A HAUNTING AT HOLKHAM

 

SYNOPSIS

January 1950. Lady Anne Coke, daughter of the 5th Earl of Leicester, is in Scunthorpe on a business trip when she is called home after a sudden death in the family. She returns to Holkham Hall to discover a mystery: her beloved grandfather has been found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs with a valuable piece of jewellery in his pocket. No one can find a cause of death, and some even suspect foul play from the ghost who supposedly haunts the house. But Anne's suspicions are aroused; she grew close to her grandfather when they lived together during the war and she is determined to discover the truth.

During World War II, Holkham Hall was an army base with large sections out of bounds, and 11-year-old Anne was in the care of a new governess, whom she hated and believed to be deceitful. Although she had been told to stay away from certain parts of the house, Anne used the secret passageways and the cellars to move around unnoticed. And something she saw then could unlock the mystery of her grandfather's death now.

Title: A haunting at Holkham

Author: Anne Glenconner

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication date: November 11, 2021

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

Prior to reading this I had read a news article about the author and her fascinating life. Don´t know why but I’ve always enjoyed very much stories about British aristocracy, so when I learned A haunting at Holkham drew from some of the author’s real life experiences I was so excited. After reading it I must say that, although the writing was good, I didn’t find the actual plot that engaging.

 

After her grandfather’s sudden death, Anne thinks it is a bit suspicious, so she tries to get to the bottom of it and several other mysteries that will go back to the early 40s when she was a child living at Holkham with her grandad and a devious governess that might have been implicated in the current affairs.

 

I loved the blend of fact and fiction, especially in the past timeline, but at the same time this past timeline wasn’t that exciting. It was more a telling of her daily life with not much mystery around it. The governess character was absolutely despising and it was shocking to learn how that really happened to the author when she was a child.

 

In the present timeline (as present as 1950 can be), Anne enlists the help of one of her family’s tenants to investigate. I liked the pair they made, it was interesting to see the clash of ideas of the upper and lower classes.

 

With also a “ghost story” thrown in there, the story had certain gothic vibes at times that added a nice touch.

 

I’ve heard both Lady in waiting and Murder on Mustique are both really good, so despite A haunting at Holkham was not my favorite I’m still willing to give the author another chance.

 

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.