Horatio has built a new house in South London overlooking a river called the Rye. he is new wealth and is trying to impress his wife and father-in-law. However his wife dies mysteriously and Horatio blames the 'miasma' from the river, others are more suspicious. In 1994 the house is owned by one of Horatio's descendants but to make ends meet she lets the atic to a family haunted by debt. To them the house is a scary place and they feel evil around them. 2004, after standing empty for many years the house is bought by Maxine and her boyfriend Seb, they optimistically hope to restore the house to its former glory but when Seb loses his job, secrets come to the surface and the house is not as friendly as it seems.

Reading the blurb this seems to be a story about a haunted house but it is actually much better than then. The three interwoven stories are each interesting but the later two link together much more cohesively, the 19th century one seems more about giving a historic context rather than being a driver of narrative. This is deceptively simple book and, although it took a while to engage me, byt the end I was really invested. ( )