BOOKS PROMOTED FOR
Coffee and Thorn Book Tours
 |
| Welcome to my Blog! Wander through worlds real and fictional, meet interesting people, visit exciting places and find good books to enjoy along the way! |
 |
| About the Book |
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE ABBEY
by Isobel Blackthorn
Genre: Gothic mystery, melodrama
Print length: 324 pages; 94K words
Age range: This is an adult book but suitable for mature older teenagers
Trigger warnings: off-scene marital abuse
When Ingrid flees a violent husband to become a housekeeper in the Scottish Highlands, she discovers the family she works for has a much darker history than her own.
Who haunts Strathbairn? Why are the adult McCleod children at each other’s throats? And why does the youngest sneak off at night? As Ingrid searches for answers, she grows ever more fearful that her husband will track her down.
Set in late 19th century Scottish Highlands, WHAT HAPPENED AT THE ABBEY is a gothic mystery brimming with intrigue, ghostly drama, and family secrets.
Purchase link:
Goodreads link:
PREVIOUS PRAISE FOR WHAT HAPPENED AT THE ABBEY
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I thoroughly enjoyed this story which seemed to throw up one mystery after another….
I loved this book which kept me enthralled and entertained to the very last page. Thoroughly recommended! 5 big stars. Amazon review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
…Sinister goings on have happened there in the past and continue to the present day. Nobody can be trusted, and you, the reader will analyse each character with a critical eye. What is going on here? Can Ingrid unlock the mystery and save herself before her husband finds her, or has fate got something else in store? Goodreads review
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Isobel Blackthorn is an award-winning author of unique and engaging fiction. She writes gripping mysteries, historical fiction and dark psychological thrillers. Her Canary Islands collection begins with The Drago Tree and includes A Matter of Latitude, Clarissa’s Warning and A Prison in the Sun. Her interest in the occult is explored in The Unlikely Occultist: A biographical novel of Alice A. Bailey and the dark mystery A Perfect Square.
Her dark thriller The Cabin Sessions was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award 2018 and the Ditmar Awards 2018. Isobel’s biographical short story ‘Nothing to Declare’ which forms the first chapter of Emma’s Tapestry was shortlisted for the Ada Cambridge Prose Prize 2019. A Prison in the Sun was shortlisted in the LGBTQ category of the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards 2020 and the International Book Awards 2021. And The Unlikely Occultist: A biographical novel of Alice A. Bailey received an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Reader’s Favorite Book Awards.
Isobel writes non fiction too. She is the author of the world’s only biography of Theosophist and mother of the New Age movement Alice Bailey – Alice A. Bailey: Life & Legacy.
Isobel’s first work, which she wrote in 2008, is Voltaire’s Garden. This memoir is set in the mid 2000s and tells the story of building a sustainable lifestyle B&B in Cobargo on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, which gained international attention when a firestorm razed the idyllic historic village on New Year’s Eve 2019.
Isobel’s writing appears in journals and websites around the world, including Esoteric Quarterly, New Dawn Magazine, Paranoia, Mused Literary Review, Trip Fiction, Backhand Stories, Fictive Dream and On Line Opinion. Isobel was a judge for the Shadow Awards 2020 long fiction category. Her book reviews have appeared in New Dawn Magazine, Esoteric Quarterly, Shiny New Books, Sisters in Crime, Australian Women Writers, Trip Fiction and Newtown Review of Books.
Isobel’s interests are many and varied. She has a long-standing association with the Canary Islands, having lived in Lanzarote in the late 1980s. A humanitarian and campaigner for social justice, in 1999 Isobel founded the internationally acclaimed Ghana Link, uniting two high schools, one a relatively privileged state school located in the heart of England, the other a materially impoverished school in a remote part of the Upper Volta region of Ghana, West Africa.
Isobel has a background in Western Esotericism. She holds 1st Class Honours in Social Studies, and a PhD from the University of Western Sydney for her ground-breaking research on the works of Alice A. Bailey. After working as a teacher, market trader and PA to a literary agent, she arrived at writing in her forties, and her stories are as diverse and intriguing as her life has been.
Isobel has performed her literary works at events in a range of settings and given workshops in creative writing.
British by birth, Isobel entered this world in Farnborough, Kent, She has lived in England, Australia, Spain and the Canary Islands.
Website:
Twitter:
Instagram:
 |
| My Review |
A dark mystery which should appeal to readers of Victorian Gothic and lovers of Scotland's breathtaking scenery.
Ingrid needs to escape her abusive marriage so, with her daughter in tow, takes a position as housekeeper for the McCleod family who live in a remote part of Scotland. But from the very start things do not turn out as she expected, and sinister secrets - on both sides - gradually become revealed as the past haunts the present.
Written in first person I quite liked Ingrid, and had sympathy for her situation, but I wasn't quite as attracted by the supporting cast of characters, and the change of narrator was initially confusing, nor was it really necessary. (Personal opinion, but I think third person narrative would have suited this tale.)
I think the cover could have been more eye catching and intriguing. While a ruined abbey is appropriate, the design doesn't quite convey a feeling of tension or a sinister Gothic tale - a ruined abbey could be anything.
However, having said that, the backdrop atmosphere in the story created by the ruined abbey combined with the Scottish countryside were excellently done, along with the clever tension of the plot and the unexpected twists - so all in all, good entertainment for readers who enjoy this sort of tale.
**** 4 stars
COFFEE AND THORN PROMOTES QUALITY FICTION, FOCUSING ON WORK PUBLISHED INDEPENDENTLY OR THROUGH SMALL PUBLISHING HOUSES. WE WORK WITH LOVE. ALL PAYMENTS TO US GO DIRECTLY TO FUND EDUCATION FOR GIRLS FROM A SLUM COMMUNITY IN SIERRA LEONE.
*** ***
You might also like
books written by Helen Hollick
Website: https://helenhollick.net/
Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
.jpg)
The Jan Christopher Cosy Mysteries
set in the 1970s
*
The SEA WITCH VOYAGES
nautical adventures set during the Golden Age of Piracy
*
KING ARTHUR
The Pendragon's Banner Trilogy
The Boy Who became a Man:
Who became a King:
Who became a Legend...
 |
THE PENDRAGON's BANNER TRILOGY |
 |
| US editions |
*
 |
Cryssa Bazos, Anna Belfrage, Elizabeth Chadwick, Cathie Dunn, J.G. Harlond, Helen Hollick, Loretta Livingstone, Amy Maroney Alison Morton, Charlene Newcomb, Elizabeth St.John, Marian L Thorpe, Annie Whitehead. With an introduction by Deborah Swift |
*
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 | |
|
*
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for leaving a comment - it should appear soon. If you are having problems, contact me on author AT helenhollick DOT net and I will post your comment for you. That said ...SPAMMERS or rudeness will be composted or turned into toads.
Helen