Review: The Key in the Lock by Beth Underdown

The absolutely gorgeous cover for this book first caught my eye, and then I realised it was written by Beth Underdown, who also wrote The Witchfinder's Sister, which I had previously enjoyed.

The Key in the Lock is a dual timeline mystery, set in Cornwall in 1888 and 1918. Ivy is the daughter of the village doctor, who is slowly becoming too old and frail to practise medicine. There is an understanding that she will marry the local coroner, who is a lot older than her, but Ivy has a crush on Edward who lives at the Great House - although he is engaged to another woman. Thirty years later and Ivy is overcome with grief at losing her son during the war, in mysterious (perhaps dishonourable) circumstances. As she becomes obsessed with finding out the truth about his death, she remembers her part in the events of the past, when the Great House caught fire and a young child died.

The Key in the Lock is an enjoyable historical mystery with a touch of the gothic and a tiny hint of supernatural. Right from the start there is an atmosphere of menace with the sinister house and the thoroughly unpleasant man who owns it - and keeps the key to every room. The lines between class are very strongly drawn and I did feel for Ivy when she inadvertently ended up acting as a maid at the house (because they were short staffed), waiting on Edward's fiancée, when in reality she would have been almost the other woman's equal.

Recommended to fans of Sarah Waters (The Little Stranger) and Jane Healey (The Animals at Lockwood Manor).

Thank you to Beth Underdown and Viking (Penguin) for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Related post:

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown

Review: The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

Well, I read this one in twenty-four hours flat! I picked it up, meaning to read a few pages and return to it later, but was completely and utterly hooked. I ended up reading the last half in the evening without realising it had got dark outside until I hit the last page. And reading this book while sitting in the dark is not really a good idea!

The Silent Companions is a deliciously gothic mystery/horror with a dual timeline - Victorian England and the reign of Charles I. The story starts with a new doctor meeting one of the patients at St Joseph's Hospital for the Insane. The patient is mute so she writes down the events that led to her incarceration a year ago. We then switch to Elsie Bainbridge, newly married, newly widowed, arriving at her husband's crumbling ancestral home to wait for her baby to be born. She's also running from scandal - her husband was wealthy and the whispers about whether or not his death was natural have already started. Although escorted by her younger brother, he soon leaves her in the company of a few resentful servants and her husband's widowed cousin, Sarah. When Elsie and Sarah explore the house they find two wooden props, skillfully painted to look like children, hidden away in a locked garret: a girl and a gypsy boy - and the girl looks just like Elsie...

As you will have already worked out, I found The Silent Companions absolutely gripping. It's very well-written and very fast-paced - unusual for this kind of novel. Something happens on practically every page and the clever thing is that until almost the very end you are never quite sure whether Elsie is imagining everything that happens, or if she's being 'Gaslighted', or if there really was something evil locked up in that garret.

One of my favourite reads this year. Recommended, particularly if you love authors such as Shirley Jackson and Daphne du Maurier, stories like The Turn of the Screw and The Woman in Black - and terrifying yourself half to death on a dark autumn evening!

Thank you to Laura Purcell, Raven Books/Bloomsbury, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

Links:

If you're curious as to what a 'silent companion' actually looks like, you'll find pictures on the author's Pinterest page.

Review: Dr Jekyll and Mr Seek by Anthony O'Neill

I downloaded this book because I was attracted by the stunning cover. I was also intrigued as to how this sequel to the famous Robert Louis Stevenson novella, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, would play out. I don't have anything against prequels, sequels and re-imaginings to classic novels, provided it's not a novel (Pride and Prejudice!) that's already been done to death.

After starting this novella, I realised I should have re-read the original, because I only had a hazy memory of some of the characters. But it is very well-written, in the style of a Victorian novella, and I soon became gripped by the story.

Almost seven years ago, murderer Mr Hyde was found dead the same day that Dr Jekyll mysteriously vanished. Only his friend, Mr Utterson, knew that the two men were one and the same. Now that Dr Jekyll has been missing for seven years he can be declared legally dead, and Mr Utterson can inherit his property and propose to the woman he loves. Unfortunately, two days before this can happen, someone moves into Dr Jekyll's old house, changes the locks, and announces that he is Dr Jekyll returned from the dead.

This starts Mr Utterson's obsession with proving the man is a fraud. And, as much as I enjoyed the story, part of me did want to say 'Get over it already!' Also, without going into spoiler territory, I did not like the ending.

However, I did think Dr Jekyll and Mr Seek was a clever story and I liked the writing style (which, for some reason, reminded me of Susan Hill's Victorian ghost stories). I think it would appeal to anyone who likes reading Victorian-style mysteries but fans of the original might be taken aback by that ending.

Thank you to Anthony ONeill, Black & White Publishing, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.