A Dreadful Splendor

Gothic novels usually feature an innocent young woman in jeopardy, a brooding hero, an unsolved mystery and a sinister house, often presided over by a secretive housekeeper. This title uses all of those ingredients, except the woman in jeopardy, Genevieve (or Jenny) Timmons, is a little different from the usual vulnerable heroines of more traditional fare.

She’s streetwise, a con-artist who manipulates séances for rich folk and then takes off with the offerings. When she is rescued from the clutches of the law by a Mr Lockhart who is acting for a bereaved gentleman, Mr Pemberton, on the understanding she will perform a séance for him in order to give him peace, Jenny is puzzled but agrees to the arrangement.

She finds herself at Somerset Park, a grand estate where she discovers that Mr Pemberton’s intended bride, Audra, was found dead at the foot of the sea cliffs. No-one seems to know how she managed to escape from her locked bedroom and why or how she fell.

Things get complicated for Jenny as the plot twists and turns and she realises not one of the people she encounters at Somerset Park are who or what they seem. Everyone has an agenda or is hiding something. Extracts from Audra’s diary add to the mystery.

This is an entertaining read even if it uses just about every cliché in the gothic novel genre. It is saved largely by Jenny’s character as she is quite refreshing and there are some nice exchanges of wit between her and Pemberton in their slow-boil romance. If you stop to ponder, you’ll find some holes in the plot and the ending feels like an unnecessary add-on but may have been included if a sequel is planned.
 
Three and a half stars.

With thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.

(Book not published until August 2022.)

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