Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily and it reflects my personal opinion.
The main character in this book is Adam Goodman, a teacher at the local college. His wife and children are all away and he's been asked to stay at the farm owned by his sister while she's on holiday. So far so good ...
Adam is one of the most obnoxious characters I've ever read about, he is supercilious, rude to the point of nastiness about everyone else (no-one is spared) and a liar - no, he doesn't have those papers, oh yes he does but as he's already said he doesn't he decides to keep them instead of returning them. The author frequently has Adam mentally referring to characters by their initials instead of their full name, as if to de-personalise them, but I found it irritating, and when added to GV's habit of changing names to hide identities I thought it became confusing. At 40% through there were 2 complete pages describing a nonsensical dream he'd had, and I decided that I couldn't bear to read any more.

Think back (if you are old enough) to a time before mobile phones; Bet Lynch was still behind the bar at the Rover's Return, and Morse was solving murder cases on the streets of Oxford. Thus the tone is set for this story to unfold.
There's a touch of The Wicker Man in the mystery surrounding events in the lead up to the sale of a family farm. The strange cult-like religion which has already taken hold locally; the bizarre Verity family where madness and suicide has a deadly legacy; and unexplained deaths and hauntings.
This is an ideal book for anyone who is looking for a novel which is that little bit different and leaves one with more questions than answers.

Adam Goodman and his sister Hilary Pope inhabit different worlds. Adam teaches at the local college, Hilary owns a rundown hill farm she would like to sell.

Adam agrees one summer to look after the farm for her while she goes on holiday, but his days in charge at Foolsmeadow Grange soon expose him to the kind of world his job keeps at bay… He finds the experience deeply unsettling.

Moreover, when it comes to explaining the actions of the Verity family whose members’ paths variously intersect or influence his own that summer, Adam finds himself both beguiled and, ultimately, at a loss. His days at the farm culminate in tragedy for which he feels somehow to blame.

If only he’d stayed away, stayed in his own cloistered world!