Shadows of Swanford Abbey
Klassen mixes Regency romance and Gothic suspense in this tale of hauntings, murder, and second chances at love in a scenic English village.
Vicar’s daughter turned lady’s companion Rebecca Lane accompanies her widowed employer to Swanford Abbey to answer a distress call from her younger brother John, a struggling writer. The arrogant bestselling author Ambrose Oliver stole John’s last novel, and with the big man staying at Swanford Abbey to write his next, John leans on Rebecca for help persuading Oliver to back his new manuscript and rectify past wrongs.
Complicating her stay at Swanford is Sir Frederick Wilford, local baronet, lodging at the Abbey while his house undergoes renovations following his wife’s sudden death. Rebecca fell in love with Sir Frederick as a child, but her current situation, her concerns over John, and rumors that his wife’s death was no accident hang over their renewed associations. Only Frederick believes Rebecca when she sees the resident ghost who haunts the Abbey. But when Oliver is found dead in his room and the guests realize there is a murderer among them, Rebecca’s fear that John is involved leads her to deceptions she never intended.
Blending shades of Austen’s Northanger Abbey with the classic grand house murder mystery, Klassen’s quiet writing is as soothing as a watercolor landscape and as layered with intricate details that slowly surface. As Frederick’s investigation ensues, the relationship between the leads grows on a foundation of trust, shared memories, and new confidences. Skirting cliché for genuine human fallibility, the book’s themes of justice and mercy carry its inspirational message while the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, and the themes of familial love, especially that between siblings, deepens the emotional dimensions. A satisfying read.
