Title: Craven Manor

Author: Darcy Coates

Publisher: Black Owl Books 2017

Genre: Horror

Pages: 300

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook; Popsugar - Ghost Story; Horror

Daniel is desperate for a job. When someone slides a note under his door offering him the groundskeeper’s position at an old estate, it seems too good to be true.

Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. The mansion’s front door hangs open, and leaves and cobwebs coat the marble foyer. It’s clear no one has lived there in a long time.

But an envelope waits for him inside the doorway. It contains money, and promises more.

Daniel is desperate. Against his better judgement, he moves into the groundskeeper’s cottage behind the crypt. He’s determined to ignore the strange occurrences that plague the estate.

But when a candle flickers to life in the abandoned tower window, Daniel realises Craven Manor is hiding a terrible secret… one that threatens to bury him with it.

This one had a lot of promise. I loved the set-up and the initial time at the manor. Once Daniel met Bran, I felt like the suspense started to go out of the story. I wasn’t as intrigued or scared. I feel like the story lost a lot of steam at the end and the final conflict wasn’t as fraught as I would have liked. But I will say that the scene where Daniel first encounters Annaliese is amazing.

Next up on the TBR pile: