Genre
Gothic mystery, melodrama
Print length
324 pages; 94K words
Age range
This is an adult book but suitable for mature older teenagers
Trigger warnings
off-scene marital abuse
Amazon rating
New release, not yet rated
When Ingrid flees a violent husband to become a housekeeper in the Scottish Highlands, she discovers the family she works for has a much darker history than her own.
Who haunts Strathbairn? Why are the adult McCleod children at each other’s throats? And why does the youngest sneak off at night? As Ingrid searches for answers, she grows ever more fearful that her husband will track her down.
Set in late 19th century Scottish Highlands, WHAT HAPPENED AT THE ABBEY is a gothic mystery brimming with intrigue, ghostly drama, and family secrets.
PRAISE FOR WHAT HAPPENED AT THE ABBEY
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I thoroughly enjoyed this story which seemed to throw up one mystery after another….
I loved this book which kept me enthralled and entertained to the very last page. Thoroughly recommended! 5 big stars. Amazon review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
…Sinister goings on have happened there in the past and continue to the present day. Nobody can be trusted, and you, the reader will analyse each character with a critical eye. What is going on here? Can Ingrid unlock the mystery and save herself before her husband finds her, or has fate got something else in store? Goodreads review
Isobel Blackthorn is an award-winning author of unique and engaging fiction. She writes gripping mysteries, historical fiction and dark psychological thrillers. Her Canary Islands collection begins with The Drago Tree and includes A Matter of Latitude, Clarissa’s Warning and A Prison in the Sun. Her interest in the occult is explored in The Unlikely Occultist: A biographical novel of Alice A. Bailey and the dark mystery A Perfect Square.
Her dark thriller The Cabin Sessions was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award 2018 and the Ditmar Awards 2018. Isobel’s biographical short story ‘Nothing to Declare’ which forms the first chapter of Emma’s Tapestry was shortlisted for the Ada Cambridge Prose Prize 2019. A Prison in the Sun was shortlisted in the LGBTQ category of the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards 2020 and the International Book Awards 2021. And The Unlikely Occultist: A biographical novel of Alice A. Bailey received an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Reader’s Favorite Book Awards.
Isobel writes non fiction too. She is the author of the world’s only biography of Theosophist and mother of the New Age movement Alice Bailey – Alice A. Bailey: Life & Legacy.
Isobel’s first work, which she wrote in 2008, is Voltaire’s Garden. This memoir is set in the mid 2000s and tells the story of building a sustainable lifestyle B&B in Cobargo on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, which gained international attention when a firestorm razed the idyllic historic village on New Year’s Eve 2019.
Isobel’s writing appears in journals and websites around the world, including Esoteric Quarterly, New Dawn Magazine, Paranoia, Mused Literary Review, Trip Fiction, Backhand Stories, Fictive Dream and On Line Opinion. Isobel was a judge for the Shadow Awards 2020 long fiction category. Her book reviews have appeared in New Dawn Magazine, Esoteric Quarterly, Shiny New Books, Sisters in Crime, Australian Women Writers, Trip Fiction and Newtown Review of Books.
Isobel’s interests are many and varied. She has a long-standing association with the Canary Islands, having lived in Lanzarote in the late 1980s. A humanitarian and campaigner for social justice, in 1999 Isobel founded the internationally acclaimed Ghana Link, uniting two high schools, one a relatively privileged state school located in the heart of England, the other a materially impoverished school in a remote part of the Upper Volta region of Ghana, West Africa.
Isobel has a background in Western Esotericism. She holds 1st Class Honours in Social Studies, and a PhD from the University of Western Sydney for her ground-breaking research on the works of Alice A. Bailey. After working as a teacher, market trader and PA to a literary agent, she arrived at writing in her forties, and her stories are as diverse and intriguing as her life has been.
Isobel has performed her literary works at events in a range of settings and given workshops in creative writing.
British by birth, Isobel entered this world in Farnborough, Kent, She has lived in England, Australia, Spain and the Canary Islands.
Website
https://isobelblackthorn.com/
https://twitter.com/IBlackthorn
Instagram:
https//www.instagram.com/isobelblackthorn/
My Thoughts
What Happened at the Abbey by Isobel Blackthorn is a very Gothic-style story that has the main character, Ingrid, along with her daughter escape her abusive husband and take as housekeeper Strathbairn Abbey in the Scottish Highlands in the late 19th century. She decides to be a 'widow' so that her husband cannot find her.
The position is not what she thinks it is as the McCleod siblings are at each other all the time. So she needs to find out why and what secrets do they have?
The patriarch of the family has put Gertrude in charge of the household which is not the greatest idea as she is just a mean-spirited person.
Then there is Miles who likes to wander at night in the bogs looking for different kinds of moss. Why? Haven't a clue. Ingrid strikes up a relationship with Hamish. He is just the kind of man she has been looking for.
All the while, fearing that her husband Edward will hunt her down. As she is drawn into the family dynamics, she finds that she cannot trust anyone. So, she is determined to find out all she can of the McCleod family and its secrets. However, doing this puts her and her daughter in harm's way.
I have read three of Isobel's books, loved each and every one. She tells a really creepy story, very gothic and dark, with characters that you think you know but really don't. I look forward to reading more by this author.
I give it 5 stars!
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