The Unquiet Spirit by Penny Hampson #BlogBlitz

A spike of fear went down her spine. Her stomach churned. Stay calm. Deep breaths. Goosebumps rose on her bare arms. She shivered.
The temperature had dropped several degrees, in fact, it now felt positively Arctic. She sniffed. Was that rosemary she could smell?

The Unquiet Spirit by Penny Hampson is an atmospheric and elegantly told ghost story.

Kate Wilson is Cornish by birth, but her family had moved to Oxfordshire when she was still a baby.
Mother's best friend, known as Auntie Win, is Kate's godmother. "Win wasn't really her aunt, but Kate had always called her that. She'd always felt close to the diminutive, intelligent woman who'd spoilt her rotten whenever she'd stayed with her".

When Win suddenly dies, Kate inherits her house in Cornwall and decides to move there.
"The move on Monday would be the start of a new life.
Win's bequest had been a massive surprise. Not only the house but also a sizeable amount of money".
Kate often imagined living there, but had never dreamt that her godmother would leave it to her.
Could this beautiful old house be an answer to her prayers? Will it be a safe haven and a new beginning for her?
Kate loves history and books.
"Books were her passion, the older the better."

When she moves into the old cottage, the atmosphere inside is far from welcoming. If anything, it's positively eerie and disquieting. The smell of rosemary appears from nowhere, which makes Kate think of the last conversation she had with her Auntie Win.

Win confessed to her goddaughter, "I'm not going gaga, but I'm sure... well, I'm almost sure that The Beeches is haunted".
Win has found a small package wrapped in oilcloth under the floor boards, "Kate, as soon as I touched the package, the room went cold. And I do mean absolutely freezing. It was so weird."
The package happened to be a diary, "Pretty sure it was written by a woman, going by the handwriting, and when I opened it I found a dessicated sprig of rosemary in between the front leaves".

Four months after this conversation, Win dies "in circumstances that had both shocked and saddened Kate and her family Win's body had been found in woodland near The Beeches. What she'd been doing outside on that freezing March night was a mystery".

Looks like Kate has inherited not just the house, but the resident spectre. A dream is slowly turning into a nightmare. Is she going mad? With a stalker, attempted break-ins and menacing atmosphere in the house, Kate is anxious and alarmed.

Her next cottage neighbour Tom Carbis is another puzzle. He appears to be rude and unwelcoming, and hiding secrets of his own. He offers help, but can Kate trust him?
Their friendship develops slowly. Tom is abrupt and mistrustful, his behaviour borders on slightly hysterical when they meet at his mother's house, where Kate is invited to do a freelance job with the old family files. Just why is he so secretive and guarded?

"Despite his abrupt manner, there was something about him that attracted her. He was handsome in a rugged way, with his dark hair and strong sculpted features, when he smiled..."

The journal which Win has found, will resurface, compelling Kate to dig into its history:
"It was gripping reading. Written by a young lady in 1804, it covered a period of about twelve months… the author wrote of running away with her gentleman. The final journal entry spoke of a midnight assignation on the following evening "at our usual meeting place in the woods".

Past and present become entwined, and the story flows from Kate and Tom to the star-crossed lovers in the early 19C. The tension mounts, "...and with all the strange goings-on, she too believed a restless spirit haunted the house and grounds. The question was why?"

There's nothing like a good old chilling ghost story, and if it's set in Cornwall, then it's a double pleasure.

I enjoyed the portrayal of Oxford and Falmouth. The descriptions Oxford in the night time brought back memories of returning home after the babysitting evenings from over twenty years ago. It feels like only yesterday.

Penny Hampson is a masterful narrator who creates atmospheric setting with ease. The scenes of haunting are delightfully creepy - the old house with its strange sounds, unexplained smell of rosemary, temperatures dropping to freezing, paintings moving on their own accord and doors which lock you in.

Strong on the moody undertones, it's a gripping tale of love lost and regained.
Lose yourself in an enjoyable ghostly mystery!

Purchase Links - getbook.at/theunquietspirit

Author Bio – Some time ago Penny Hampson decided to follow her passion for history by studying with the Open University. She graduated with honours and went on to complete a post-graduate degree.

Penny then landed her dream role, working in an environment where she was surrounded by rare books and historical manuscripts. Flash forward nineteen years, and the opportunity came along to indulge her other main passion – writing. Penny joined the New Writers’ Scheme of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and  three years later published her debut novel, A Gentleman’s Promise, a  historical mystery/romance. Other books in the same genre soon followed.

But never happy in a rut, Penny also writes contemporary suspense with paranormal and romantic elements. Her first book in this genre is The Unquiet Spirit, published by Darkstroke.

Penny lives with her family in Oxfordshire, and when she is not writing, she enjoys reading, walking, swimming, and the odd gin and tonic (not all at the same time).

For more on Penny’s writing, visit her blog: https://pennyhampson.co.uk/blog/

Twitter: @penny_hampson

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pennyhampsonauthor

This post is part of the blog blitz. 

Many thanks to Penny Hampson and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!