It had been the local doctor who found Charmery’s body Theo had not met him but he had seen him being accosted by reporters on TV news bulletins after the inquest. Here was the high street with the tiny market square, a scattering of shops, the local pub and a doctor’s surgery. Melbray, when he finally reached it, had changed very little. But because she was dead he was driving into the wilds of Norfolk at the beginning of a cold grey December, along roads which a decade ago had been familiar but which now included a confusing bypass which sent him speeding in the wrong direction for half a dozen miles. He had not been to the place for a good ten years and if his cousin Charmery had not died, he would have continued to live in his own small north London house, churning out a novel a year, eking out his income with a little dilettante journalism and some radio scripts, and managing to forget for most of the time that Charmery had ever existed. Theo Kendal had never expected to see Fenn House again and he had certainly never expected to own it. You will appreciate that the shocking manner of Miss Kendal’s death delayed probate, but it has finally been granted and so we are sending you the keys to Fenn House by special courier, together with a copy of the transfer of title.Īgain, we offer our condolences for your cousin’s dreadful and untimely death. Under the terms of Miss Kendal’s will, the ownership of the property known as Fenn House, Melbray, in the County of Norfolk, passes to you.

Having said that, Rayne seems more serious about her writing, and I'm looking forward to reading her next book, What Lies Beneath. I must say, House of the Lost is less of the horror/thriller that initially attracted me to the author, and more mystery/drama. (On a lighter note, there was one point in the book that I was reminded of Flowers in the Attic, and flooded with pleasant reading memories). I always know Rayne is going to bring all the threads together in the end, and I enjoyed watching how each of the stories began to intersect and I certainly wasn't disappointed. We also see how both human suffering and love drives and shapes characters throughout the course of their lives. Rayne was able to plunge deep into the psyche of several characters and reveal their many layers. There were many threads, some taking me to very dark places, much darker than any of her other books I've read (The Death Chamber, Tower of Silence, Spider Light and A Dark Dividing). Rayne developed a complex narrative, weaving together a mystery that was a delight to unravel. Author Sarah Rayne features regularly on my reading list and I've been looking forward to reading House of the Lost since it's publication last year.

A Dark Dividing by Sarah Rayne