Monday 21 October 2019

Book Review: The Lost Ones by Anita Frank (Historical/Paranormal/Mystery)

Title: The Lost Ones
Author: Anita Frank
Publisher:
HQ (Harlequin)

Publication Date: 21 October 2019
Pages:
451
Format:
Paperback
Genre:
Historical/Paranormal/Mystery
Source:
ARC from Publisher

 


Some houses are never at peace.

England, 1917

Reeling from the death of her fiancĂ©, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick – but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion.

Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella – sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs – and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets – secrets the dead whisper from the other side… 


The Lost Ones was a fun supernatural tale. It took a little while to get going, but once it did I enjoyed the story. The prose was simple; however, it held enough detail to establish period and set the scene. Stella made a compelling protagonist, though the romance angle I thought I saw coming never fully eventuated. The only downside I'd note is that I did guess the twists fairly early on. I knew well in advance what Stella would discover, which meant the book lost some of its tension and sense of expectation. Nonetheless, I was still happy to read on to see how she and the others would make the discovery. Although marketing compares this work to those by authors like Susan Hill, I personally thought it didn't have the menace of stories like The Woman in Black. I was never on the edge of my seat or jumping out of my skin. Still, it was a pleasant, fun read and will appeal to fans of historical supernatural mystery stories. Just don't go in expecting any major scares.

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