Petty criminal and draft dodger, Charlie Briggs, is laying low in a sleepy Hampshire town over Christmas in the months after WWI. When he steals a rare book he inadvertently also takes on the family curse it carries: plagued by nightmares and visions of the previous owner's horrible death by mustard gas, Charlie slowly unravels.

This novella really feels like it could be adapted as a BBC Christmas Ghost story. It's well paced and stylishly told. It also feels very cinematic: I could clearly see the story unfolding in my head and some scenes and set pieces felt reminiscent of a Mark Gatiss adaptation.

The thing that held this story back from being a 5* read for me was that it could be a touch heavy handed: for example, not only is Charlie established as thoroughly immoral, the narrative is at pains to remind us that he's scrawny with a weaselly face and greasy hair to reinforce the message that he's a villain. Over the course of the story, Charlie begins to feel empathy towards veterans and shame at stealing from them, which was a compelling and surprisingly moving bit of character development, but again the author felt the need to remind us that Charlie had been completely callous in earlier scenes, rather than trusting readers to remember. Victoria Williamson is an award winning children's author and this is her first book for adults, so maybe she's still calibrating the finer points of how to write for a different audience.

Overall, I enjoyed this atmospheric Christmas ghost story. Thank you to NetGalley and Silver Thistle Press for the ARC in return for an honest review.

A short little ghost story that's haunting in more ways than one. A fast and satisfying read, even though the pieces move into place pretty quickly you're still left guessing how it's going to end. And you kind of feel like the MC, Charlie, gets what he deserves.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this short story! It mixes historical fiction and the paranormal super well, and it explores the horrors of war as well as the consequences of blind greed and just being an unempathetic, selfish human being.

The writing was very nice and descriptive, which made this feel immersive. I wish there was more background and information about the main character, but it still works super well as a short story. I think I would've read at least 100 more pages about this.

The Haunting Scent of Poppies by Victoria Williamson is a short spooky tale that follows the great tradition of Christmas ghost stories. Set in the immediate aftermath of the First World War the story follows petty criminal/con man Charlie Briggs who is feeling a little out of his element in a small Hampshire town instead of his native London but unable to return there until the heat dies down following a botched burglary. Things start to look up for Charlie when he happens upon a rare antique book in a small second hand shop, and when he manages to steal it undetected he thinks that his future is secured but the previous owner of the book, a young soldier who died in the war, has other plans.
I do not see books that feature this time period very often, but when I do I love to pick them up. This is a really gripping little story and while the character of Charlie is thoroughly unlikeable, I found myself unable to put the book down. The sense of menace that builds over the course of the book is really effective and the ending is a wonderful gut punch. The author does not shy away from depictions of what soldiers experienced in the trenches and the horrors they faced, but the way she incorporates it into the storytelling is masterful.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I truly believe December is the month for ghost stories and horror. As much as I love October, there's something about the cold and dark that makes for a good scare. This was the perfect evening read for a snowy December day.

The story was reminiscent of fabled ghost stories from the 18th and early 19th centuries and featured incredible writing in the description of Charlie's hallucinations. I read it in about one sitting and couldn't put it down.

The ending was a bit jarring with the perspective shift to wrap the story up, but otherwise, it was a fantastic novella and a great ghost story.

Thank you to Silver Thistle Press and Netgalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Haunting Scent of Poppies is an enjoyable traditional ghost story, reminiscent of M.R. James. It takes place in Interwar England, where prolific thief (and conscription dodger) Charlie Briggs is hiding out from the law in a small town in Hampshire. When he can't resist swiping a valuable book from a local bookshop owner, he inadvertently brings the horrors of World War I straight to his own metaphorical doorstep.

Seasoned horror readers likely won't find this story particularly scary, at least not in the traditional sense. It has some spooky moments, sure, but the real horror here is found in gruesome flashbacks to the trenches of the Great War. They're truly the stuff of nightmares, both literally and figuratively as it turns out, and I learned far more about mustard gas's effects on the human body than I probably would have preferred.

It perhaps goes without saying that Charlie isn't the most sympathetic character. He cares only for himself and has no consideration for other people and their belongings, something directly leads to the events of this story. While I wouldn't necessarily wish his ghostly haunting on anyone (okay, fine, almost anyone), it's also a little hard to feel bad for him. The phrase “couldn't have happened to a nicer person” comes to mind.

If you like traditional ghost stories, definitely consider giving this spooky tale a read. It's atmospheric and gothic-y and entertaining, and it's certainly worth the short amount of time that it'll take to read it.

My overall rating: 3.95 stars, rounded up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Silver Thistle Press for providing me with a copy of this book to review. It's on sale now.