I saw this book in the Bloomsbury catalogue a while ago and I was really looking forward to receiving a copy to review. The blurb sounded very mysterious and I like the spooky cover too.Abi is servant at Greave Hall, a stately London home. She runs away, but is soon recaptured, to suffer once more under the tyrannical rule of Mrs Cotton, the housekeeper. The house though, has a darker secret. Something ghostly inhabits the corridors leading Abi to the very truth someone has tried so hard to bury. The more she discovers, the more her life is in danger, as she begins to unravel the mystery within the poisoned house.
The whole story revolves around Abi and her life at Greave Hall; we know from the very first page that she is desperate to leave as we watch her attempt at a midnight escape. Her failed escape introduces the reader to the extremely sinister Mrs Cotton; she is the housekeeper but also the sister-in-law of the widowed Lord Greave. She is very much a Mrs Danvers character, always watching and listening to everything while hatching some malicious plan.
It is the spooky events in Greave Hall that lead Abi to question those around her. Michael Ford builds the tension gradually and you have to add to it that Abi is completely isolated during these terrifying events, she has no-one to turn to.
The last few chapters are particularly fast paced as Abi comes to clearly understand that her life is in danger. There are many twists and turns and you do not know until the very end whether Abi will survive the poisoned house or not.
I would highly recommend this highly atmospheric book to both young adult and adult readers, it is a spine tingling page turner. Many thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me a copy of this book.
Luckily for readers of Dot Scribbles I received two copies of The Poisoned House so I am offering one of them as a giveaway. To enter simply leave a comment containing your email address, this is open worldwide and entries will be accepted until midnight on Friday, August 27th, good luck!
