Great story about murder, mystery, the Army and a lost village on Salisbury plains. Although it is described a s a horror it wasn't particularly scary but the story was non stop and was hard to put down.

I'm not really one for horror/ghost stories because I'm quite pathetic and scare really easily! But the premise of this novel just intrigued me, a Lost Village in Wiltshire, taken over by the army in 1914 at the start of WW1 and a promise to the villagers broken when the army decided to keep it.

Not only that but this place; Imber is actually real! While the story itself is fictional I love supernatural realism and I was really intrigued. Intrigue that was well rewarded. I could NOT put this book down. It was so creepy in places but the story was perfect leading me along and having me pulled forward on to the edge of my seat.



The tale was absolutely haunting, the characters believable and well written, the research well done. The twists were fantastic and I did not see them coming, a true mystery of rare calibar. The main character Sarah is wrapped up in all the mysteries without even knowing it herself, all she knows is that people are keeping things from her and that every medium or psychic she meets is warning her against something.



In parts it was also truly scary (or maybe that's just my chicken spirit coming out) but still enjoyable, I found myself desperate to know more and it was well worth it in the end where all questions were answered. I happen to hate books which make the ending a mystery so this was a pleasant surprise for me!

Thank you to Netgalley, Quercus publishing and the author Neil Spring for my ARC of this novel.

Review will be published on the 5th October.

This is a follow-up to Spring's The Ghost Hunters and both Harry Price and Sarah are back: they have a vexed relationship with secrets in their past but it's fine to read this as a standalone as everything is explained here. I found this less entertaining overall than the first book: the set-up is intriguing, with the premise of a 'lost' village that was evacuated by the MOD around the time of WW1 and which now, in 1932, is spooking the soldiers training there. Again, there's a mix of conspiracy (a bit Scooby Doo!) and paranormal, but the whole thing felt very long-winded and drawn-out. I probably would have enjoyed it far more if the 450+ pages had been reduced down to c.300 and there had been less flipping around in time periods. Entertaining rather than spooky, a switch-off read.