This book was not what I was expecting . At this point I don’t even bother with reading what Jennifer McMahon’s books are about I just grab madly for them like a child on a shopping spree in the candy aisle. So the whole ghost story aspect of this came at me out of nowhere!
At first I wasn’t sure if this book was for me, it wasn’t the book I expected. It started in 1908, there are a lot of characters to get straight, where was my usual McMahon formula? I made it through 20 pages at 3am when I couldn’t sleep. And then I couldn’t sleep some more because I was already well and truly creeped out! The next morning in the fog I just expecting to see a sleeper stumbling toward me.
I was sold.
After that I had no trouble getting into the book. I still didn’t enjoy the 1908 parts of the book as much as the current section until about halfway through. By the end I was flipping through the pages as fast as possible. McMahon has a flawless way of sewing two timelines together so they play off one another revealing secrets to the mystery (or in this case both mysteries) at just the right pace.
This reads like a grown up version of the ghost stories I loved as a kid. It leans more heavily on movement in the shadows and creaking floorboards than big outright horror and that works well for me. I have a big imagination, I will scare myself more with a few creepy clues than anyone can scare me with long descriptions!
Overall a must read!