Pirate Patty Reviews

It’s always exciting when Hester Fox gives us another mystery to unravel! And this one is a really good one!

The first world war is over. Young Ivy Radcliffe has, with the stroke of a pen, inherited a manor. And a title. From people she is sure she has never heard of. Unfortunately, Ivy has lost a lot recently. Her parents and then her brother in the war and is still grieving and feeling quite alone in the world.

All that has changed and now Ivy may get a family of some type. Headed at once to the home, she finds it still in a bit of a shambles after the war and use as an infirmary for the soldiers. The place is enormous and the people are odd.

The people in the village talk about the abbey. People don’t want to stay there. It is supposedly haunted by a crazy monk who was into the occult. And it is a very unnerving place.

As Ivy explores she finds a library behind locked doors. Doors no-one wants her to open. But oh my the library! A book-lovers dream come true. So many books. But odd things begin to happen to her inside the library. Headaches, loss of time and memory.

As the servants try to keep her out of there, Ivy smells a mystery and goes exploring. People talk about a mysterious manuscript the monk created and left somewhere in the library. There are people who want that book and will use it to do wicked things!

So many really evil people here. Motives are less than honorable. There were enough red herrings to send me all over the map, and I love that. This was almost a gothic story and I already want the next one.

NetGalley/April 4th, 2023 by Graydon House