The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates

For some time now I have been meaning to read a novel by Darcy Coates.  She's a bestselling author who writes in the gothic horror genre and has about twenty novels to her credit.  I decided to go with The Haunting of Ashburn House since I am a pushover for books in which a young woman inherits an old house and moves in hoping for a fresh start.  Such is the case with Adrienne our young heroine:

"She had a house.  It was old and smelled funny and was a long way from town, but holy heck, she had her own house.  As long as the Wi-Fi worked well enough that she was able to submit her freelance articles on time she could end up being very happy here.  She thought she could grow fond of the town, too, and maybe even make some friends"

But then Adrienne begins to hear disturbing things about the house she has inherited from her great Aunt Edith.  The Ashburn family was murdered in this house almost a century ago  The only Ashburn to survive was Aunt Edith who was eight years old at the time.  Oddly, Edith moved back into Ashburn House when she reached adulthood and she was quite the eccentric figure to the townspeople.  She lived at Ashburn House until her death and then left it to Adrienne which comes as a shock since Adrienne never even knew she had an Aunt Edith.  Her mother never talked about any of their relatives.   

Things start going awry. Edith had all the mirrors in the house removed.  She also etched weird notes on the tables reminding herself to "Light the Candle. Your Family is Still Dead".  The electricity goes out and each night birds come out of the trees in the nearby woods creating a terrible racket.  There is a grave near the Ashburn House but why has it been dug up and  why is it empty?  Adrienne considers leaving but how can she since taking care of her Mom through her long illness wiped out her savings. and Ashburn House is all she has? 

I really felt bad for Adrienne.  She is a kind, strong and optimistic young woman who despite the disappointments life has thrown her is determined to have her happy future.  Now, towards the end there are some gory scenes but I didn't mind because I liked and identified with Adrienne and I liked her cat Wolfgang as well.  He's a demanding little fellow who expects his cat food to arrive on time.  But at the end of the book he proves himself to be a loyal friend and protector to Adrienne.  It's no wonder she cares about him so much.  

So the bottom line is that if you don't mind some blood and guts this is a book you might want to try out, particularly on a cold winter's night with a cup of tea nearby.