Review - The Curse of Penryth Hall

If you are a fan of the gothic books from the 1960s thru the 1990s by Victoria Holt, Norah Lofts, Dorothy Eden, Joan Aiken, and many others then you will likely really enjoy this novel.  This debut work won the Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel competition.  

The gothic atmosphere is deliciously laid out like a banquet.  This line sets the stage: "The old Cornish folkways predate even the Romans.  There are things that occur there no one can explain, no one dares."

Author: Jess Armstrong

Copyright: Dec 2023 (Minotaur) 329 pgs

Series: 1st in Ruby Vaughn mystery series

Sensuality: mild, innuendo, adult situations referenced

Mystery Sub-genre: Historical cozy, Amateur Sleuth

Main Characters: Ruby Vaughn, Heiress-prior WW1 ambulance driver and runs a bookstore for an octogenarian

Setting: August 1922, Cornwall, England

Obtained Through: Publisher for an honest review, Netgalley

 

Book Blurb:  "After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. She’s always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she’d never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall.

A foreboding fortress, Penryth Hall is home to Ruby’s once dearest friend, Tamsyn, and her husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. It’s an unsettling place, and after a more unsettling evening, Ruby is eager to depart. But her plans change when Penryth’s bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchard, and with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivell, the person whose books brought her to Cornwall, the one the locals call a Pellar, the man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesn’t believe in curses—or Pellars—but this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but lore, and they believe it will soon claim its next victim: Tamsyn.

To protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night."

My Thoughts:  I grew up (10 years and on up) reading gothic romances of the sixities, seventies, eighties, and even nineties.  I have wanted more recent gothics with a newer writing style to take the gothic genre to new heights.  This is the best of the old gothic stories with updated takes and suspense.  

    The characters of  Ruby Vaughn (strong and flawed heroine), Ruan Kivell (the local "Pellar," in English folk he practiced Magic and Witchcraft, was a healer, diviner and breaker of spells) a compelling and mysterious man, and Tamysn (the recent widow who appears haunted and terrified) each provide layers and nuances to the story.  Although Ruby and Ruan initially butt heads, there is something between Ruby and Ruan, something ancient and mystical that I dearly hope will be further explained in subsequent books.  Mr. Owen and Mrs. Penrose are great secondary characters that I'm glad will be returning.

    The setting of Cornwall with the deep sense of history and persistant old folk ways sets the gothic atmosphere to perfection.  The plot has many twists and turns that kept me guessing.  The mystery may seem simple at first but it is actually more complex and involved.  The lurking image of a ghost, the Pellar's near magic healing abilities, and the family secrets slowly doled out are perfection and kept me reading on and on.  The climax was great with some suspense.  The wrapup ties up all the loose ends, except whether Ruby and Ruan will see each other again and figure out their strange connection.  Something to look forward to, I hope.  

     I admit the first chapter or two didn't grab me, but I'm glad I stuck with it because once Sir Edward Chenowyth is murdered the story had me in its spell and I could barely put it down to sleep.  I highly recommend.   

Rating:  Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now and put this author on your watch list