Ruby Ferguson (1899–1966)

He Arrived at Dusk by R.C. Ashby is a blend of supernatural horror and golden age mystery that involves exposing violent, ghostly events with murder in a bleak house on the Northumberland moors. The author strives to have his reader feel as if they are reading a ghost story with clever misdirection, intense suspense and creepy incidences.

William Mertoun had travelled north from London to assess the furnishings of Broch House and stayed on at the owner’s request to catalogue the library. He show more never sees the owner, Colonel Barr as he is locked away in his bedroom and attended only by his nurse. He spends his time in the library and with the Colonel’s nephew, Charles. There is a curse hanging over the Barrs and their home in that they are haunted by a Roman centurion who died on the spot many hundreds of years ago. Recently the Colonel’s brother was killed and now it appears the ghost is after the next member of the family.

The author delivers a good blend of ghostly horror and a murder mystery as the story is sprinkled with eerie events including a seance and a murder or two. The story is told by three different men each with their own unique version. All three are needed for the complete picture to unfold. He Arrived at Dusk is a great blend of Gothic horror with a murder mystery. One of the biggest surprises about this book is that the author was, in fact, a woman. Written in a skilful and atmospheric style, this was a fun read. show less

25 Dec 2010 - from Jen

A charming book, in which we spend a day in the company of Mrs Memmary, along with some casual visitors, at Keepsfield, a great Scottish house, hearing the story of Lady Rose, who grew up here and was given the house by Queen Victoria as an only daughter who wouldn't otherwise have inherited it. I grasped the central conceit early on, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book. It was moving, affecting, and steeped in the characters' love of Scotland and its history; show more a fairytale story, set apart from, but irrevocably linked into, real life (just as Charles Kingsley's stories are - he is introduced cleverly into the narrative), with all its customs and tragedies. Some of the enthusiasms of the main character and the beautifully-drawn children do recall Ferguson as a favourite pony writer; otherwise you wouldn't know this was by her. A lovely read. show less

The ending felt really sudden and not exactly realistic, but it was sweet and I enjoyed the moments of humor too. Very evocative if you’re interested in the West Highlands of Scotland, particularly the Isle of Skye!

Cleo, usually easygoing and tolerant where other people's foibles were concerned, found herself entertaining in her breast the kind of feelings that lead to war between nations.
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In spite of being so disturbed by love, Cleo was hungry.
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The 'Jill' series were always my favourite pony books and, going back to them now, I can see why: although they're as pony-centric as you might imagine, the human characters don't lose out to it, and they have exactly the kind of snarky humour that I find irresistible. This is a reprint edition, and I was rather miffed to find some editorial amendments – currency has been changed from £sd to decimal, for example, and there's a reference to setting a particularly obnoxious child rider on show more the Viet Cong, which I would guess was originally the Mau Mau – but, on the whole, I should be grateful to get an edition in which the pony Black Boy's name had not been PCed out – although I think, at this point, I was already too late to miss the excision of any reference to smoking. I also made sure not to buy the edition where some particularly dirty-minded person at the publishing house decided that the title was Too Shocking and amended it to 'Jill and the Runaway'. show less