Erin Kelly (1) (1976–)

The House of Mirrors is a follow-up to Erin Kelly's debut novel, The Poison Tree. I read The Poison Tree when it came out in 2009, but in all honesty I couldn't remember anything except the bare bones. In an ideal world I would have reread it before reading The House of Mirrors (just because I would have liked to) but I'm happy to say that it works perfectly well as a standalone and everything is explained that needs to be.

So, The House of Mirrors takes us back to Rex and Karen, their show more daughter Alice, and the spectres of the past including Rex's sister, bohemian Biba. What happened in 1997 has been kept hidden as much as possible but like many family secrets, the truth might be about to blow everything wide open. Alice is now grown up and when notes arrive at her shop, followed by the appearance of a mysterious woman and weird phone calls, it sends her down a rabbit warren of discovery.

I loved Alice's character. I loved her quirky shop, the vintage clothes she sold and her daily #OOTD. I found her volatility fascinating to witness. The story is told either from the point of view of Alice or Karen and there was an element of reading through my fingers as Karen became increasingly concerned at the past coming back to haunt her. This is such an intricately plotted story which never felt like a forced sequel but one that effortlessly seemed to link with the previous book.

Erin Kelly writes such skilfully executed literary psychological thrillers. They remind me of Barbara Vine's books, intense and twisty stories of dysfunctional families. I didn't find The House of Mirrors to be a particularly quick read, rather one that I savoured slowly, devouring every nugget of new information and waiting to see if it would implode or not.

I loved everything about this book: the investigative feel of Alice's viewpoint, the worried vibes of Karen's, the settings, the characters, the stifling summer heat, and the chapters that fill in the blanks. Oh, and the ending! Who opened that new can of worms? The whole package is just brilliant and I highly recommend. show less

“A good mother loves fiercely but ultimately brings up her children to thrive without her. They must be the most important thing in her life, but if she is the most important thing in theirs, she has failed.”

When I first read those lines at the end of Chapter One, I thought, “Oh, that’s a good quote.” BUT, after finishing the book and thinking about what I just read, now I have to say that it’s a FANTASTIC and very fitting quote for this twisted tale of dark family secrets, show more revenge, kidnapping, and murder.

Everyone is wronged and holds a grudge at some point, but THE BURNING AIR reveals what happens when a grudge turns into a poisonous obsession for revenge. And, the MacBride family, the target of the villain’s wrath, has no idea what’s going on until it’s too late. Wow, it’s amazing what kind of diabolical plan a mad person can carry out! This was a fast-paced, suspenseful tale with many shocking revelations throughout. As the details unfolded, I kept questioning if there was a clear-cut villain, and I was very surprised by the ending. Such a sad, tragic secret!

I loved the dark, eerie atmosphere of this story. It’s set around Bonfire Night in early November at a remote barn that’s been turned into the MacBride’s weekend home. I could easily picture myself there, feel the family’s isolation and desperation as their world came apart, smell the burning air…

I am so glad I chose to listen to the audiobook of THE BURNING AIR. So good! The book is divided into sections, and each one is told in the point of view of a different main character. Patricia Conolly, Saskia Maarleveld, Samuel Roukin, and Robert Ian Mackenzie performed the parts, and they did an outstanding job capturing the emotions of the characters. I could have listened to their amazing voices all day. show less

Where to begin to describe The Skeleton Key….a multi-faceted trip through the lives of two families and a book that seems always to threaten to tear them apart seems about right and yet there is so much more to discover between the pages of this book.

The Churcher family and the Lally family: inextricably linked, Frank Churcher and Gerald 'Lal' Lally being the head of each. Best friends, but somehow always that edge of rivalry. Fifty years ago Frank wrote The Golden Bones, a book with a show more mystery and a search for a missing golden bone at its heart. Now, the anniversary is being celebrated and Nell has returned home, but events are about to come to a head.

The Skeleton Key is absolutely brilliant and most definitely my kind of read. It's been described as a slow burner and the gradual unfolding of events past and present fits that description. However, don't mistake that for a slow read. This is a book that had me completely and utterly gripped, held in its thrall from first page to last.

Whilst primarily told by Nell in the present day, the story does go back into the past to drip-feed key moments. It's so intricately and expertly plotted and I found myself frantically turning back through the pages to see where the latest plot twist originated, knowing that it was there and that the detail that seemed so benign at first is in fact so very important. The hand over the mouth moments just kept coming right up until the end. There are many tangled family relationships and friendships tied up with a treasure hunt over the years and this leads to numerous revelations and shocking twists and turns which completely delighted me.

A book about a book - bliss! A book about a dysfunctional family dealing with the skeletons in their closet - perfection! A dark and intense story that had my eyes glued to the page - magnificent! The Skeleton Key is outstanding and glorious in every way. show less

I dislike having to say I enjoyed a book like The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly because the subject matter is a bit grim. But I did like it. It’s got loads of atmosphere, believable characters and a great writing style. Some of the imagery really stood out for me. On page 36:

‘When she turned around, I saw her costume actually was a wedding dress: the dirty train trailed perilously near to the flickering flames, and like a dutiful bridesmaid I gathered the grubby satin in my arms, out of

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fire’s way. Her vertebrae protruded like a string of pearls suspended between her shoulder blades.’

The main female character brought to mind a couple of people I encountered during my adolescence and, as I recall, was appalled by. The setting where the action takes place, an old and very large house in a state of vast neglect and disrepair, had a personality all its own.

I think the prologue threw me off a bit. I expected at some point that the author would go back to it and all would become clear but that didn’t happen until the end. Which was fine – I was just very curious what the prologue had to do with the rest of the story. The ending was somewhat abrupt but I didn’t see it coming. (I’m not that good at guessing endings though I do try anyway!)

I'm not sure if it was because I was reading an ARC, but I had a small bit of trouble with the jump between the past and the present. There didn't seem to be enough 'separation' - one paragraph might be in the present and the next in the past. Perhaps the finished book would have more of a split between the two.

I definitely recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys suspense and twisty-type endings. show less