Review by Booklist Review
Armstrong (The Curse of Penryth Hall, 2023) brings readers the further adventures of Ruby Vaughn, the disgraced American socialite who has found a new life in England as the assistant to rare book dealer Mr. Owen. When Mr. Owen receives a telegram saying that there are illuminated manuscripts at Manhurst Castle in Scotland, he and Ruby travel to investigate, but find none there. In fact, someone has lured Mr. Owen to a séance, saying that he will be able to contact his son who was killed in World War I. Instead, Ruby and Mr. Owen uncover a history of dreadful things happening to women at the castle. One of the mediums is murdered and further killings ensue. Ruby and Mr. Owen are obvious suspects, and they must work to clear their names. Ruby turns to Ruan, the Cornish Pellar she met on her previous case, for help. They uncover a family history full of scandal and nearly die in the process. Readers who enjoy traditional British mysteries with a touch of the Gothic and the occult will enjoy this story, though they may need a family tree to keep the characters straight.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
American heiress Ruby Vaughn returns in Armstrong's irresistible sequel to The Curse of Pentryth Hall. In 1922, Ruby is under the impression that she and her elderly housemate, Mr. Owen, are headed to Scotland to pick up ornate manuscripts for the rare bookshop they own together. When the pair arrives at Manhurst Castle, however, Ruby learns that Owen has tricked her into accompanying him to a séance with his dead son. Initially, she's furious; Ruby still hasn't forgiven Owen for putting her in contact with the afterlife during the events of the previous novel. She sets her anger aside, however, after one of the three mediums Owen has hired for the séance turns up dead. When another soothsayer goes missing, Ruby and Owen become the primary suspects, and Ruby gets back in touch with Cornwall witch Ruan Kivell to find out who's framing her and why. Evocative descriptions of 20th-century Britain and Armstrong's unique mix of gothic grandeur, supernatural flourishes, and cozy-adjacent sweetness make this sequel sing. It's sure to satisfy series fans and newcomers alike. (Dec.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
The atmospheric sequel to Armstrong's award-winning debut, The Curse of Penryth Hall, offers three eerie houses, witches, mediums, and the unexplained. Ruby Vaughn lost her entire family when the Lusitania was sunk, and then she worked as an ambulance driver during World War I. By 1922, she hopes to lead a quiet life running her Exter bookstore that bears the name of her octogenarian mentor, Mr. Owen. Then Mr. Owen asks Ruby to accompany him to Manfort Castle in Scotland to examine some illuminated manuscripts. She's angry when she learns it's a ruse; instead, he wants her to attend a séance conducted by a group of mediums called the Three Fates, in hopes of contacting his dead son. Despite events in her past, Ruby is unwilling to acknowledge the occult, but something shows up at the séance that night, and then one of the mediums is killed. Although Ruby attempted to save the woman, the police on the case see her as the primary suspect. She will have to uncover secrets from Mr. Owen's past and work with folk healer and witch Ruan Kivell to find the medium's real killer. VERDICT Fans of Armstrong's debut and other gothic mysteries will appreciate this haunting, intriguing novel.--Lesa Holstine
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An American heiress becomes caught up in a series of mysterious deaths at a Scottish castle. Ruby Vaughn is as infuriated as she is intrigued when she discovers that her octogenarian employer, Mr. Owen, has brought her to Manhurst Castle to buy illuminated manuscripts that don't exist. When he confesses that his real reason for the visit is to take part in a séance that will put him in contact with his son, killed in World War I, she follows him, certain that the three mediums they will see (who call themselves the Three Fates) are frauds. The séance is brought to an abrupt close by the shocking accusation that Mr. Owen is a murderer. Ruby realizes that nothing about this adventure and people she and Mr. Owen meet are quite what they seem, including the elderly medium who dies shortly afterward by apparent suicide. From the moment the body is discovered, Armstrong draws readers deep into an ever-twisting, page-turning narrative set against a haunting gothic backdrop. Ruby, along with a handsome folk healer named Ruan who has followed her to Manhurst to warn her of impending danger, soon begins to uncover clues about family betrayals, lost loves, secret identities, and deadly sexual predators. But the closer she comes to the truth about her beloved employer and his entangled history, the more she is forced to face truths about her own painful past and the disturbing but profound psychic and physical connection she has with Ruan, a man with blood ties to the supernatural world of mermaids and witches. Armstrong's deft merging of mystery and gothic genre elements make this novel, the second in her Ruby Vaughn series, a suspenseful, sometimes chilling read that never ceases to surprise and delight. Eerie and thoroughly bewitching. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
