This was a weird one, and not really anything like I was expecting. That's not entirely a bad thing, but the writing left me wrong-footed on more than one occasion, and I was left enjoying the plot but not so much the narrative voice. It's fascinatingly weird, though!

A little slow going and at times clumpy writing, but was still able to push through and will consider more books by this author.

When Edwina Nunn, abandoned as an infant at an English orphanage, receives word that she’s inherited a Scottish castle from a distant relative, she and her daughter, Neve, are astonished. But as they are about to find out, it’s not just any castle, it’s a castle with a dark past. Not only are the Maundrell family - Edie’s newfound family - said to be cursed, but the castle is said to be filled with ghosts. And even more troubling, in 1965, when three people died on Samhain, a cursed day for the Maundrells, the famed Maundrell Red, a humongous red diamond, also disappeared. It’s been the obsession of treasure hunters ever since. Can the mother and daughter get to know their past while evading the dangers that lurk there?

The book is told along two timelines: the present day; and in October 1965, leading up to the events of Samhain.

This book is a perfect fall read, as it has just about everything you want from a good ghostly tale: a messed-up family, plenty of ghosts, legends, and an isolated castle, filled with nooks and crannies. At times it seems like there are almost too many things going on to keep all the haunting and legends straight. But once you get everything organized, it becomes a little clearer.

Now back to this Maundrell family: wow. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s amazing to watch it play out in the past and then see how what happened back then seep its way into the present day. Again, sometimes it was a little hard to keep everything and everyone straight, but you eventually get the hang of it. And there’s a lot of red herrings to keep you guessing not only what is happening in both timelines, but the key to the whole story: what happened to the Red.

And the final solution is really good. I was impressed.

Honestly, if you’re into witchy, ghostly stories, pick this one up. It’s a great read and a killer story. I’ll definitely read more from this author!

A captivating read that is atmospheric and unsettling. I didn’t like all of the characters but that gives the story depth. The plot is intricate and a slow burn, which I loved! The Scottish folklore was the icing on the cake.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love a good ghost story, so when I read the synopsis for In the Lonely Hours (a Scottish Island with. haunted castle!) I was all in.

This book is a combination of historical fiction and gothic ghost story. Filled with foreboding atmosphere, it made for a great fall read. It took this one a while to get going but once it did, it made for a great spooky read. The characters are well developed but not terribly likeable. This didn’t bother me but might be a probably for some people. This story is rich in atmosphere and that was the main draw for me.
And if you want ghosts, this one is chock full of them. I mean this castle is HAUNTED! It may have been a few too many in my opinion but by the end it all makes sense. A slow burn filled with haunting atmosphere, ghosts, and even witchcraft this makes a good read for spooky season. Thanks to @netgalley and @kensington for this arc.

A gothic story of a haunted house set in Scotland? Yes please!! This story was so good. I will admit it took me awhile to get into. I did not give up and I'm so glad I did! I need more. Chef's kiss** This beautiful story!!! Wow!!!

An excellent mix of different genres; folk horror, historical fiction, gothic novel, thriller
The author did an excellent job in mixing them and delivering a gripping, twisty, and intriguing story
Well plotted, good storytelling, the right level of tension
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Edie has been given a castle in Scotland. She takes her daughter Neve to check out the castle and they discover it is haunted. There is a few weird characters to make it more interesting as well.
Thanks to the publisher Kensington and to Netgalley for the ARC.

I read half of this book and the characters and the setting never caught for me. I'm not sure why and likely it's just not the book for me.
I don't post negative reviews on my blog or elsewhere.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

I had really high hopes for this book, but I found it very hard to get into. I did really click with the characters, and found the first half of the book dreadfully long. At about the half way mark though, the story picked up and I did enjpy the overall storyline.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review! I am a bit behind on arcs so I apologize for the lateness of this review.

This book is an adult ghost story that centers around a Scottish castle and a cursed family. We have timelines that are present day and the past.

I loved the vibes in this book. The vibes were very gothic and spooky, which are perfect for the upcoming fall season. I thought the writing was pretty good and kept me engaged. I liked the different timelines and how we jumped around a lot.

My biggest issue with this book was the characters. No one really felt fully developed and I just couldn't connect with anyone. That really took away from the story for me.

This one is a three star for me since I liked the vibes but not the characters. I would be interested to try more from this author.

I love a good gothic setting and In the Lonely Hours gets 5 stars for setting. My PERSONAL connection with the story is where I struggled a bit, however some of the characters and the setting made this book better for me. I loved the neuro-non-typical character of Mungo and his sweet relationship with his sister. The book really made me sad to think about how neuro-divergent people have historically been treated. The grandmother of the origin family in this book was a bit over-the-top evil with little explanation as to why she was the way she was. The modern day story was almost unnecessary in my mind, but I did love the relationship between mother and daughter in that storyline. Would recommend to anyone who, like me, is always on the lookout for a new gothic novel!

In the Lonely Hours had a setting that I really loved, including an isolated castle with a mysterious past set in a remote part of Scotland. The Maundrell family had many secrets and Edie decided to check out her inheritance as she knew little about her past having been adopted as a child. I found their story interesting as they checked out the castle to get it ready to put on the market, but for the life of me, how they thought they could do this in one week without knowing anything about it, stumps me. And while I love these types of settings, I am now necessarily a fan of the lack of research trope for propelling a story forward. And if you can't find anything on the internet, why not stay in the village or local areas and do it from there.

Edie's daughter, Neve, was a character I preferred over Edie, but the story was told from Edie's perspective. Sometimes I felt like Edie was the daughter as she made some really poor choices. First of all, when Edie inherits the castle, she learns that every member of her family had died there on Samhain and she and her daughter are now the sole survivors. So, what in the name of good parenting would she be doing dragging her daughter to the edge of nowhere, to an area in which she has little familiarity the week before Samhain? And she unquestionably lets strangers stay in her house just because they were squatting there when she arrived. What? Hell, no.

Mungo ended up being my favourite character and he became even more endearing when I learned the author based the character off her own son who is autistic. And while there were many different themes running through this book such as mother-daughter relationships, found family, trust, and homosexuality, the one that stood out to me centered on Mungo and the way autistic people were horribly treated with electro-convulsive therapy. And how it was used for many types of psychological ailments.

I was actually invested in the story for the first half of the book, but all of the ghosts eventually got tiresome. There was a reason for it, but by the time I learned more about the whys and whatnots, I lost interest and was looking forward to the ending. I just thought the plot had too much going on, and I focused mostly on the Mungo-one because it interested me the most. The pacing of the story did slow down somewhat as well, but I think the author was trying to ensure both timelines matched up so we didn't learn too much too early, and this is why I am not necessarily a fan of dual timelines. There ended up being a lot of repetition that was unnecessary. It's too bad as the tension was actually quite high in the first half of the book. And I will mention that I enjoyed the timeline in the past much more than the one in the present.

In the Lonely Hours was still a decent book, with a solid mystery. I did love the atmosphere of the old castle as it certainly was remote and dreary enough to meet my expectations, but I still would not call this a horror novel, more of a paranormal mystery. I wasn't a fan of the main character however, and I did find the pacing of the plot to be uneven and somewhat predictable, partly due to the dual timeline. If you like atmosphere, then this book may just be the one for you.

I really enjoyed this author's previous book, Her Little Flowers, so I was looking forward to this book! The author uses descriptive language to transport readers to a shadowy, mysterious island in Scotland, as Edie and her daughter Neve visit the haunted castle they just discovered they inherited from a family they never knew. The book explores topics of toxic family relationships, adoption, disability, generational trauma and homophobia as the Maundrell family mysteries are uncovered through exploring the island and castle, ghostly encounters and researching their remaining documents and libraries. Although I was a bit disappointed this story does't feature a romance as her previous book, the ending wrapped up the mysteries and came to a satisfying conclusion. I especially liked the author's notes, describing her inspirations for the story.
I both read the book and listened to the audiobook. The audio version's narrator had a very expressive and pleasant voice, with excellent transitions between accents (Scottish, American and English) as well as distinct character voices.

I was given an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this combination ghost story and family drama….very well written and great plot development…kept me completely engaged throughout!

I expected to love this book considering the gothic vibes, Scotland setting, and familial curse but I didn’t. The past and present timeline were harder for me to follow with this book and it really took a lot to concentrate on it. I will say that I loved how Mungo was portrayed and typically left me with a smile on my face. While this wasn’t exactly for me, I will still be recommending to friends that love all things spooky and checking out Shannon Morgan’s other publications.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of 'In the Lonely Hours.' I absolutely loved Shannon Morgan's first novel, "Her Little Flowers" and was excited to see she had a new novel coming out. The idea has promise- an abandoned haunted castle on an isolated Scottish island and a cursed family with a history of tragic deaths on Samhain. Unfortunately, the actual execution didn't work. Flashing back and forth between present and past (which I normally enjoy) made the first half of this novel feel disjointed. Almost all of the characters in the flashbacks seemed pretty unlikeable, and the present day scenes were predictable and boring, honestly. Morgan's first novel was so well written, I'm not sure what happened here, but I was disappointed.

An old castle, lots off ghosts and twists and turns.
Set in Scotland mostly in the present time and the 1960s.
Edie Nunn inherits a castle from the Maundrell family. Edie grew up in an orphanage and never knew she was related to the Maundrell’s. Edie has a teenage daughter who is keen to explore the castle left to her mother. The castle is in the Western Highlands on a small Island.

I loved the description of the castle and of the people who used to live there. This was the type of ghost story I love. Fast paced with lots of twists and turns as the story swapped between the present time and earlier times.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for a chance to read this E-Book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Shannon Morgan certainly writes an excellent spooky book. This novel had me from the first page with its ambiance and setting. My only setback was the prose. The sentence level craft lacked in enough places that I kept finding myself getting pulled out of the book, or struggling to stay invested. I feel perhaps it would have been a better audiobook, as it took me quite a while to get through it. Still I think this is a good read for fans of Riley Sager or Lucy Foley.

I really wanted to love this book - it had everything I liked: ghosts, castles, Scottish accents - but while there were parts that were very exciting, the story overall was kind of meh. The flashbacks were the most interesting to me, as we learned about the various ghosts, and why they were still attached to the castle. So, while I didn't love it, I did enjoy the read.

3.5 stars rounded to 4