‘There are a lot of shadows at Ravenswood, so you will need to be strong…’
The year is 1885 and a young woman is on the run, knowing if she’s caught, she’ll be hanged for murder. Moments from a safe haven, she collides with a gruff stranger, falling and breaking her ankle.
To her surprise, the man – Marcus Greybourne – convinces the local constable that she is his reclusive wife of ten years, Luna. He carries her back to the neglected and crumbling Ravenswood Hall, promising if she agrees to maintain this charade, he will keep her safe until her injuries have healed.
But the house is haunted by shadows and secrets. What’s more, the real Luna Greybourne is missing, without trace. Scratches and marks made by her around the house suggest witchcraft; and indeed Luna is known locally as the Ravenswood Witch; her reputation in tatters, like the wallpapers of the padlocked rooms she’d destroyed.
As strange happenings in the house continue, outside the screech of a raven echoes across oppressive woods that seem alive with dark magic. And the woman who is now pretending to be Luna can’t help but fear she’s escaped the noose for a far more terrible fate…
My Review
Omg that twist! And if that wasn’t enough, yet another! I was telling my friends earlier over coffee that I’m quite naive when it comes to trusting people, so I would have been taken in as well. In fact the deceit could apply to quite a few of the characters in this book who may not be who we think they are. So keep guessing!
But first I must mention the raven, Bran. I love a book with a Corvid at its heart – and I’ve read quite a few. Dive into a Gothic mystery and there’s bound to be a crow or a raven in there somewhere. But if you don’t want people to think you are a witch, maybe don’t have a raven as your ‘familiar’. It’s nearly as bad as having a black cat.
The Ravenswood Witch opens with a young woman on the run literally crashing into the ‘master’ of Ravenswood Hall, Marcus Greybourne. She breaks her ankle and he takes her home where she is put to bed and invited to stay until her bones have healed. The housekeeper helps look after her, but all is not as it seems. The house is dark and eerie, and much of it has been destroyed, even the wallpaper has been ripped from the walls. And there are spooky goings on at night, like footsteps in the attic, faces at the window, messages written in the dust and a self-igniting fire at the end of the young woman’s bed. Someone wants her to leave, that’s for sure.
I adored this book, listening to it on Audible, the narration is excellent, one of my favourites. There is a supernatural element to the story, which really lifted it for me, and a lot of superstition surrounding witches and witchcraft. Highly recommended, especially as an audio book.
About the Author
Jenni Keer is a history graduate who embarked on a career in contract flooring before falling in love and moving to the Suffolk countryside. Her lifelong passion for reading became a passion for writing and she had two contemporary romance novels published in 2019. She has now embraced her love of the past to write twisty, turny historicals, and The Legacy of Halesham Hall was shortlisted for the Romantic Historical Novel of the Year in 2023. Her latest release, At The Stroke of Midnight, has been described as Rebecca meets Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day.
Living with four grown up children and three cats (but just the one husband) she is frustrated by their inability to appreciate that when she’s staring into space, she’s actually working, and that watching television counts as research. Much younger in her head than she is on paper, she adores any excuse for fancy-dress and is part of a disco formation dance team.
