Unfortunately, The Shadows of Hill Manor did not resonate with me. I was initially intrigued by the description; however, I found it somewhat tedious and quite unappealing

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Captivating and atmopsheric probably sums up November’s book club title quite well! There was a good amount of crime, a bit of romance and a lot of suspense as the storyline unravelled.

I felt that it was parcelled up a little bit incorrectly as it was a strong police procedural type novel rather than a gothic suspense, but that didn’t detract from a good storyline and book, it just made it seem it would be something different to what it was. At the book club we rated it a solid 4.1 which is a brilliant score out of five stars.

It was a fantastic choice for a late November read, banishing the last of the Autumnal feelings and getting ready to welcome the festivities of Winter!

Creepy, dark, full of surprising twists: a book that kept me hooked and I liked
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is the first book I've read by this author. The book's description drew me to it straight away and it sounded perfectly scary for the time of year. We find ourselves in a police procedural thriller where a young girl's body is found after being missing for several years. When 10 year old Kimberley Painter first went missing, WPC Alessa Cano was a new young police woman. When Kimberley's body is discovered, we find Alessa is now the investigating officer. The storyline switches between present day and the past, and the storyline shows that Alessa is hiding her own secret about another missing girl who was her friend.

I really enjoyed this book, and I liked the dual timeframe perspective. Alessa is a good character and in the present day she works hard to provide answers for Kimberley's family. However, she has her secrets from the past, and her early time from the police in the 90's make uncomfortable reading with not just the misogynistic views and attitudes of her male colleagues, but also with how the original investigation is handled. I liked how the story switched back and forward and whilst it is a murder mystery, there is a little element of the supernatural which gave me the chills as I read.

The storyline was a slow builder, and the tension and suspense of what happened and is happening in the present day builds as the storyline moves on. I found myself gripped to the storyline, wanting to know what happened to not just Kimberley, but to Alessa as well. The reveal was well written and I enjoyed the climax of their stories. Whilst we didn't necessarily need the romantic element between a couple of the characters, I didn't feel it detracted from the main storyline at all. Would definitely recommend!

This book was a take it or leave it for me I’m afraid. The idea was there, but there was a bit too much of a disconnect between the story threads, and it didn’t flow.
I think if it had a bit more work/editing the potential is there.
2.5/5 stars (rounded up to 3)

Wow, what a powerful story!

First time reading this author and went into this story quite blind. I listened to the audio, which I highly recommend. The narrator was absolutely sublime, amazing. Kristin really brought this story to life with all the characters and their emotions.

The majority of this story takes place in the past during 1990, following the case of missing child Kimberly Painter.
New to the force, Alessandra Cano is part of the team trying to find her. Twenty years later, Kimberly’s remains are tragically discovered. Alessandra, still on the force is determined to find who murdered her along with other children’s remains that also turn up.

Some parts of this story were really quite sad, poor Malcom, Kimberley’s father, I felt so bad for him 🥺

I’ve never read a story like this before and I’ll definitely be reading Anne’s other works.

Oh and the epilogue 😱😱 Brilliant!

Thank you to Natgalley and Avon UK for the arc.

I went into The Shadows of Hill Manor expecting chills and a haunting story, but this book didn’t deliver on either front. With a classic setup—a secluded, eerie manor and hints of a dark past—it should have been a gripping ghost story. Instead, it was disappointingly dull.

The main character felt distant and difficult to care about, drifting through the plot with unclear motivations and little depth. The so-called “big twists” were painfully obvious, and any attempt at suspense quickly fizzled out.

In the end, The Shadows of Hill Manor just wasn’t my cup of tea!

great start and promising premise but the movement between the 2 abduction cases, years apart in quite clumsy in parts and detracts from both storylines.
Overall it felt like the author was trying to fit too many threads into the story, resulting a a slow pace for a significant part of the investigation where the reader is mired down in details that never seem to become relevant.

DNF - I'm afraid I couldn't keep going with this one. The first 100 pages didn't interest me, so I decided not to carry on reading. Thank you for the opportunity, but I won't be sharing my review anywhere.

Nothing draws me to a novel more than a cover with a big old house on the front. Hill Manor drew me in.

The prologue shows two children playing in the woods in 2007, who come across a door in the ground. Upon entering, they find a bunker with the skeleton of a child. Then the story starts where the child disappears back in 1990, what she did, family dynamics and interspersed by the the hunt to find her by the police, using a dual timeline.

Told mainly from the perspective of a new female police officer (with a couple of other characters as well), this is mostly a police procedural book, with a huge chunk given over to a romantic relationship with a fellow officer. There are some stereotypical misogynistic male officers and a tarot card reader, complete with glittery scarves and cryptic clues. The nice characters are very nice and the bad characters are truly bad. Unfortunately, the big old manor house is not a significant character. How sad.

This story doesn't have as many chills as I had expected, and it is also a bit short on spookiness. There is a rather shocking part that left me a little disturbed. Rambling a bit in places, especially in the personal life sections, that slow the story down. However, an unexpected ending is a good redeeming feature.

I read this book to the end but found that I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. There wasn't enough action and suspense to keep me hooked.

Just a little bit too much going on in this book, murder, romance, supernatural and police procedure. A very slow start which is going to put a lot of people off. I also think the picture on the cover is misleading. Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy

I was really confused by this one, the title is actually quite misleading. For a title that has a place mentioned in it, the house featured twice in the book. I understand the concept of the title, the dead body was found on the grounds but I think if you’re going to include it in the title it should really be in the book more. The book would have been better if it had stuck to either being a crime thriller or being a ghost story. As a crime thriller I thought it was fantastic but the element of ghosts in it just ruined it for me and it felt kind of random. The blurb indicates that Alessa would be investigating a cold case but we’re actually sent back to the time where the child went missing and we’re pretty much following the story through that time rather than from when the body was discovered, so the timing is really off and confusing if you’re going by the blurb.
The ending of the book really didn’t do it for me either. Without giving anything away, the last chapter wrapped it up nicely but then the epilogue ruins it and felt a little bit unexplained and random.
Overall, I think I would have enjoyed this more had it been explained better and maybe just one genre was involved. The actual crime and investigation aspect was really good.

The creepy, intense setting defines this suspense fiction. A young girl disappears in 1990. She is never found until two young boys uncover her body in the shadow of a derelict manor house years later. The story then returns to the 1990s and the events surrounding her death. It evokes the culture of misogyny, and as the victim is a child, it is disturbing to read in parts. I like the suspense building and the intensity the author creates.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

This book started off so well and a little creepy but, then it just drifted and got really slow. I found it a little uncomfortable reading about an disappearance of a child really didn't enjoy it. Shame as I loved her other book. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed my previous read from this author however, this was sadly not the on-the-edge-of-your-seat, gripping page-turner that I wanted.

In my opinion, I found the narrative to be quite slow and the police investigation into the disappearance of Kimberly to be a constant non-starter. I was never convinced by the romantic subplot, finding the characters to be awkward and I did not trust the male’s intentions in the slightest.

You need to have a relatively strong constitution when reading this book because it is all about a little girl’s abduction. It turns out that the investigating police officer was also involved in a near-abduction and this comes to haunt her when searching for Kimberly. I found the timelines difficult to match up in my head but Alessa and the police are convinced it is the same criminal operating again. As the investigation draws on, other similar cases are referenced: it would seem there is a serial child abductor on the loose and the incompetent lead police detective is no closer to catching them.

The book switches back to events leading up to Kimberly’s abduction. I was curious to see what happened to her but wished the writer had omitted Kimberly’s final scene. As a mother myself, I felt really uncomfortable reading it and would have preferred the writer to have implied rather than fully described. It made me hurry to finish the book further.

I was surprised by the paranormal references and how far the writer took this. It wasn’t what I was expecting, despite what the cover connotated. Instead, I was hoping for the mysterious Hill Manor to feature in this book, rather than readers running around with Alessa and drawing blanks about Kimberly’s abduction. Whilst it added to the creepy atmosphere of the book, I think this was lost because Hill Manor was barely a feature to the story.

Overall, this was not one of my favourite reads and I was glad to finish it. Not only was the subject matter a bit difficult to read about, but the pace was so slow that I felt like I was ageing as I was progressing through the book. I hope my next read from this author is more exciting.

With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a mix of a police procedural and a thriller with a slight supernatural element which took me completely by surprise.

The book begins in 2007 when two boys stumble across human remains. The remains are Kimberly Painter, a ten year old who went missing in 1990. The majority of the book is told in 1990 and focus on the events of when Kimberly went missing and the subsequent investigation. The main character and main narrator is Alessa, a young WPC who has her own first hand experience of a missing child.

When the story is brought back to 2007 we stay with Alessa’s POV and find out she is a detective working on the case.

I loved the way Alessa’s backstory was brought onto the main story and the fact it was her who was dealing with the case in the ‘present’.

The story was slow at times but worth sticking with to discover the ending and what happened to Kimberley.

Overall an enjoyable read.

What happened to Kimberly back in 1990? While this starts with the discovery of her bones in 2007 much of the novel takes place in 1990, when the young girl disappeared. And it's as much about the search for answers as it is about PC Alessa Cano, who as a woman deals with misogyny in the police force, And its about the impact of Kimberly's disappearance on her family, mostly her father Malcolm. This doesn't scream out the identity of the villain and it's nicely twisty. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I enjoyed reading this book. I personally felt it was a perfect blend of crime thriller and supernatural genres. I liked the character evolution of Alessa. The author showcased the struggles faced by women's in police force in 90's. Overall it was a good thriller.

I've read and enjoyed all of Anne Wyn Clark's books. This one was least favorite of the four.
It was an intriguing mystery with dual timelines and multiple POVs, which made for a rich storytelling experience. My only qualm being that it was very much a police procedural, and that's not my preferred genre.

That being said, it's still an excellent story with plenty of atmosphere, mystery, and multilayered characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.