Firstly, this book has a beautiful cover - whoever designed this should be very proud of themselves!
In respect of the story, a group are invited to a weekend stay on Blackwater Island by Lord and Lady Highmount during the winter of 1917. The guests are a mixed group who have all been affected by the Great War, with many looking for answers from their loved ones beyond the grave. Highmount plans to hold seances to try to contact the dead, in particular his two sons who have been lost in battle. It must be added that Lord Highmount also owns an armaments firm who are supplying weapons and gas masks to the soldiers.
This story is an amalgam of a murder mystery, a spooky haunted house tale, an espionage story complete with spies and an insight into the ethics of those who created weapons of war yet were devastated when their loved ones were killed in the conflict.
I did enjoy this book, I felt the characters of Kate and Donavan were mostly believable and the story jogged along very nicely. The only minor fault I could find with the tale was that everyone seemed to have a connection with everyone else which did stretch the imagination somewhat.
The way the book ended, I am sure there will be a sequel or a series of these books and I would definitely read more about these characters.
In respect of the story, a group are invited to a weekend stay on Blackwater Island by Lord and Lady Highmount during the winter of 1917. The guests are a mixed group who have all been affected by the Great War, with many looking for answers from their loved ones beyond the grave. Highmount plans to hold seances to try to contact the dead, in particular his two sons who have been lost in battle. It must be added that Lord Highmount also owns an armaments firm who are supplying weapons and gas masks to the soldiers.
This story is an amalgam of a murder mystery, a spooky haunted house tale, an espionage story complete with spies and an insight into the ethics of those who created weapons of war yet were devastated when their loved ones were killed in the conflict.
I did enjoy this book, I felt the characters of Kate and Donavan were mostly believable and the story jogged along very nicely. The only minor fault I could find with the tale was that everyone seemed to have a connection with everyone else which did stretch the imagination somewhat.
The way the book ended, I am sure there will be a sequel or a series of these books and I would definitely read more about these characters.