THE FORGOTTEN COTTAGE by HELEN PHIFER

 THE FORGOTTEN COTTAGE

by

HELEN PHIFER

THE BLURB:

Things finally seem to be looking up for police office Annie Graham. After a tumultuous couple of years, she is settling into a normal and happy life. Her wedding is fast approaching, and her fiance Will has found a forgotten but beautiful cottage for them to make their own.

But as Annie begins to have increasingly vivid nightmares, she realises their new home may not be as unoccupied as it first seemed. Her arrival has stirred up the ghosts of a tragic past, and she needs to put them to rest once and for all.

But while Annie's distracted, another threat is emerging from the shadows. And if she doesn't act fast, her days may be numbered...

THE REALITY:

I flattened this book rather quickly, so it must have had something going for it, but I did feel like there were things left unexplored, and also unnecessary arcs to the storyline. The idea of the haunted cottage was thrilling, and explored just nicely within the modern and historic time frames, and I loved the character of evil, unmaternal Betsy! But why was the story behind Annie's wedding dress not expanded upon? She's a psychic, who had a “feel” for the dress, so that's something that could have been examined. I also didn't see the need for the Henry and Megan characters at all. Incidentally, I couldn't help but think of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle whenever I read about them, and this raised a smile (the book predates their romance). I gather that this book is part of a series, and that the author was kind of setting the scene for the next book (I say “kind of” because this story ends with the Harry and Megan duo capturing a woman, but the blurb for the next book indicates a vanishing man as their first victim). On the plus side, they are both truly horrible characters, and characterisation throughout this book appeared to be strong.

The author states influences such as James Herbert, and tries to create scary books, and this did have a good level of suspense; in particular with (spoiler alert!) Will's half-sister, kidnapper Amelia. I also enjoyed reading about Will's dad, his partner and his house, so the descriptions made the book come alive. I would definitely give this author another go, but I wouldn't rush to do so. The book was light, and an easy size to to pop into my handbag. Annie and Will are interesting characters but just didn't grab my heart.