Digital Reads Reviews

Many thanks to Tracy Fenton and Compulsive Readers for my spot on this Blog Tour.

Oh my! The cover and the Agatha Christie kind of a blurb along with the presence of ghosts in the title caught my eye immediately, and I knew I had to get my hands on this sweet number.

The setting was of the World War I in the winter of year 1917 where people were invited to the remote Abbey on an isolated Blackwater Island by Sir Francis and his wife. A seance was to be held to contact their sons via the mediums.

The many guests had their own agenda with secrets and lies hidden deep within them. Kate and Donovan, the narrators, were the most endearing of the lot, who started their own investigation when strange things happened, and Lord Francis was in danger.

My first book by author W. C. Ryan, it was the atmosphere that gripped me when I started reading. The stormy weather and the electricity going off added to the eeriness which brought out my goosebumps. The house had ghosts, but they were largely just spectators (my personal opinion, they should have been used to give me a good scare!!)

The book was a slow burn which initially laid down the foundation of the characters and creepy aura that this Abbey had. I looked at the characters with a suspicious eye as I was sure that everyone was up to no-good. The book gathered up pace from the mid half and kept me engrossed in it, wanting to know the mysteries hidden.

The steep slope of the finale, the elements of mystery and horror interspersed into it, and intelligent main characters made this a fun read.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

W. C. Ryan is also known as William Ryan, who has won acclaim for his historical crime novels in the Captain Korolev series. The first book, The Holy Thief, was shortlisted for a Crime Writer’s Association’s New Blood Dagger, a Barry Award, the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award,, and the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year. The second, The Bloody Meadow, was shortlisted for the Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year, and the third, The Twelfth Department, was also shortlisted for the Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year as well as the CWA’s Historical Fiction Dagger and was a Guardian Crime Novel of the Year. Hi s books have been published in eighteen countries. William lives in London and teaches creative writing at City University.

Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives.
At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends on the island, the guests will find themselves trapped. Soon one of their number will die.
For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one . . .

Publication Date: 4th October 2018

Publisher: Zaffre Books