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

I am gradually collecting early editions of the 'Jill' books, trying to do so without bankrupting myself; this is an extremely scruffy 1963 Armada reprint, but at least free from cigarette excision, decimal currency, or PC renaming. This is the one where Jill acquires her second pony, Rapide, although that really isn't the main storyline at all – it's mostly about Jill and her friends trying to keep their favourite riding stables in business. I scoffed it all up in about an hour flat, and show more loved every word. show less

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

A dual timeline book, partly set in the "present" (the 1930s) and partly in the late 19th century, which recounts the life of a Scottish noblewoman and the great estate she inherits. It's a quick read and there are some descriptive passages which are a nice pastiche of the kinds of Victorian sentimental romances that Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary is echoing. But it's a little like drinking a cup of tea that's had a spoonful too much of sugar added to it.