Catherine Cavendish

Open the cover. Step into the mind of a Alex. You will find yourself in her skin, waking to moment when she is just about to commit suicide. “My left foot trembles as it hovers over the edge.” In the end, having gone full circle, you will find yourself at a moment before the beginning, stepping over to reach the edge, praying for mercy. I love it when the end coils over onto the beginning. What a gipping moment it is, when you straddle a decision, hoping—perhaps in vain—to find a show more safe place for a foothold, or failing that, to find grace.
In between these two moments, which happen in the present, Alex reflects on the past, on the events that brought her to this state: the onset of insanity and the unravelling of her 10-years marriage to Greg, who tries as best he can to help her get well. “He had come come one day to find the dining room curtains in shreds because I couldn’t get them off their hooks to wash them.”
It all starts with a visit to a museum.“My footsteps echoed as I trod the creaky polished floorboards in the empty room. I couldn’t overcome the feeling of being watched.” By some strange time slip, the haunting figures in the portraits come alive, at least in Alex’s mind: Jonas Devine (the museum benefactor), his bride Margarita, who died at childbirth of their second son, his second wife Agnes, who has a daughter named Grace. It is her portrait, found rolled up in a drawer, that stirs the heart. “Her hands floated next to her and her light brown hair flowed loose around her.” It is the mystery of her drowning that stirs Alex into further exploration. What price would she have to pay for daring to change her fate?
Margarita becomes a shadow, a haunting hiss. “Kill him…” She wants Alex to kill someone—anyone—because then Alex’s soul would be as damned as hers. Before long Alex becomes a danger to herself, and to others. “In saving Grace Devine, I had lost myself.”
If you like taunting yourself with fear of what is coming up behind you, this book is perfect for you.
Five stars. show less

Many tourists come to see Henderson Close in Edinburgh, Scotland. The tales of crime, murder and intrigue, plague victims trapped inside their homes to die, and other haunting aspects of the Close's history bring the curious in droves. Hannah comes to Edinburgh to start her life over. She's divorced and her daughter is grown and at college. She sees the tour guide position at the Close as a dream job. But ghostly specters, disappearances and menacing encounters with evil soon make Hannah show more realize the stories about the Close are more than folklore.

This story sucked me in quickly....and I found myself reading until the wee hours of the morning. I couldn't put the book down! From a ghostly little girl with no face to the Auld De'il, the specters in this story are delightfully creepy and scary. I loved the setting. I have heard of Mary King's Close in Edinburgh, but didn't realize there were several similar sites in the city, all with their own scary tales. The story moves along quickly, with suspense from start to finish. I definitely would not want to be wandering around Henderson Close in the evening by myself! No thank you!

Great spooky story! I love ghost stories. Any spooky tale that keeps me up until 3 am because I can't put it down deserves full stars from me! I loved this story!

This is the first book by Catherine Cavendish that I've read. I'm definitely going to be reading more!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** show less

This is my second book by Catherine Cavendish and this chilling, spooky book did not disappoint!

A little backstory for you readers:

Stella is slowly recovering from cancer and she wants to go somewhere that is peaceful and serene. Stella and her husband find such a place on Cambian Street. As they settle into the home everything seems fine at first, but then small things start happening that makes Stella wonder if she is imagining things. There is a cupboard in the house that has a lock on it show more which Stella finds curious, but she starts wondering what is really going on when the cupboard starts unlocking itself.

When Stella discusses it with her husband, he just laughs it off saying it is an old house, but what they don't know is that the cupboard is locked for a reason and what is in the cupboard is beyond their wildest nightmares. The more that Stella tries to relax and recuperate, the more activity starts flaring up in the home.

Stella makes friends with a woman (Rhiannon) that practices Wicca and along with her new friend they try to discover what is haunting the home as this is not the first time that something has happened there. What they find is a nightmare from hell!

Thoughts:

The book begins as a peaceful and tranquil time for Stella, but quickly builds in suspense, tension, chills, along with twists and turns all the way to the spooky end.

After I was 30% into the book it just took off on an accelerating ride into the unknown as I didn't know what to expect with each page turn. Catherine Cavendish created characters that wrapped themselves around the reader and pulls them into the nightmare on Cambian Street.

I could feel the dreadful atmosphere of the house as I was reading the book and the more I became involved with the story, the harder it was for me to put the book down!

I was literally at 70% reading this book before bed, but as the suspense, tension and spooky activity of the book increased, I ended up finishing it within a couple of hours as I could not put it down! Giving the book five stars! show less

The Pendle Witches were accused by a child in England, condemned and hung, in a case that preceded and informed the more famous Salem witch trials in the United States. Now their history breathes again through Catherin Cavendish’s novel, the Pendle Curse.

An enjoyable blend of well-researched and grittily authentic history, traditional horror with a female protagonist’s slow road into danger, and psychological mystery-romance, The Pendle Curse is peopled with convincing characters and set show more in a very believable, authentic England. There’s a cool sense of quietly mounting mystery as interconnections between past and present grow stronger. Soon the reader is eagerly trying to guess what the future might hold. Is Laura a witch? Is she possessed? Is she crazy? Or do those Pendle witches of the past hold powers still today?

Dialog is satisfyingly real and English, shifting with the times as the story switches smoothly from past to present. And the novel offers an intriguingly different version of the familiar tale, filling in horrifying details of ancient jails while modern nightmares creep onto the horizon. The result is a powerful blend of old magic, well-researched history, and enjoyable story-telling. It would make a wonderful movie, and it makes a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy and I offer my honest review. I’m only sorry it took me so long to get around to reading it. show less