I've long admired the exceptional British horror fiction of author F. G. Cottam. This man knows his history as well as knowing how to craft a fine story and to make readers empathise with his characters. In THE LUCIFER CHORD, he fully strums the suspense riff as he keeps the tension boiling, while protagonist Ruthie Graham, author and researcher, "stumbles on" to a research job involving the Rock Music environment of the 1970's (and oh, does Mr. Cottam illustrate that culture superbly!). Ruthie is driven more by a quest for the truth than the substantial promised payment, and she determines to persevere despite a number of sudden suspicious deaths, what seems to be only dead ends with no hope of recourse, and a secret society ("They never forget. They never forgive.") THE LUCIFER CHORD is a non-stop read for any lover of horror, history, Britain, or conspiracy.

Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the eARC.
Wow, what a fantastic read this was, I absolutely loved it!
Author and psychic researcher Ruthie Gillespie needed to get away from her home on the Isle of Wight to escape recent devastating experiences. She's staying in London with her friend Veronica.
Carter Melville, a rich American music mogul who is planning on putting out a box set by the epic 1970's band Ghost Legion.
He wants Ruthie to write the accompanying booklet on mesmerizing lead singer Martin Mears, who, since his death in Morocco in 1975, has become a mythical rock god. He is also a cash cow for Melville, who will earn millions from the box set.
While researching Martin's life and death, Ruthie experiences terrifying otherworldly episodes that threaten her life and sanity, with only her stubborn streak to keep her going.
I'm so excited to have a new favorite author to add to my list!
It was a thrilling, atmospheric read with a wonderful charismatic character in Ruthie. I couldn't put it down, rushing through my everyday tasks so I could go back to Ruthie's life and the 1970's world of rock. The threads including the biggest rock groups make the story so realistic you almost believe Ghost Legion existed...if only!
I sincerely hope F.G. Cottam is busy writing the next Ruthie Gillespie book, can't wait to enter her world again. Highly recommended!

I have been reading F.G. Cottam for some time now and have recommended his work to others who enjoy this genre: paranormal fiction sometimes with an historical fiction bent. The Lucifer Chord continues in that form, involving Ruthie Gillespie, met in prior Cottam work, in the investigation into the life of a 1970s rock legend, one Martin Mears, and his band. The hitch...Mears died in 1975 and all other band members have long since died also. A retrospective is planned and Ruthie will be paid handsomely for a 20,000 word essay to accompany a new boxed set of albums.

As is true in all of Cottam’s novels, there is a gradual scene building, development of characters and situations with slow introduction of tensions and events of questionable authorship. Eventually, it becomes clear that nothing human has produced some of the things Ruthie experiences.

And the tension continues to build as she moves in different directions with her search for information. How far will she go? Is she safe in what she is doing? Thankfully she has good friends to offset the evil that seems to lurk behind this project. There are links to earlier novels both in Ruthie ‘s character and in an organization that is discussed frequently in the novel, one with a dark past.

I once again recommend Cottam to those who enjoy this genre. He provides excellent writing without unnecessary gore, a fact I appreciate in this area. A sense of fear and unease can rise in a reader without a lot of blood and violence. Subtlety is appreciated. This book has the added plus of throwback memories to the 1970s for those of us who enjoyed the rock of the time.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I am overjoyed to have discovered this wonderful author, FG Cottam, and his brand of supernatural horror, atmospherically chilling, with malignant spirits and ghosts, and so beautifully written. Writer and psychic investigator Ruthie Gillespie needed to escape the memories of home in the Isle of Wight and is currently living rent free with auctioneer friend, Veronica, in London. She accepts a lucrative research commission from rich American Carter Melville, a music mogul who is bringing out a new box set of the legendary 1970s band, Ghost Legion, whose lead singer and songwriter, the mythical and charismatic Martin Mears, died in Morocco in 1975. Ruthie is to look into the life of Mears, known to have tampered in the occult and he has a huge and fanatical following in the present. The end result is to be an essay on the band that will included in the box set. Carter has organised for Ruthie to meet famous psychic Frederica Daunt with regard to her assignment, which turns out to be a nightmare, leaving Daunt terrified and assaulted, desperate to leave the country, although she continues to help Ruthie.

Melville has set up the three closest people to Mears, his daughter, April, groupie and beauty empire owner, Paula Tort, and Sir Terry Maloney, Mears's fixer and general factotum, now a merchant bank chairman, pillar of London's powerful fiscal establishment, to be interviewed by Ruthie. All have refused to be interviewed before, but feel the time has now come to spill the beans about Martin Mears, a thrillingly glamorous figure. With rumours abounding of the second coming of Mears, secret codes, apparently referred to in the sixth album, sixth track, with the title supposedly using the word cease, the French for six, 666 the number of the beast, this has fed into The Clamouring, present day attempts by huge crowds of fans to resurrect Mears. Ruthie intuits facts from the information she has and unearths a connection to the Jericho Society, with whom she has disturbing dealings with before. She thinks its unlikely that this is a coincidence as harrowing deaths occur following her inquiries. Mears appears to have been as idealistic as he was corrupt, artistically gifted as he was morally and physically tainted, a contradictory man with an enduring legacy that is assured with every member of the band dead. Ruthie's research takes her back to a gothic derelict manor owned by the German Klaus Fischer, on the Isle of Wight, with a disturbing history, and the location where Mears wrote the songs for his breakout first album.

FG Cottam is inspired by the waters of folklore, history, supernatural horror, paganism and more, in the established tradition of British writers such as the brilliant Phil Rickman. This is a well plotted novel for those who enjoy eerie and dark spine chilling stories of evil, the macabre and deals made with the devil. The characterisation of Ruthie Gillespie with her ink and goth appearance, emotionally vulnerable, endeavouring to get over her heartbreak, making tentative steps to move on as she gets involved with architect Michael Aldridge, determined and unwavering in her search for the truth, makes her a hugely compelling and appealing central figure. This is brilliant storytelling, ideal particularly for those time of the year when horror, fear and scares are what is required. Highly Recommended! Many thanks to Severn House for an ARC.

This was an unexpected pleasure. The writing is tight and the characters well-drawn. The main character has died many years ago -or did he? His daughter and lover mourn his loss still. His fans want to call him from the dead through ceremonies that recall druidical practice. And then there is a mysterious and malevolent secret society.

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read this book in ARC form. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer to simply advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

Rock superstar Martin Mear of The Ghost Legion died 40 years ago. Entrepreneur Carter Melville is searching for a writer to finally tie Martin's bio up and add it to his boxset soon. It seems that Martin may have dabbled in black magic and the occult, also. Eventually, Ruthie (a semi-goth children's book author), is chosen by Carter to fit the bill. However, there are 3 people Carter insists that Ruthie interview: Mear's daughter, April; Mears last and very visible love, Paula Tort; and Ghost Legion roadie, Sir Terrence Maloney. First, a skeptical Ruthie visits pop medium Frederica Daunt - her father designed Ghost's album cover. Interesting visit...

Interviews follow and Ruthie digs deeper into the life of Martin Mear. His daughter lauds him (he had her at the age of 16); Paula shared two "intensely romantic" years with Martin - and a probable interview with Sir Terrance.

Ruthie discovered that Martin's Uncle Max was the London connection. He also may have been heavily involved with the Jerico Society. This group is highly questionable.

Ruthie wanted to go back to when Martin had his first inspiration - the Fisher Mansion on Wight Island (seems as if Ruthie lives there, as well. She is only visiting London. But first, Ruthie attends a Clamoring event in which 1000 people or more gather to witness Martin's "second coming."


Time passes as Ruthie connects with a former suitor, Michael Aldridge, keeps up a friendship with Frederica Daunt (pop medium), attends a second Clamoring and more...She learns more about Jerico Society and finally visits the Fischer Mansion.

Ruthie questions the validity of Martin's demise, Carter's role in anything and the entire situation. WE question Martin's existence, Ruthie's motives and a whole lot more!!!


Many thanks to Severn House Publishing and NetGalley for a chance to read a splendid thriller!

Like several of Cottam's recent works, The Lucifer Chord centres on researcher and author Ruthie Gillespie. Having endured recent, and still raw, heartbreak, Ruthie is looking for something to occupy her time and serve as a distraction; it arrives in the form of a lucrative contract to write an investigative essay about rock star Martin Mear. Mear, frontman of Ghost Legion, has been assumed dead for decades, during which time he's attained the status of an icon. Legend has it he was into black magic. Indeed, his most hardcore fans believe he can be brought back from the dead through a ritual known as 'the Clamouring'...

The Lucifer Chord is an impressively subtle and restrained horror story, and all the more effectively creepy for it. Ruth's research takes her all over the country, even across Europe, and she meets a wealth of intriguing characters – a medium who claims to have been in contact with Mear, the rock star's daughter and ex-girlfriend, and his lascivious ex-manager, to name a few. I was delighted to find this book has many small connections with events and people from the author's previous novels, among them The House of Lost Souls (2007), Dark Echo (2008) and the Colony trilogy (2012–2016). (Just to be clear, you don't need to have ready any of those to enjoy this one – although you should read them anyway, especially Dark Echo.)

This was just what I needed; it got me out of a fairly miserable reading slump. I loved every minute – the horror elements, of course, but also the smaller details, the carefully embroidered history of the band, as well as the sensitive handling of Ruthie's heartache and how she – slowly, and not without reservations – moves on. It turned out to be my favourite Cottam since 2014's The Lazarus Prophecy. Like that book, it is a perfect blend of compelling horror and meticulously constructed mystery, with strong, nuanced characters you can really root for.

A creepy, gothy, rock n roll wonder. F G Cottam has such a knack for the disturbing, and this book certainly doesn’t disappoint!

A strange, chilling tale that should be read with a light on. Well-written with such a sinister plot that it's difficult to put the book down (or the Kindle off) and go to sleep. I've not read this author before, but I'll be sure to search for his books from now on. Highly recommended.

Although this is a stand-alone novel, some characters have appeared in previous books. If you haven’t read anything by F.G. Cottam before then, not only are you really lucky, as there are lots of great titles to explore, but you might want to read the short novella, “The Going and the Rise,” (currently free on the author’s webpage) which helps introduce the main character in this novel; Ruthie Gillespie.

When we meet Ruthie, she is staying with a friend in London and looking for something to do to take her mind off her past troubles. An author, mainly of children’s books, she asks Michael Aldridge (who also appears in, “The Going and the Rise,”) for a job reference. She has been approached about a research job and is interested in doing something new, which might keep her in London.

Carter Melville is everything Ruthie expects a rock manager to be. He is organising a boxed set of the band he managed – the legendary, Ghost Legion . Despite the fact all the members of the band are gone and the lead singer, and songwriter, Martin Mear, has been dead for forty years, the band still have a fanatical following. Ruthie’s task is to write an essay on the band and, specifically, on Martin Mear. However, she soon discovers uncomfortable links to the Jericho Society, an organisation she has had dealings with in the past.

This is a creepy and unsettling read, with excellent characters and a good plot. It is interesting to mix the supernatural with the world of rock music, obsessive fans, and a harsh look at both the price of fame and the price someone might pay to achieve it… I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Finally, a bonafide genre find, an atmospheric eerie thriller that genuinely thrills. Awesomely incorporating so many things I like reading about…cults, mysteries, research projects, occult, magic, this was surprisingly good. I actually didn’t expect all that much, convinced I’ve read the author once and wasn’t blown away, but this one changed my mind and made me interested. And I’m not even a musical person, at all, but something about that scene makes for a good story. This wasn’t the first one I’ve read and enjoyed on the subject and, while silence will steadfastly remain my preferred sound, this book was just the right sort of whispery quiet slow building terror ride I’ve been looking for to read for quite a while. The basic plot involves a Goth looking (at odds with her kewpie doll moniker Ruthie Gillespie) writer (YA and such) who gets hired to put together an essay for a commemorative project for a 70s music star extraordinaire Martin Mear. The star burned brightly and burned itself out much too soon, presumably leaving behind a proverbially good looking corpse and its own mythos, but there’s of course more to the story. And so Ruthie sets out to uncover her very own version of Behind the Music, while navigating all manner of dangers, real and otherworldly. The author does a terrific job of balancing the natural with supernatural, so that you can’t be quite sure of what’s going on and as such this can be read as either a mystery or a suspense thriller or an occult story. But, of course, it’s a mix and it works really well on every level. The characters are interesting and well developed, the story unfolds at a nice pace and the general plot is pretty awesome, but then again it was pretty catered to my interests. The narrative stayed dark without veering into bleakness, which is no small feat, and it threw in several surprises along the way to the grand reveal. The few questions there were, such as why wait so long to do the project and why not delegate murder when one can be compromised and was Ruthie’s solution in the end too quaint and easy, but that’s probably just a brain overthinking things, because by all accounts this really was a very enjoyable entertaining engaging read. Lovely to revisit a genre that’s an old favorite in such a fun way. Thanks Netgalley.

It is so nice to have Ruthie and company back for a visit. Ruthie has been commissioned to do an essay on Martin Mear and his band, Ghost Legion, as part of a new boxed set and a tour of his music and memorabilia. But something isn't right about any of this, she discovers as supernatural events force a medium to run for her life and more me she knows to end up dead.

Ruthie is no stranger to the supernatural or the occult forces in the world. She has come up against them before and lived to tell the tale, but will the third time be her last?

Ruthie is one of my favorite characters and I hope we will see more of her! Cottam's writing draws you into the story and the characters and before you know it you are almost finished, so you slow down to make it last and still end up hurtling towards the end to find out what happens! As a great coincidence I had a text from a friend who is at this minute on the Isle of Wight so this seemed a sign of sorts, but by then I had devoured the entire book!

If you like secret societies, the occult, fact with fiction mixed in and a spooky setting,then you should read the books before this one as well. 

Netgalley/SevernHouse September 01, 2018

4 stars

I read the Kindle edition.

Ruthie Gillespie, a children’s and young adult novelist who has just ventured into writing fiction for adults, obtains a position from Carter Melville to research the life and times of Martin Mear. Martin was a rock god and lead guitarist/singer/writer for the fabulously popular group named Ghost Legion who went missing in 1975 when he was just twenty-seven. Carter was the manager/producer for Ghost Legion. He doesn’t write the essay on his own because he claims he has holes in his memory.

Ruthie is also a tattooed Goth. She has been given the names of three people who are willing to talk about Martin: Paula Tort was a girlfriend of two years when Martin went missing. She is now a fashion designer. Terry Maloney who was the principal roadie for the group is now Sir Terrance. April Mear is Martin’s daughter. She was born when Martin was just sixteen. Her mother died when April was just twelve. Martin took her in after that and April has very fond memories of him.

Carter recommends that Ruthie talk also to Frederica Daunt. Her father designed the cover for the King Lud album cover. She is a spiritualist/medium who is said to be able to contact Martin Mear. (This is assuming he is dead, of course.) When Ruthie visits her, they have a very strange encounter. The room feels as though there is someone else there. Frederica gets a nose bleed and perhaps passes out. She doesn’t talk to Ruthie that night, but agrees to meet her later. When they meet, Frederica tells Ruthie that she is not a fraud and that the encounter scared her. Ruthie, who went into the encounter with severe doubts now, agrees that Frederica does not seem like a fraud.

Frederica begins to experience strange occurrences; sounds, visions and physical symptoms. It appears to be Martin Mear. Is he out to torment her? Why will he not leave her alone?

Meanwhile, Ruthie uncovers a connection to Max Askew, Martin’s maternal uncle. Martin must have spent a lot of time with Max as a young man. Max worked for a company with connections to the Jericho Society. They have a very unsavory history, with connections to the occult. She then gets a call from Frederica begging her to drop the investigation, Frederica says she saw Martin in her garden and is about to catch a plane to leave England.

Ruthie goes to view Max’s old apartment (before he passed away in 1978), and has some very strange experiences. She learns that it has been on the market “forever.” As Ruthie continues to follow the trail of Martin Mear, the story gets more unbelievable. Is Martin really alive as some of his followers believe?

Ruthie follows the trail, faces danger and finally finds out the truth.

This book is well written and plotted. It is a little difficult to read, as it does not follow in some places. They story seems to add words that don’t belong, or leave words out that should be there. I like Ruthie; the fact that she is a Goth, is a creative thinker and is very brave. (Much more so than I would be in her situation.) F.G. Cottam weaves a great tale of adventure, mystery and searching for the truth. I really liked the story. It had just enough of the supernatural, but was well-grounded in reality. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes a touch of mystery and the supernatural. This is my first F.G. Cottam book and I immediately went to Amazon to look for other works by this author.

I want to thank NetGalley and Severn House for forwarding to me a copy of this good book to read, enjoy and review.

Ghost Legion was one of the biggest rock bands of the 1970’s, and their fame was only increased by the disappearance of lead singer Martin Mear, in 1975. Ruth Gillespie is researching Mear, his group and the phenomenon they created. The group’s fans, the Legionnaires, believe that Mear will rise from the dead and Ruth finds herself at the crumbling manor house where Mear was last seen alive. A cool ghost story with a hint of rock and roll