London at the dawn of 1918 and Ireland's most famous literary figure, WB Yeats, is immersed in supernatural investigations at his Bloomsbury rooms. Haunted by the restless spirit of an Irish girl whose body is mysteriously washed ashore in a coffin, Yeats undertakes a perilous journey back to Ireland with his apprentice ghost-catcher Charles Adams to piece together the killer's identity. Surrounded by spies, occultists and die-hard female rebels, the two are led on a gripping journey along Ireland's wild Atlantic coast.

Written well but somehow I could not connected with this novel.

The descriptions of Sligo and the west coast of Ireland, along with those of the decaying estates of the English gentry are superb and impart a great sense of time and place. However I found the switch of narration between the first and third person confusing. The story, for me, lacked a main focus - was it a ghost story, a thriller or a romance? Too many themes for this poor reader.

I did however love this quote at the beginning of the book

( )

I’ve always enjoyed mystery novels featuring literary characters. The Blood Dimmed Tide presents an interesting variation on that genre: literary character as paranormal investigator. In this case the character is W. B. Yeats. It’s 1918, World War I seems to be consuming an entire generation of young men, and the Irish independence movement is turning violent. Yeats is trying to balance his varying loyalties to the Crown and to his native Ireland.

This setting makes the book intellectually “chewy” in a way lacking for many murder-cum-literary-insights novels. The story begins in London, but quickly moves to Ireland. A young serving girl has been murdered, her body found in a two-hundred-year-old coffin floating off the Irish coast. Yeats is haunted by the girl, who inexplicably sent him a letter—a letter he didn’t receive until after her death—saying she feared for her life.

While Yeats is primarily concerned with the paranormal, most of the book’s characters are consumed by the “Irish question.” These characters include representatives of the British government in Ireland, a secret group of Irish women determined to contribute to the revolt, land owners who see an inevitable end to their generations of power, and the tenants of these land owners.

The mystery at the heart of this novel is good, not great—but the way it depicts this historical moment makes up for the lack of unanticipated plot twists. ( )

Publication date: 23rd October 2014

Publisher: No Exit Press

ISBN: 9781843444657

Score: 4/5

Synopsis:
London at the dawn of 1918 and Ireland's most famous literary figure, W. B. Yeats, is immersed in supernatural investigations at his Bloomsbury rooms. Haunted by the restless spirit of an Irish girl whose body is mysteriously washed ashore in a coffin, Yeats undertakes a perilous journey back to Ireland with his apprentice ghost-catcher Charles Adams, to piece together the killer's identity. Surrounded by spies, occultists and diehard female rebels, the two are led on a journey along Ireland's wild Atlantic coast, through the ruins of it's abandoned estates, and into it's darkest, most haunted corners. Falling under the spell of dark forces, Yeats and his ghost-catcher come dangerously close to crossing the invisible line that divides the living from the dead.

My review:
Although I'm not normally interested in reading historical fiction, I happened to see this book's cover picture and found it utterly charming, not to mention a little enticing. So, I'm guilty of completely judging this book by it's cover.
This novel has elements of several genres including crime, thriller, romance, espionage, supernatural and the occult, but I think this is what lets it down. I found the content a bit repetitive and the narrative switch between first person by Charles Adams and third person confusing. Some of the issues raised in earlier chapters remained loose ends as the focus of the story kept changing.
The descriptive prose about Sligo and the Irish coast at the turn of the century is this book's saving grace. It flows beautifully and make the place appear so charming. I just wish I had enjoyed the rest of the book as much as the cover promised. ( )

I wanted to like this, I really did. The premise is intriguing: WB Yeats (or at least his creature) as detective investigating a murder via rosicrucianism or similar; set in 1916 and including a major role for - who else? - Maud Gonne. I wouldn't classify myself as an expert on Yeats, but I've read and studied my fair share. I think there's scope here for great fun.

But I'm sorry: try as I might, I just couldn't get in to this novel. The elements are in place, but nothing gels. The author is in places a good phrase-maker, and perhaps herein lies the problem. This is a thriller trying to be literary fiction and falling between the stools. Pace and plot are sacrificed at the purple altars of mood and explication of Irish republican internecine complications. Characterisation isn't so much unconvincing as just plain uninteresting, and before very long one simply can't be bothered to sustain the effort required. ( )

This is a strange book with many, many strands.
The story is set in early 20th century Ireland just after the Easter Risings, at a time fraught with danger and enormous political tumult.
The body of Rosemary O'Grady, enclosed in a coffin, is washed ashore and found by one Captain Oates - this is the readers first(and only, I felt)sense of drama and intrigue. How did she come to be there? Who killed her?... Enter W B Yeats (the celebrated literary figure)and his ghost hunting apprentice, Charles Adams - our two paranormal super sleuths set out on a quest to make contact with Rosemary's ghost to uncover the mystery.
It is a story which tries to blend its multiple strands of crime, literature, politics, history, secret societies, spies, romance and the occult.
It starts off very well and initially I was fairly well hooked, however, several chapters in, I started to feel disengaged by a plot which I felt never really develops and by endlessly long and tedious descriptions that, for me, really detracted from the story. I do have to add that, at times, the author's prose is really quite lovely but, unfortunately, this wasn't enough to make me care about the plot.I ended up losing interest in the characters and my enthusiasm was severely tested and ultimately dampened by the increasing tedium of historical and political fact.
This book is certainly unusual but not especially gripping - having been promised by the book cover "a gripping journey along Ireland's wild Atlantic coast" and "something truly wondrous and highly entertaining", I felt sorely disappointed. ( )