Release Date: June 10/2014
Acquired: Print ARC provided by publisher
Goodreads: ADD
Purchase: Amazon/Indigo/Book Depository
In this atmospheric, intriguing historical mystery brimming with psychological tension, an unexpected inheritance plunges beloved British mystery author Josephine Tey into a disturbing puzzle of dark secrets eerily connecting the present and the past.
When Josephine Tey unexpectedly inherits Red Barn Cottage from her estranged godmother, the will stipulates that she must personally claim the house in the Suffolk countryside. But Josephine is not the only benefactor-a woman named Lucy Kyte is also in Hester's will.
Sorting through the artifacts of her godmother's life, Josephine is intrigued by an infamous death committed on the cottage's grounds a century before. Yet this old crime-dubbed the Red Barn murder-still seems to haunt the tight-knit village and its remote inhabitants. Is it just superstition, or is there a very real threat that is frightening the locals? Could the truth be related to the mysterious Lucy Kyte, who no one in the village admits to knowing?
With a palpable sense of evil thickening around her, Josephine must untangle historic tragedy from present danger and prevent a deadly cycle from beginning once more.
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An atmospherically spell-bounding mystery, steeped quite generously in psychological fear. It's the best kind of book, one's that place terror within the closest reaches, but holds true to it's distance. You know something is waiting to pounce, but it will never show it's face; it will never fully reveal it's existence. The Death of Lucy Kyte had me in that exact state of limbo-in that mental space of uncertainty. What was Josephine going to discover in her attempts to unveil the truth? How much did we REALLY want to know?Before going into The Death of Lucy Kate, I was completely unaware of previous novels featuring Josephine Fey, nor that her character was a real-life mystery author by the same name. I was simply intrigued by a story-line that seems to get me, every single time: character inherits an old, slightly decrepit house, character moves into said house, creepiness and questionable occurrences ensue. Add to the mix a mysterious murder angle, and you've got gold. It's a pretty infallible plot-line, and this book fit quite nicely among others that have followed the formula.
Josephine Tey was an intriguing lead character, despite being quite verbose with her thoughts. Which leads to my single qualm with the book: it was unnecessarily descriptive, and took forever to arrive at new scenes. Josephine insisted on detailing every single thing she saw, which was, at first, refreshing and beautiful, but soon gave way to annoying, and exhausting. In terms of story-line, however, I was undeniably hooked. The ending was presented in true murder mystery form, complete with wide-eyes, and an audible gasp from yours truly.
A really good continuation of Upson's series featuring Josephine Tey. I will definitely be going back and reading the previous installments!
Recommended for fans of: Historical Fiction, Mystery, The Cutting Season by Attica Locke, The House Girl by Tara Conklin.
Challenges: Goodreads 100 Book Goal
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Find out more about Nicola on her website's author page HERE.
Contact Links
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Thank-you to Trish from TLC Book Tours for hosting this tour, and to Harper Collins for sending me a print ARC to review!
I am about 1/3 of the way into this novel and am happy to see that something more pronounced lies ahead. Like you, I am finding it rather wordy in its descriptions. Interesting, though.
ReplyDeleteI hope you end up liking it! If you can, please come back and leave the link if you decide to review it, I would love to read your thoughts =)
DeleteI hope you get a chance to read the previous books and that you enjoy them as well!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour.
Creepy houses are the epitome of scary to me! I don't know why, but even this would probably have me using a flashlight to get around my own house in the dark at night. I love books that can affect me like that!
ReplyDelete