I really enjoyed this one from start to finish. I also enjoyed Ware's earlier novels IN A DARK, DARK WOOD and THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10, but to me, this one really was a great novel in the vein of Daphne du Maurier. In fact, it reminded me a lot of REBECCA with the old family mansion and the creepy housekeeper that could have been another Mrs. Danvers.
Harriet (Hal) Westaway is a young woman who does tarot card reading at the beach in Brighton. Her mother recently was killed in a hit and run accident and Hal is having a very hard time paying her bills even going so far as to risk getting money from a loan shark. So when Hal gets a notice in the mail that her grandmother passed away and has left Hal an inheritance of some kind she ponders that she may have a way to get her affairs in order even though she believes this to be a clerical error because her grandparents have been dead for years. Desperate, Hal decides that with her knowledge of people based on her years reading tarot cards, she can try to fraudulently claim the inheritance. When Hal arrives to the Westaway family home in Cornwall, she is quickly drawn into a family and its history with many secrets. Did Mrs. Westaway really mean to name Hal in her will? What happened to the youngest sister in the family and could Hal really be the granddaughter of Mrs Westaway? Hal realizes right away that something is wrong with this family, but doesn't seem to be able to figure out what is going on. The angry housekeeper, Mrs. Warren, warns her that she may be in danger but why? As the novel progresses, the suspense grows with it.
Overall, a very good Gothic mystery novel that kept me turning the pages. I would highly recommend it.
Harriet (Hal) Westaway is a young woman who does tarot card reading at the beach in Brighton. Her mother recently was killed in a hit and run accident and Hal is having a very hard time paying her bills even going so far as to risk getting money from a loan shark. So when Hal gets a notice in the mail that her grandmother passed away and has left Hal an inheritance of some kind she ponders that she may have a way to get her affairs in order even though she believes this to be a clerical error because her grandparents have been dead for years. Desperate, Hal decides that with her knowledge of people based on her years reading tarot cards, she can try to fraudulently claim the inheritance. When Hal arrives to the Westaway family home in Cornwall, she is quickly drawn into a family and its history with many secrets. Did Mrs. Westaway really mean to name Hal in her will? What happened to the youngest sister in the family and could Hal really be the granddaughter of Mrs Westaway? Hal realizes right away that something is wrong with this family, but doesn't seem to be able to figure out what is going on. The angry housekeeper, Mrs. Warren, warns her that she may be in danger but why? As the novel progresses, the suspense grows with it.
Overall, a very good Gothic mystery novel that kept me turning the pages. I would highly recommend it.
