A review by karteabooks
A Haunting at Holkham by Anne Glenconner

3.0

I must admit that I brought this book because of its title. The village of Holkham, the beach and Holkham Hall hold so many lovely memories for me, of when my children were younger, and we spent many happy days at the various places. 

 

It’s Christmas 1943 and Lady Anne Coke has returned to Holkham Hall from Scotland. But her home is now an army base, with large sections out of bounds. And 11-year-old Anne is in the care of a new governess, whom she hates and believes to be hiding something. At least her beloved grandfather is there for her, to share stories and to keep her entertained. But even though she’s been told to stay away from certain parts of the house, Anne knows secrets about the hall that others do not; the passageways and cellars that allow her to move around unnoticed, watching. And when mysterious events lead to a murder and disappearance, Anne is determined to uncover the truth. 

 

Once I realised that this actually based around some of the author’s real-life experiences I was intrigued further, and even though I enjoyed the book as I was already familiar with the setting of Holkham, the writing was good but I did sometimes feel that the plot was slightly lacking. 

 

What I really liked was the ‘ghost story’ that was in there and at times there were certain gothic vibes, which I thought was a nice touch. 

 

After reading this, I subsequently read that both of the author’s previous books, A Lady in Waiting and Murder on Mustique are both really good, so although for me  this book wasn’t a candidate for book of the year, I’m going to be looking into reading her other books soon.