and slavery, which even the Royal Family is tainted by. A really fascinating and thought provoking read.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 