Gifted with second sight, young Margaret learns she has the ability to see ghosts. Following the deaths of her parents, she goes to live with her grandfather at an inn, which has a creepy past. As she discovers the ghosts of those who have died horrible deaths, Margaret must free them from the wrath of evil Hugh Bigod.
Having read a few of Ms Cheadle’s books before, including a couple of her horror stories (in Dark Visions), I was keen to see how she would handle this spooky story aimed at young adults. Being a tale of good and evil, you’d expect all sorts of devilish things to occur, and indeed they do. The first section of the book felt a little too much like a history lesson, although I can see why the author presented it this way. At times, it did feel as if there was an awful lot going on, with several different points of view (which confused me), and I think the book would benefit from another edit to tighten things up, but on the whole this is a well-researched and interesting story that’ll appeal to YA readers who like a bit of scary stuff.
Colin Garrow Books 