Shani StruthersRecensioni

This is a good story, with reliable characters and some nice paranormal action. I found the writing style to be very slow and dry with too much description and not enough feeling. Too serious.

I can't tell you what a pleasure it was to finally read a real haunting haunted house story. I've found lately that either the story isn't creepy enough (seriously cozy horror is not a thing) or it's a romance masquerading as a horror. So, reading Blakemort was a real thrill.

I've never read anything by Shani Struthers before. However, I own the first book in this series (and I bought two books in the series after finishing this one hehe). I'm really thrilled to have discovered an author that can write a thrilling and creepy horror story. Right from the start is the story intriguing and I love how creepy the house is. You can really feel that something is badly wrong here. Poor little Corinna who knows that the house is wrong that it's evil, but neither her brother and mother listen to her and that makes this story so sad. She can see them, there are some rooms that are a bit more "safe", but most of the house is bad. Especially around Christmas.

I like how the story focuses on Christmas during the years they lived in the house. As Corinna state in the book, bad things happened all through the years. But, Christmas was especially bad, every year. I quite liked the mystery of the house, and how they in the last year in Blakemort finally discovered the truth.

Blakemort is a terrific novella. I found it engrossing and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series!

I chose to read this ARC and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased!

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This book sure had me spooked. I like the way the story unfolded and the interesting resolution. Well done, author!

Another satisfying psychic mystery from the Psychic Surveys team! Shani Struthers continues to entertain. I recommend this book for good light reading.

A very nice ghost story of a long-ago Christmas Eve gone horribly wrong. Highly recommended as part of the Psychic Surveys novels.

The Venetian weaves a modern story with an old story and produces a tapestry of fear and anger that is hard to put down. You will enjoy this book.

Shani Struthers hit the ball out of the park with this novel. I recommend this book to all fans of the paranormal.

This method of devoting whole novels to the back stories of these characters is fascinating! It provides more supernatural fun in a much broader time setting without taking away from the plot in one of Struthers’s main Psychic Surveys novels. These stories are fascinating stand-alone novels themselves.
I really, really, really hope the author provides answers to the cliffhangers she left us with in these companion books, and I hope she writes one of these for all the characters.
Blakemort: Blakemort is one heck of a haunted house. The goings on here could’ve and should’ve scared the stuffing right out of me but it didn’t. It was definitely spooky and atmospheric, but it could’ve been so much more with a little more effort at suspense and scaring the readers. Maybe the author will tell us more about the how and why this house is so haunted in a future Psychic Surveys novel - that would be terrific! This book is well worth reading for everyone interested in the Psychic Surveys series.

The third novella in the Psychic Surveys companion series. This one gives the reader the background behind Rosamund Davis, Ruby’s great-grandmother.

It’s a beautifully written, atmospheric and creepy tale where the house which is featured is also very much a character. The style of writing is very apt - there is a great sense of the era it is set in, the early 20th century. I was quite gripped by Rosamund’s story and I thought it was a fantastic addition to this fascinating series.

Comraich is a very enjoyable and fitting sequel to Jessamine by the same author. It’s a story about love, friendship and regrets set in the Scottish Highlands and it also contains a hint of the supernatural. Although both books can be read as stand alones, I am glad that I took the time to read Jessamine first as it gives a good backstory and is excellent in its own right.

Comraich is a beautifully written and touching tale. I love the setting which is vividly and evocatively described - I almost felt I was there inside the book, like a fly on the wall, standing on the shores of a loch. I enjoy a story about secrets and this one really drew me in, partly because I felt like I was visiting old friends and I was pleased to be spending time with them again. The characters are likeable and well rounded. I enjoyed reading about their individual histories. It’s quite a sad tale in places, full of misunderstandings and guilt, but the ending is an apt and mostly happy one.

An engaging and easy read which I can recommend.

Descension is the Fifth in the Psychic Surveys series where fiction is combined with fact. Although I have read a couple of the novellas which I loved, I haven't read the previous four proper books but this in no way hindered my enjoyment. Descension can definitely be read as a stand alone and I know I’ll be picking up the rest of the series from the beginning soon.

In this story Ruby Davis and her colleagues are called out to the Brookbridge housing estate, formerly the site of a mental asylum with a shady past, and an ‘empty’ hospital block to investigate some strange phenomena. This turns out to be more of a challenge than as at first thought. I found this a fascinating, gripping and poignant read. The characters are well drawn and believable. I especially like Jed, the ghost dog who always accompanies Ruby! The plot is a compelling and absorbing one, is well paced and turns into quite the page turner.

It’s awful to think what went on in institutions of this kind and this story highlights the horrific treatment of patients, especially those women who had a child out of wedlock (shock, horror) or who had an opinion of their own (how dare they!). To think that such practices were still going on in the last century is really shocking and abhorrent.

A great, creepy tale where things definitely do go bump in the night and the walls have ears. A derelict asylum is not a place for the faint of heart!½

Another great companion novella to add to the Psychic Surveys series. This one introduces Ness Patterson who is a Psychic Investigator. It gives a good insight into her character, how she is as she is and what makes her tick.

Ness travels to the Isle of Skye to investigate spooky and sinister goings on at a lighthouse. Thirteen is unlucky for some and it definitely is in this tale! I loved the setting, just right for a ghost story - it’s very atmospheric and wonderfully described. I could just visualise the remoteness of the island and the unpredictable weather conditions. The characters are very believable and realistic. What more could you want from a spine tingling eerie read!?

Just keep your lights shining! You never know what’s out there.

The story begins as Caroline checks in to a mysterious hotel where her parents honeymooned and I loved the way the hotel and the staff were described as she arrives - I could picture it so clearly and it was very atmospheric. I was intrigued as to what would happen during her stay!
I didn’t realise this book had a romance element so that aspect didn't appeal to me as I am not a fan of romance at all. However it was a well written story with some interesting characters. I had an inkling about what some of the twists would be quite early on and I was right about some of it, but it was an enjoyable journey to discover if my guesses were correct.

Another great atmospheric and spooky read from Shani Struthers, the second in the Haunted World Series. This one is set in The Egress Hotel in Williamsfield, Pennsylvania which has some rather strange residents and goings on!

It's a story which draws you in gradually, drip feeds you information and keeps you in suspense. As it introduces you to each fascinating character, there is a sense they have something to hide or have certain issues. I was avidly turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next, trying to work out who these people were and what their problem was. I had my suspicions about the nature of the hotel, but won’t elaborate more on this point here as I wouldn’t want to spoil the plot for anyone! Suffice to say, it’s a cracking, well written and otherworldly tale which will have you wondering what is and what isn’t reality. Intriguing and eerie rather than spine-tingling, with a poignant ending - perfect for Hallowe’en reading.

Reviewed for TBC on Facebook.

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The Haunting at Highdown Hall is a nice little ghost story. It wasn't overly exciting or scary. There was a love story or two and a couple of surprise twists.
I enjoyed reading this book, but not enough to consider ever reading it again. This is book one in the series. I did not enjoy it enough to see myself purchasing book two. I may read it, if I can get it for free.

A story all too often heard, particularly in the times of the event. It's Christmas Eve, 1958; it is also Cynthia Hart's 31st birthday. It was a time of big movies in colour, and wannabees drawn to the studios like flies to honey. Cynthia is already a huge star, but tonight she will die. How? Why? We'll follow along the search for these answers with the Psychic Surveys group.

The Psychic Surveys group are devoted to helping the dead into the light, but this will be no easy feat. Where most calls come from people who have purchased houses that were built on land where "Britain's most notorious mental asylum" once was, and could very easily have activity terrorizing them, the group attends them all and has very informed, dedicated and sensitive members, usually explaining and helping these spirits into the light, then performing a house-wide cleansing. The group consists of Ruby, Theo, Ness and Corinna, all with different abilities. They will have a difficult task ahead. They have been called in by a very rattled homeowner, reporting what appeared to be a very angry spirit. Theo, first on the scene, has felt the strong presence herself, strongest in the master bedroom and ballroom. It seems that Cynthia has never passed on although she died many years ago. Her estate had been willed to her maid Sally, and subsequently Sally's nephew Alan Kierney moved in, he is the one who called the group.

Of ghost stories, this one is a bit unusual to say the least. She is not willing to leave. Her death was recorded as a heart attack. What from that night could have caused such a thing at the top of her career? She appears to be terrified and no one could convince her otherwise. What is holding her back? The secret will have to come out soon so she can escape. In the meantime, a ghost dog has been found at the last house barking and disturbing the neighbours, add it to the pile of queries. While checking the neighbourhood, she meets a young man who strangely is reading the same book "Drive Like Hell" seems a fitting book for the circumstances.

Questioning what Ruby did, she is always thrown off, fortunately she doesn't fall back on her usual wording, but explains she is a psychic surveyor. Of course Cash is confused, but she manages to explain her part of the rescues. This, of course, brings questions re a ghost hunter, no, she is not a ghost hunter but a psychic surveyor, there's quite a difference. She is intrigued by him, but wary. Dressed casually, she wondered what he did. "I'm a website designer, freelance." Wow! This is something helpful or so she hopes. She is needing a website for her business but knew very little about such things. Of course this requires a lot of time between them to a) learn about website control and b) teach what would be needed in her particular work. Her training coming mostly from her Gran, they must be sure everything is precise. For whatever reason Cynthia is terrified to leave and spends most of her time hiding in a small compartment in her room. Oh, Cash has a lot to learn, and fast! The next day is going to be a wild one. He is willing to learn though, especially learning from Ruby.

Cynthia appears to be severely traumatized. She is in complete terror about what is ahead for her. Nothing seems to calm her. The group tries very hard to reason with her but for some reason she is sure that someone from her past sold her soul to the Devil. What? Much as they try to soothe her and reassure her, it will take at least one more visit from them. This was a great read, I loved it and could not have imagined, with suspense building up to a crescendo, I really didn't see it coming. Great story-telling! I would happily read more of this series.

This is the fourth book in the Psychic Surveys series. I have not read the first three, but this tale worked well as a standalone.

The new residents of Old Cross Cottage, which is located in a small village in Dorset, have been experiencing some spooky and sinister occurrences and have resorted to asking the Psychic Surveys team to investigate. It does not help that the property stands on a crossroads, a place 'between worlds'!

I love a good ghost story (although I have to admit I'm very sceptical about the whole phenomenon) and this one did not disappoint. It had me on the edge of my seat and avidly turning the pages. It is quite a dark, eerie tale, very atmospheric and chilling. It is well written, full of unearthly intrigue and suspense, just what you would expect from a haunted house mystery.

A fabulous, spine tingling tale which will have you hiding behind a cushion - read it if you dare! 😱 One to read with all the lights on, I think. I now look forward to reading this series from the beginning, the first book being The Haunting of Highdown Hall.

Many thanks to TBC on Facebook for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This Christmas ghost story has a tragic and potentially atmospheric backdrop. The week before Christmas 1999 two psychic researchers are called upon to investigate ghostly goings on in a small town in Yorkshire where, a century before, on Christmas Eve 1899, 59 people, including many children, were crushed to death trying to escape from a building after a false cry of "fire". I say "potentially" atmospheric, as I found the first half of this novel flat and lacking in atmosphere, with the characters two dimensional and the narrative lacking excitement. Things picked up in the second half, with more tense action and moments of pathos, though there were still unexplained points: just who cried false fire and why? The potential explanation given early on here makes little sense. I found the two leading characters uninteresting, and indeed, the ghost characters had the better parts to my mind. So, overall, not as good as it might be. This is a prequel to a trilogy of novels about this ghost-hunting pair, but I am not sure I will trouble to read any of those.

I thought Blakemort was a great introduction to the author's Psychic Surveys stories. It can also be read as a standalone and and it made a very good Christmas ghost story.

It's eerie and has all the elements of what you would expect in a haunted house mystery. I loved the writing style and I enjoyed the build up of tension. The house and its many 'inhabitants' were really spooky and I could easily picture it all in my mind! I really liked Corinna, the narrator, and look forward to reading more about her in other books.

A spine tingling and hair raising tale which is sure to set hearts racing!