This book did have some good points, so I will start with those. The author's worldbuilding and sense of place is really strong - I could picture myself in the same places as the characters and visualise everything so well based on the writing. The action scenes are equally strong - very fast-paced and adrenaline-fuelled, never dragging too much and always keeping you invested.

Unfortunately, these are the only two aspects of the book I really enjoyed. The book doesn't always seem to know where it's going - there's a mystery, and another mystery, and another mystery, etc. At times Violet's internal monologue gets so rambling and head-spinning - I understand the intention behind having the characters she's created talking in her head, but the execution interrupts scenes irritatingly, and it often simply comes off as her having unsettling voices in her head. It feels like a lot of the context for them is missing too.

There are occasional funny moments, but some of the comedy feels entangled in this sense of superiority - something is meant to be funny because the character talks differently, or is of a lower class, or smells unpleasant. Even if this is an intentional character flaw of Violet's, it's put across as if she thinks it is witty. There is irony and there is just punching down - Violet doesn't need to be likeable, simply less irritatingly superior.

It's somewhat disappointing because at times this book's potential shines through - I just think it could've been combed over again to catch lots of these nagging details.

REVIEW
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own
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Finally! A cozy mystery FMC that I love, YAY! Lady Violet Thorn was everything I wanted in a heroine, and she was just fabulous. I really liked her and her imaginations, she was a writer, and she always talked with her characters(which can be unhealthy), but it was cute in this book. When I started this book, I was confused because I thought Ruby and Inspector Hefty were ghosts, I had to reread the plot twice to understand 😂😂
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The storyline was also top-notch, from a woman worried about her best friend to everything unfolding. It was marvelous! I also loved the mystery and the misdirection.
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I also liked Violet's servants, Agnust, Gerrud, and Friendless. They had a lot of witty banter. I couldn't help but like side characters like Inspector Stanford, Mr. Appleton, and Cousin Romulus.
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This book was wonderful, and I can't wait to read the next one(this one ended with a cliffhanger). If you're a fan of Historical Cozy Mystery, this is for you.

The premise of the book sounded intriguing and something I’d enjoy. I am a fan of gothic mysteries (my love of Wilkie Collins and Bram Stoker will attest to this). Unfortunately this didn’t like up to the description and I just couldn’t get into it. After the first few chapters jumped around, with the writer in the story “conversing” with her own character my interest was waning. I persevered but found myself skimming large sections. There were too many characters and the story was just confusing.

"Home is where the horror is..."

When writer, Lady Violet Thorn, withdraws to Suffolk, she finds herself surrounded by unfortunate events all pointing towards the mysterious Haglin House.

Reading this felt like I was reading a mystery more than a crime-thriller, but not in a bad way! It was a little bit hard to get into, but once you get to a certain point, you get sucked in and just have to keep going!

A murder mystery set in Suffolk. I found this book very difficult to get in to but I did stick with it and finished it quickly. An ok read but not one of my favourites.

If you love a classic Agatha Christie vibe with fun twists, this is for you! I enjoyed every moment of this book! It got me out of a reading slump.

This is the first novel I’ve read from this author.

The title is absolutely on point with the story. The writing is entertaining, the descriptions of the places, people and society of the time are interesting, the characters are mostly fun (love the servants), and the premise is interesting. While intriguing, the mystery is perhaps a little predictable. The story has a Victorian and Gothic feel.

The strange feeling I had, as I read this novel, that this book is not a first in a series, but that the characters had already been established. I really enjoyed following author and amateur sleuth Lady Violet Thorn as she solves the mysteries/crime(s) and the characters from her books that accompany her in her head.

This said, the end of this novel, when the true nature of the villain is revealed, is not for me. I have no stomach for that, which is also why I avoid reading books like Nabokov’s Lolita.

Some of the characters, including the villain, needed a bit more development and to participate more in the story. The editing should have focused more on making the plot and the action tighter.

Overall it was a 3.5/5⭐️I am curious to read more from this author.

A bit of a disappointment.

While the premises of the book sounds promising, I struggled with the structure and found the plot quite messy and difficult to follow.

I'm not a fan of long descriptions and this book is full of long, descriptive and detailed chunks of text about landscapes, people walking on the street and rooms in the house that add absolutely nothing to the story. It doesn't help that the book has a very slow start, nothing happens for quite a while and it was hard to keep reading. I found myself jumping the paragraphs with descriptions, just waiting the mystery bit to start.

Then there are the jumps in time. Right in the beginning, I meet these characters for the first time, and then suddenly a year passes. I turned back just to make sure I hadn't missing something. Characters that were so described in detail, disappear completely from the story without any warning or justification. It made it very difficult to keep up and understand the logic of events with so many loose ends and muddled scenes.

On the positive note, the language is very flowery and authentic, very typical for the time.

Still, it wasn't a pleasant read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the E-ARC.

I really struggled with this book. I had absolutely no idea what was happening. I tried again via audiobook but still felt just as confused.. There were a LOT of characters and it just seemed to bounce around to each person

Thank you for the opportunity to read this but it just wasn't for me

3 stars given for the cover

DNF at 7%

I honestly really wanted to like this book. The cover was great, the summary made it sound intergang, and I love a good Gothic novel. However, for me there was too much going on and not a lot explained. I understand that the plot is to be unraveled over time, but the narrator was too unreliable and it was difficult to connect the characters together. It seemed unorganized and the rather short chapters really do nothing to help with background or what is really going on. Honestly, I don't know what else to say but thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the eARC copy.

The first book in the new Violet Thorn Mysteries series, The Horror of Haglin House on paper sounds gripping and enthralling. And parts of it are, such as the atmosphere, quirky characters (my favourites were Gerrund and Agnust), Suffolk setting, historical details such as clothing and vernacular of the Victorian time period.

In 1894, feisty Lady Violet Thorn is an author and her main character Ruby Gibson interjects her thoughts, opinions and ideas throughout the novel, something which to me was distracting. Murder happens...more than once...and Lady Violet and her accomplices do a spot of sleuthing using new techniques as well as old fashioned grey cells. At times it felt like I had to work too hard to glean a rewarding reading experience. I like the unusual. But this novel just didn't work as well as anticipated. It felt a wee bit scattered. However, I am curious enough to continue with the second in the series once it is available.

My sincere thank you to Canelo and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this novel.

DNF at 28%
I saw a review on Goodreads that said this book has more characters than the LoTR trilogy, and I can't disagree. Every side person we see once is a named character and it makes it difficult to know who the reader must keep track of. The whole thing is extremely wordy and reads as though the author has little writing experience. We didn't reach an actual plot point until 20% when Haglin House is mentioned, up to which point the rest had been useless dialogue and drawn-out events that served little besides making me hate MC Violet.

Shorter chapters are mostly used as a tool to make a book feel faster in pace however in the case of Haglin House, it slows it down dramatically as we are told the ins and outs of every interaction and gain no character progression or understanding from any of it. It was a slog for me to get through and I learnt very little about the characters, many chapters feeling entirely redundant. Even when we got some proper storyline that felt relevant, it was largely interspersed with distractions, made-up words, and unnecessary dialogue.

In the case of Ruby, it wasn't made obvious who she was from the start or why she was there, and her (novel) chapters weren't in italics as though they were written by Violet, so they came across as part of Violet's own story, confusing things further.

For Violet herself, she was immediately painted as not a very nice or understanding person in the first handful of chapters as she made fun of their driver who isn't very quick-witted and doesn't comprehend sarcasm. Followed by that the way she speaks about the appearance of her maid makes it seem as though she has prejudices against certain "ugly" stereotypes such as "powerful arms", "furry mole on her top lip" and hairs on her chin, and how she mispronounces some words. While this gave an understanding of what sort of person Violet is, it did make me not want to like her immediately or care particularly what happened to her.

I have had my eye on this author for a wee while now, specifically the Gower Street series, which I am now collecting on Audible to binge over the summer. So I was quite interested when I saw this new series opener which would afford me to get in at the beginning rather than playing catch-up.
I have mixed opinions about this, mainly the format which took me ages to get used to - the main character is an author and her characters do keep butting in to the narrative frequently - but, once I understood what was happening and got used to it (after not too long) it was more/less plain sailing all the rest of the book.
So... we meet Lady Violet Thorn who has run away to a small market town after being jilted. She mostly keeps herself to herself, still smarting from her wounds. She is a bit confused when a stranger approaches her with a plea for help. She is fearful about her friend whose behaviour towards her has changed and she fears for her as it appears she could be being held against her will. Violet is reluctant but agrees to assist.
Meanwhile. someone is killing women...
And so begins a long winded, convoluted tale that is a bit all over the place for the majority of the book, until it eventually all starts to make sense. Which it does do, eventually... If you can cut through the noise and stay with it.
It's also chock full of red herrings and misdirection to run along the secrets lies and dysfunctional behaviour. A fair slice of obfuscation too...
Characters were interesting. One I got used to Violet and her "inner voices" we started to get on better. Maybe her "associates" will pipe down a tad in the follow up book which I will probably also read - never give up on a series on book 2 unless it is really bad, which this, at the end of the day, wasn't.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This was a Netgalley read and my first I DNF. I made it about 15% of the way through and I'm so confused. I can’t even give a summary of the book other than the plot description which says the main character writes murder mystery’s and gets recruited to help solve a real mystery. The FMC is telling stories in her head (I think) while the actual plot takes place? The whole beginning is a jumbled mess and I just can't fathom taking the time to try and unscramble it. Maybe this book is great for someone who can follow it but that's just not me. I think some review and editing needs to take place. I. Honestly not even sure the name of the main character or who is “real”. The concept seems great but the structure and clarity isn’t there.

I LOVED the premise of the book. It combines so many elements that I love: a mystery, an author, England as the setting, an author whose characters speak to them!

Imagine my disappointment when in reading the first few pages I wanted to already give up. The prologue sets the scene for us of a jilted woman and introduces us to her family. The next chapter jumps you ahead about a year (I believe) and all those character you just met and were described at length? Forget them you're literally never going to see them or hear mention of them again.

And that is how the entirety of the book proceeded. Long descriptive monologues of information about various landscapes, individuals or events that had NOTHING to do with the story we were being told. I googled multiple times to check if I was entering into a series in the middle and that would explain my lack of awareness of the questionable circumstances of the protagonist's aunt or why that man skitters away so guiltily in the fight den. Alas, no this is the FIRST in its series and I am hard-pressed to say I will continue.

That irritation aside I will commend the author on their dedication to authenticity even to go so far as write character's as speaking colloquially and in dialect I believe to have been cockney? It was somewhat difficult to follow that portion but thankfully after the first few chapters it goes away.

I genuinely enjoyed the intrusion of the protagonist's characters as they commented on and interacted with her day to day life offering suggestions or commentary throughout her attempt to solve the overarching mystery of the story. The story was reminiscent of another famous short story and I greatly appreciated the allusion, whether intentional or not. I don't want to speak to which story specifically as I fear it would give away part of the mystery.

There were quite a few twists that while unexpected weren't necessarily revolutionary. Overall, it was a decent period mystery that reminds one of a more relatable Enola Holmes or even if Watson were solo.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

I struggled to get into this book in the beginning. Other than knowing Violet is a jilted bride, there is very little background given to the reader as we are dumped into the thick of things. I was impatient to rush forward to the mystery part of the story but the book doesn't start to pick up until 30% of the way in, a lot of patience to ask of a reader.

M.R.C. Kasasian's writing style was flowery, it was hard to stay concentrated on the story at times. I freely admit to skimming past some of the various arduous descriptions of rooms, people on the street walking by, etc.

Violet was headstrong and determined, but she didn’t cross over into superwomen or TSTL territory for me, which is a feat to walk that fine line. There were more than a few harebrained schemes, but overall she was likable and competent enough to talk her way out of danger.

"He did not have to tell me the kind of stories that would circulate if we were closeted together. They would not especially worry me, for a single woman pursuing such a disreputable career as mine must expect to be the subject of all sorts of rumors." - Violet

By far the best and worst parts of the book were Violet's book characters, whom she hears in her head throughout the story. I felt like I was missing parts of the story initially until I realized these people weren't real, just figments of her imagination who chimed in every once in a while with no warning or explanation. Some of these moments of banter were entertaining, hell I'd love to read one of Violet's novels about Ruby!

"'I loved him,' I told the absinthe. It did not reply of course, but Ruby had plenty to say on the subject. 'What is love? she philosophised. A flutter of the heart or a surge of blood in the brain? Doctors will find a cure for it one day.'"

However, these interactions eventually became a distraction from the actual plot. I loved the idea of a novelist conversing with her characters, but it was overdone to the point of being annoying.

The mystery element of the story dragged. Violet made continuous errors of claiming to know who the murderer was, the police telling her she had no evidence, then putting herself into harm's way only to discover she didn't have the full story. It was a never-ending loop of misdirection that again, went a little too far.

I don't know if I would pick up book two of the series, turns out historical thrillers may not be my thing. Still, the book ended without a key plot point resolved, so I might be tempted to read on just to know what happens next.


*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you, NetGalley and Canelo for the opportunity.

The cover drew me in partially helped by the description. Our narrator, Lady Vi (who is short as we often told although not sure what difference that makes after the first time) is a late Victorian novelist (never worked out whether successful or not). A woman she meets is convinced that a friend is being imprisoned if not dead; coupled with a murder or two Lady Vi sets out to investigate. She is accompanied by her characters in her head and with whom she has long and rambling conversations, often irrelevant, and by some servants who are just out of this world for rudeness, stupidity and grossness. It took to almost 25% to get to the murders by which time I had almost given up. I did read to about 35% then skip read the rest, not sure why I bothered as if was made clear umpteen times who the murder was as well as how short was Lady Vi.. There are some witty bits, enough to get 1.5 stars, the other half is for the cover. I'm afraid that this just did not cut the mustard for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy.

Wow. A gothic thriller. The bodies are mounting up and Lady Violet, herself no stranger to crime being an author, has to find out what links the crimes to Haglin House. Can she figure it out before there's another victim. A really pacy book and I couldn't wait to discover the twist at the end.

This reads more like a cosy Victorian mystery than a crime thriller. It has a strong female lead. But I felt that even this woman and her antics were in the realms of fantasy. I am afraid that this book does encourage me to read more in this new series. I am sure other readers will enjoy it more just not for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

To start with, I LOVED the cover. It's what drew me in. The premise sounded good so I was like, I want to read this. And then... The execution was a complete disaster. The book started to fall apart in places, it was muddled and confusing in others and left my utterly confused. I will, however say, that the dark gothic atmosphere and parts were excellent and that's what brings this up to 3 instead of a 2.