Do you love a good gothic mystery with a touch of romance? You may enjoy books by Abigail Wilson. Her newest, The Vanishing at Loxby Manor, is due out in January 2021. It features Charity Halliwell, a young woman whose family has left England for America during the Regency era. She has gone to stay with long-time family friends – a family that includes Piers, the man she loved and lost.

Charity has secrets. Piers has secrets. His brother, sister, mother, and father have secrets. Everyone in this book has secrets. My primary criticism of this book is that it reads a bit like an exercise in writing a gothic mystery, with loaded phrases and descriptions, and people saying and doing cryptic things instead of fessing up so that the truth can be known. At times I could almost hear the “dun dun dun” noise in the background. For example:

“A door slammed somewhere in the distance, and Loxby’s old walls seemed to groan in response. Muffled footsteps resonated through the twisting corridors of the ground floor, and then an unexpected silence took hold.” (p. 22 of the advance reader copy)

Some of the plot twists are a little contrived. Some of the characters are a little flat. But still this book is a lot of fun and a nice diversion in troubled times. The book has no sex or language and minimal violence. It is not particularly religious.

I read an advance reader copy of The Vanishing at Loxby Manor from Netgalley. The Galesburg Public Library will own The Vanishing at Loxby Manor in multiple formats when it is published.

"The Vanishing at Loxby Manor" is a Christian romance (with a mystery) set in 1816 in England. Frankly, I want to know what happened to the maid that was sent for help in the prologue and who should've quickly returned with that help. Instead, she's mysteriously never talked about again even though her absence set off a complex sequence of events that deeply impacted people years later. But ignore that since it's otherwise a very good book.

Charity was assaulted several years ago (which was described very vaguely and as not having 'taken everything'). She feels like she can't trust men or welcome their attentions now and is ruined, though no one knows about it. She's very distressed when her friend, Pier's sister, insists on going out alone at night and completely disappears. She's determined to uncover what happened and find her friend. She works with Piers, the man she used to want to marry and learns to trust again. He has his own ruined reputation to deal with, called a coward because he won't to explain why he missed a duel. Both find renewed friendship and healing as they uncover all of the secrets of the past.

The characters were complex, reacted realistically to events, and I cared about what happened to them. The mystery was complex, and the main characters asked good questions about what was going on. As clues and truths about the past and present were uncovered, several people died as they attempted to get free of the deception and evil that entrapped them. Piers and Charity built each other up, worked well together, and based their romance on a long-standing friendship. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I highly recommend this enjoyable romance and mystery.

Charity has a deep and dark secret that she wants to keep from everyone. She also longs to go back to a time when she knew she was loved and hoped to be married soon. But instead, her parents took her away from there and her safe world was shattered. Irreparable.

But now she's going back to that house. Back to the man who has come from the boy she loved. The one she still loves. And his family.

But things are not right. Something is horribly wrong. Within a day of her arriving the sister of the boy she loved and the girl who is also her friend has gone missing. And no one can find her. They're beginning to think they never will.

Other strange things keep happening and when she does hear from her family, her brother, in fact, he tells her she is not safe. That there are secrets and they're deadly. She needs to leave. But she feels that she must solve this mystery and find out what really happened to her friend.

So much mystery. So many lies and so much that must be revealed so that people can heal. But how many more must die before all the secrets come to light. And can she keep those she loves safe?

This is a wonderful book set in Regency-era that I feel you will love. The characters are rich and thought out and there are so many layers that must be peeled back to get to the heart of the mystery and the person fully responsible along with his pawns and minions.

A great read that I hope you get a chance to grab and read!

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

This book is everything a Regency, mystery, history loving reader could want. Plus, a dash of romance. I adored the heroine. She was so brave. She overcame fear and faced it head strong to uncover the truth about her dear friend. I admired her from the beginning. The book is in her point of view and was so well done. The author did a great job making me guess throughout the story who the bad guy was. Thus, the reason I couldn't put the book down. I loved the book and highly recommend it.

*I was given a copy of the book by the publisher and this my honest opinion.

Once again Abigail Wilson has sucked me into a genre that is not my normal forte! I will admit that at that start I wasn’t wholly drawn into the story or connecting with the characters but that all changed and I was completely captivated.
The suspense and mystery were definitely my favorite part about this book! So many pieces were in play and I was constantly changing my opinion of what I thought happened! The suspense was done so well and I felt like I was on the edge of my seat at times.
I liked Piers a lot, he had such a strong character and truly cared more about others than himself. Charity was great as well, I felt for her with what had happened in her past and I was glad to see her find healing from it. Their romance was sweet and a bit subtle but the fact that it was building on a foundation that was laid years ago kept me from minding!
This book was wonderful and I highly recommend it! And take it from someone who rarely reads this kind of book-Abigail Wilson is one to step outside your comfort zone for!

Part Regency romance, part Gothic mystery and part whodunit. This book succeeds on all levels due to the skill of the author. The atmosphere of Loxby manor and the nearby ruined Abby are so beautifully evoked that I felt completely transported to another time and place. The story is well-paced, the romance and suspense gather momentum throughout the novel. The twists and turns are surprising and yet believable.
If you enjoy historical romance or a good romantic suspense then your time will be well spent diving into this book.
A genuine five star read is hard to find, and I'm so glad to have discovered this author.

The Vanishing at Loxby Manor is a historical romance novel written by Abigail Wilson.

Summary: Charity Halliwell has just returned from her long trip abroad, and is looking forward to spending time with her dear friends at Loxby Manor.

But the very night of her arrival, one of her friends goes missing. What could have possibly happened to her? And why does it seem that all of the sudden everyone has a secret?

Who knows more than they are telling, and can Charity discover the truth before it’s too late?

My Thoughts: I have not been disappointed by an Abigail Wilson book yet, and this one is no exception. It was excellent, and I finished it in one sitting.

It is well-written, the characters are fascinating, and there is a really good mystery with lots of twists and turns that left me guessing until the very end.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it!

I would like to thank Thomas Nelson for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!

A Regency romance mystery with Gothic overtones. Charity Halliwell arrives at Loxby Manor after five years in India. She intends to stay for a year while her parents are in the Americas. It's the home of her childhood friends, and yet… Seline Cavanaugh goes missing on her first night and everyone but Charity believes she's eloped with the stable boy. Piers, Seline's brother with whom Charity was once in love, and still might be, is the only one who understands her fears. They work together to figure out the scant clues, but Piers is mired in accusations of cowardice. There is certainly something secretive going on which might involve their best friends. A nice combination of romance and peril, though at times the action moves with glacial slowness as weeks go by in the plot-line, if not in the narrative. Eventually all is revealed, of course, but you'll have to read the book. I'm not giving away spoilers.

THE VANISHING AT LOXBY MANOR by Abigail Wilson brings Regency romance, mystery, intrigue and suspense to life in her newest historical romantic suspense novel, set in 1816 in Kent England in the village of East Whitloe.

After five years, our protagonist, Charity Halliwell, returns to Loxby Manor, the home of friends and her only love, Piers Cavanagh. When her friend, Seline, disappears the night Charity arrives, Charity is determined to find her. Can she rebuild her friendship with Piers and rely on Piers, who has been branded a coward and been living as an outcast for the last five years? Every person Charity meets seems to have a secret, but they’re not the only ones. She also has a secret that has fundamentally changed how she approaches life. Questions abound in this story. Where is Seline? What are the secrets of the Cavanaghs and their neighbors? What is Charity’s secret? Why did Piers become an outcast and live in a cottage in Liverpool?

Once again, this author drew me into the book quickly. The characters were compelling, led by strong and capable Charity. Despite her secrets, she came across as intelligent and resilient, but with some trust issues. The secondary characters had a variety of attributes, qualities and flaws that were realistic. This story managed to showcase the emotional landscape of several characters, bringing them to life to this reader.
The plot was suspenseful, fresh, complex and entertaining. The conflicts were both internal and external, arising from characterization and circumstance. There were plenty of plot twists and turns with a couple of them being a complete surprise. The tension, stakes and action in the last third of the book also turned this into a page-turner after a somewhat slow start. What an exciting and dramatic ending!

Once again, this author has brought mystery, romance, disappearances, family dynamics, secrets and much more come to life in a delightful novel. Her attention to detail made me feel like I was actually living in 1816 with Charity and Piers. At various times, it was poignant, heartbreaking and uplifting. The accurate and specific cultural aspects created an authenticity that one does not always find in novels.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and fabulous read. This is the second book I have read by this author and I am looking forward to the next one. I recommend it to those that enjoy historical romantic suspense and historical mystery novels.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson—FICTION and Abigail Wilson via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for January 26, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

For what I am going to say in this review, 2 stars may seem quite harsh. But, if we are going strictly by Goodreads’ descriptions of its ratings, then it is what it is. I neither massively liked or disliked this book. It was okay. Thus, 2 stars.

The Vanishing at Loxby Manor is a historical mystery with a side of second chance romance, so I thought, yeah, that’s for me. And it was an entertaining enough read, if verging on melodrama. I read it quickly, I didn’t feel like I wanted to stop reading.

I just didn’t feel a whole lot, overall, though.

In the novel, we follow Charity, who has just returned to England from Ceylon in the aftermath of a sexual assault, and who is now to spend a year with old friends, the Cavanaghs — Piers, her old love, Avery and Seline, her best friends. Only, within a few hours of her arrival, Seline goes missing, apparently eloped, and Charity and Piers are the only ones who believe all is not as it seems.

Let’s start with some positives first up. The mystery is nicely compelling, drawing you into the story and along with it. That was probably what kept me interested in the book, really. The set up intrigues you, and you keep reading to find out just what’s going on.

And if you like second chance romances, there’s a good one in this. They tend to be hit and miss for me, in all honesty. If it’s the focus of the book, I’ll like it. If it’s not — say if it’s a secondary plot to something more major, like here — I often find myself getting bored. What was good here though, for me, was that it was nicely integrated into the mystery. I never found myself wishing they’d skip the romance scenes in favour of getting on with the mystery, because they were well combined.

So, why didn’t it work for me?

I think my main problem was the writing style. The speech, with all its regency trappings, seemed fairly clunky and unrealistic at times. Mostly it didn’t matter, but from time to time, I found myself jolted out of the story. And the plot itself, as I said up top, tended towards melodrama. It wasn’t a bad plotline, it was just a plotline I struggled to believe in, I guess.

But, if this sounds like your kind of book, I would definitely suggest you ignore my review and read it anyway.

Charity Halliwell has come home after five years spent abroad to stay at Loxby Manor, family seat of an old love,
who spurned her all those years ago. Her good friend Seline, goes missing unexplainably and Charity knows
that something is incredibly wrong. Then Piers Cavanaugh returns home to Loxby, he who spurned her. He has been an outcast from society. Piers and Charity must together try and find out what has happened to Seline and not the story that has been bandied about.

I loved Abigail Wilson's last book, Masquerade at Middlecrest Manor. It was extremely well done and a wonderful Regency. This one is also quite good. I was so caught up in it and the mysterious goings on that I never had one inkling of the culprit. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers through Net Galley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and I received no compensation.

Oh, how I love an eerie Gothic Regency with musty, opulent mansions, mist-filled, woodsy countryside, deadly secrets, and ghostly happenings—guaranteed to send shivers of goose-pimply delight down my spine! Abigail Wilson's poetic prose makes for a well-written, descriptive novel, but (and I so dislike putting a but here) the conclusion was just too far-fetched for me. Maybe it was just me but it was all a bit much, and not a plausible outcome in my opinion. That being said I still enjoyed reading this book!

The love story between Charity and Piers was blissfully romantic and Charity's secret—heartrending, but as Piers so wisely states, “I don’t believe God made us to be looking back all the time, calculating every mistake we’ve made, measuring our worth by actions we can no longer change, particularly when such a practice comes at the expense of our future.”

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.*

Five years ago, Charity Halliwell’s family packed up and left their serene home in England to move to Ceylon. Charity has no choice but to Leave her heart and her dreams behind. But when her parents allow her to return home to visit her dear friends at Loxby Manor, Charity wonders if one can ever really go home again.

Her friend vanishes on Charity’s first night at Loxby Manor, and Charity holds herself responsible. Her only hope of redemption? Find her friend. But how does one go about locating a friend when the very house holds secrets and mysterious lights glow at night from the nearby Kinwich Abbey?

The residents of Loxby Manor aren’t the only ones who have secrets. Charity has one of her own—one that has changed her from a carefree girl to a cautious young woman. When Piers Cavanagh comes home to investigate his sister’s disappearance, Charity tells herself she has moved past betrayal. As they work together to solve the mystery, they discover a graver, decades-old mystery that puts their very lives in danger.

Why I Loved this Book

I love all things Regency. Wilson’s authentic details of the era, brooding mystery, and authentic character development make her books rise above the ordinary. As Charity and Piers struggle with their darkest secrets, they discover the power of sharing to dispel the stranglehold of shame.

** 4.5 stars **

I loved blend of historical romance and mystery. I was on edge throughout, wondering what other secrets Piers and Charity would uncover while trying to solve the disappearances of Seline and Miles.

During a time in history when it would almost be better for a 'proper' young lady to be found dead than to have eloped with a stable boy, Charity finds a note from her friend staying that she has done just that but Charity feels like things just don't add up. Though she has just recently come back to England and her friend's estate, running away and possibly being destitute doesn't seem like something Seline would do. Charity fears something foul is a foot. She can't seem to get anyone in the family to believe her until Piers, Seline's brother and Charity's ex-childhood love, returns home. He believes her and together they try to start picking apart the clues. The mystery deepens when a shadowy 'secret Society's is revealed to have met on the same night as her disappearance. Could the two be connected? Before long witnesses start turning up dead and friends become tight-mouthed as no one knows who to point a finger to.

It's a story of intrigue and a true gothic touch, mysticism and history weave around two central characters that fight to find Seline, to find a killer, and a way back to each other through their darkened past and present to a brighter future. I enjoyed topics that are not often spoken of in historical fiction (assault on woman, murder, duels) and Society's expectations. I had to keep reminding myself the timeframe I was reading and the appropriate mindset to have. I must admit, though it was frustrated for myself as the reader at times, the author did a splendid job retaining the trueness of the characters in the time era the are cast. Definitely recommend.

** Thank you to NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

This book reminds me so much of the Phylis Whitney and Mary Stewart books I use to read. It kept me on the edge of my seat! The mystery was good and the ending surprised me. I really enjoyed this book! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

This is a gothic romance that has all the elements that mark a great book. The characters are interesting and complex. The story is full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. It is has romance that is clean. I really enjoyed this book. If you like the classic book Rebecca, you will like this book as well. I received an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

The Vanishing at Loxby Manor was such a mysterious and captivating read! Suspense, intrigue and a plot that keeps you hooked until the final pages! Abigail Wilson has become one of my must read authors and her novels never disappoint! Her characters are layered and capture your interest immediately and her descriptive writing style evokes feelings of mystery and suspicion! I absolutely loved this book!

This was my first experience reading a book by Abigail Wilson and I think I found a new favorite author! I could not put it down! I throughly enjoyed this book! I loved that it was a romance wrapped up in a mystery. It was compelling and sweet all in one. Charity Halliwell, a young women who has given up on love and marriage is trying desperately to escape a horror she experienced. So she returns to her childhood town to visit with family friends, and former love interest, for a year before she looks for a job as a governess. Piers Cavanagh faced deep humiliation five years prior, shortly after the woman he thought he loved, Charity, left abruptly. He returns to his childhood home, only to find her living there and that his rambunctious sister has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Working together to discover where the sister could have gone, Piers and Charitiy rediscover their love for each other.

I LOVED this book! The story was incredibly clever and weaved in a way that kept me flipping pages past bedtime. The author created a great sense of creepy atmosphere and suspense. There were several twists and I was not able to anticipate the ending. It is heavy on the mystery and intrigue but the romance thread was strong and satisfying. The characters were very likable and relatable. Well done! If you are looking for a gothic romance, I highly recommend this book.

Earlier this year I found this author and instantly was hooked on her books. She mixes Regency with a gothic type mystery and a little romance as well. So, needless to say, I was super excited to read her newest novel.
This story, for me, started a bit slower, probably because through half of the book there isn’t a murder to solve but a disappearance. The second half of the book, especially closer to the end, had me entirely entranced in the mystery, though.
Charity is going to stay for a year at Loxby Manor, the home of her childhood friends and first love. Her arrival isn’t exactly what she expected and the first night there, her friend disappears. To make matters worse, Piers, the man who she loved but wrote her off 5 years ago, decided to return home as well. However, things aren’t quite as they appear, and everyone seems to have a secret or two they are hiding.
Definitely an entertaining read just expect for it to be a bit slower...in the romance, the mystery, and action but it does pick up as the story progresses.