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Review: The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone

Review: The Blackhouse by Carole JohnstoneAbout the book

(blurb from Jonathan Ball Publishers)

A remote village.

A deadly secret.

An outsider who knows the truth…

Maggie Mackay has been haunted her entire life. No matter what she does, she can’t shake the sense that something is wrong with her. And maybe something is…

When she was five years old, without proof, Maggie announced that someone in the remote village of Blairmore in the Outer Hebrides had murdered a local man, sparking a media storm.

Now, Maggie is determined to discover what really happened and what the villagers are hiding. But everyone has secrets, and some are deadly. As she gets closer to the horrifying truth, Maggie’s own life is in danger…

 

Review: The Blackhouse by Carole JohnstoneMy thoughts

Set on the remote Scottish island of Kilmeray, the scene was set from the start as eerie, dark and gloomy. Maggie arrives on this island, and immediately we can figure out that she’s been there previously, and that the townfolk is not happy to see that she’s back. As 5-year-old she claimed the was the reincarnated spirit of a man that was murdered there, with her mother and a documentary film maker in tow. So, what went wrong? Is it just the ramblings of a wildly imaginative child? What is going on here? And then, years later, she decided to go back to Kilmeray?

With Maggie’s narration, and the “murdered man” as the other voice in this book, there is so much to be uncovered.

This book is beautifully written, and the storytelling so descriptive and atmospheric I could almost feel the cool sea spray in my face, picturing myself standing on a cliff overlooking a desolate beach and the ocean. I do think that the book could have been a bit shorter though, as it is quite a slow burn until the last couple of (tense!) chapters. I did find this quite an intriguing read though!

• Gothic feel
• Complex storyline
• Slow burn
• Folklore and superstitions
• Many twists and turns

With thanks to Jonathan Ball Publishers for the opportunity to read his book.

 

The Details:

Category: Crime Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, locally published by Jonathan Ball Publishers
On sale: September 2022
Format: Paperback

Read an extract:  https://carolejohnstone.com/the-blackhouse/ 

About the Author:

https://carolejohnstone.com/ 

 

 

@roelia_reads “The Blackhouse” by Carole Johnstone at-a-glance review. #Booktok #booktoksa🇿🇦 #TheBlackhouse @Jonathan Ball Publishers #roeliareads #bookifyza ♬ Scottish Sky – Kate Mcmayland and Her Orchestra