A house of ghosts: a mystery

After a trio of well-received WWII crime novels featuring Russian Captain Alexei Korolev, Ryan goes back to WWI in a mystery that combines espionage and treason with spiritualism and ghosts. In 1917, Secret Intelligence Service staffers Kate Cartwright and Robert Donovan are dispatched, along with Kate's former fiancé, Captain Rolleston Miller-White, to Blackwater Abbey, the country home of armaments manufacturer Lord Francis Highmount on an island off the Devon coast, where their assignment is to attend séances during the winter solstice. Mediums Madam Feda and Count Orlov are in attendance, along with friends and family, to try to contact soldiers recently killed, including the Highmounts' two sons and Kate's brother, Arthur. Kate, who happens to possess the ability to see ghosts, and Donovan are on the lookout for spies among those gathered, since plans for secret weapons developed by Lord Highmount's company have recently turned up in Berlin. After a violent climax in the ghostly country home, there are hints of adventure ahead, with a frisson of romance, for Kate and Donovan. A promising mix of supernatural and historical thriller.--Michele Leber Copyright 2010 Booklist

During the winter of 1917, at the height of WWI, various people with hidden agendas travel at the invitation of munitions tycoon Lord Highmount to Blackwater, an island off the English coast, in this lively traditional mystery from Irish author Ryan (The Holy Thief). At Blackwater Abbey, Lady Highmount hosts a séance that she hopes will allow her to speak with her two soldier sons who perished on the western front. The Highmounts' guests include a man who calls himself Capt. Robert Donovan, spunky socialite Kate Cartwright, Kate's parents, Kate's slimy ex-fiancé, Count Orlov (a medium), Madam Feda (another medium), and a shell-shocked soldier, whose doctor insists that he hovers on the border of the spirit world. Also present are the spirits of the dead that Kate, a natural though unwilling medium, sees swarming throughout the house. Heightening the suspense is a mysterious stranger, who lurks in the secret passages that honeycomb the house. After a storm isolates the place and violence breaks out, a ripping yarn ensues. The tale exudes a whiff of fusty melodrama in places, but this is a quibble. Agatha Christie fans will have fun. (Oct.)

In 1917, British armaments manufacturer Lord Highmount has lost two of his sons in World War I. He invites a number of people, including two mediums, to a gathering at Blackwater Abbey on an isolated island off the coast of Devon. He hopes to contact the ghosts of his sons. Kate Cartwright, a young woman with her own inherited ability to see ghosts, along with the mysterious Capt. Robert Donovan, attend the party at the request of the Secret Intelligence Service. The SIS suspects that a spy who stole munitions plans will be there. High seas and a dangerous storm trap everyone on the island, but it's not a ghost that cuts the telephone line or wrecks the abbey ferry. The unconventional historical mystery combines spies, ghosts, and wartime in a riveting Agatha Christie-type story that tells of the tragedy of a lost generation. VERDICT Already published in the UK, this haunting story was a finalist for the NBA Irish Book Awards Crime Fiction Book of the Year. Readers willing to accept the existence of ghosts will appreciate the atmospheric mystery, which seems designed for fans of Charles Todd's "Ian Rutledge" books.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Ryan, best known as William Ryan for his three historical novels about Moscow police captain Alexei Korolev (The Twelfth Department, 2013, etc.), goes back even further in time for some homefront intrigue in 1917 England.The ostensible reason the Secret Intelligence Service sends Capt. Robert Donovan (not his real name) down to Blackwater Island, off the Devon coast, is to protect Lord Francis Highmount and his Austrian-born wife, Lady Elizabeth Highmount, during what looks like a fraught weekend party. The SIS doesn't bother to give a reason why Donovan should be joined by Naval Intelligence codebreaker Kate Cartwright. The guests providing cover for Kate, who'd already turned down an invitation to the gathering, include her titled parents and Capt. Rolleston Miller-White, a plausible scoundrel to whom she was once engaged. The most important skill Kate brings to the party is one she's kept secret: She can see spirits. That makes her an ideal person to test the claims of Madame Feda and Count Orlov, a pair of mediums taken up by Lady Elizabeth, who hopes to get into contact with the sons who haven't returned from the war. Algernon Highmount is missing, presumed dead; there's no doubt at all that his brother Reginald, Kate's late fiance, was killed. Once the island is duly isolated from the mainland by bad weather and deliberate sabotage, Ryan pulls out all the stops. Blackwater Abbey, "built on a graveyard," features bloodstained staircases, secret passages, and all the nooks and crannies needed to keep the dozen guests and residents from providing solid alibis to each other when one of them is murdered. There'll be sances, unmaskings, things that go bump in the night, voices from beyond the grave, and revelations of several different characters' unsuspectedly dark connections to the Great War.Throughout the alarums and excursions, the low-maintenance heroine maintains a composure that should serve her well in the promised series. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

After a trio of well-received WWII crime novels featuring Russian Captain Alexei Korolev, Ryan goes back to WWI in a mystery that combines espionage and treason with spiritualism and ghosts. In 1917, Secret Intelligence Service staffers Kate Cartwright and Robert Donovan are dispatched, along with Kate's former fiancé, Captain Rolleston Miller-White, to Blackwater Abbey, the country home of armaments manufacturer Lord Francis Highmount on an island off the Devon coast, where their assignment is to attend séances during the winter solstice. Mediums Madam Feda and Count Orlov are in attendance, along with friends and family, to try to contact soldiers recently killed, including the Highmounts' two sons and Kate's brother, Arthur. Kate, who happens to possess the ability to see ghosts, and Donovan are on the lookout for spies among those gathered, since plans for secret weapons developed by Lord Highmount's company have recently turned up in Berlin. After a violent climax in the ghostly country home, there are hints of adventure ahead, with a frisson of romance, for Kate and Donovan. A promising mix of supernatural and historical thriller. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

In 1917, British armaments manufacturer Lord Highmount has lost two of his sons in World War I. He invites a number of people, including two mediums, to a gathering at Blackwater Abbey on an isolated island off the coast of Devon. He hopes to contact the ghosts of his sons. Kate Cartwright, a young woman with her own inherited ability to see ghosts, along with the mysterious Capt. Robert Donovan, attend the party at the request of the Secret Intelligence Service. The SIS suspects that a spy who stole munitions plans will be there. High seas and a dangerous storm trap everyone on the island, but it's not a ghost that cuts the telephone line or wrecks the abbey ferry. The unconventional historical mystery combines spies, ghosts, and wartime in a riveting Agatha Christie-type story that tells of the tragedy of a lost generation. VERDICT Already published in the UK, this haunting story was a finalist for the NBA Irish Book Awards Crime Fiction Book of the Year. Readers willing to accept the existence of ghosts will appreciate the atmospheric mystery, which seems designed for fans of Charles Todd's "Ian Rutledge" books.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

During the winter of 1917, at the height of WWI, various people with hidden agendas travel at the invitation of munitions tycoon Lord Highmount to Blackwater, an island off the English coast, in this lively traditional mystery from Irish author Ryan (The Holy Thief). At Blackwater Abbey, Lady Highmount hosts a séance that she hopes will allow her to speak with her two soldier sons who perished on the western front. The Highmounts' guests include a man who calls himself Capt. Robert Donovan, spunky socialite Kate Cartwright, Kate's parents, Kate's slimy ex-fiancé, Count Orlov (a medium), Madam Feda (another medium), and a shell-shocked soldier, whose doctor insists that he hovers on the border of the spirit world. Also present are the spirits of the dead that Kate, a natural though unwilling medium, sees swarming throughout the house. Heightening the suspense is a mysterious stranger, who lurks in the secret passages that honeycomb the house. After a storm isolates the place and violence breaks out, a ripping yarn ensues. The tale exudes a whiff of fusty melodrama in places, but this is a quibble. Agatha Christie fans will have fun. (Oct.)