Why a Booktrail?
1888, 1918: The key to the mystery will also unlock the path to trouble……
The Key in the Lock
What you need to know before your trail
I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unfurling out of an upper window and a hectic orange light cascading across the terrace.
By day, Ivy Boscawen mourns the loss of her son Tim in the Great War. But by night she mourns another boy – one whose death decades ago haunts her still.
For Ivy is sure that there is more to what happened all those years ago: the fire at the Great House, and the terrible events that came after. A truth she must uncover, if she is ever to be free.
Locations
Reset- England - Cornwall
- A: Kennall Vale Nature Reserve
- B: Stithians Dam
- C: Devichoys Wood
Travel Guide
BookTrail your way to a rural Cornish mansion
This novel was set in Cornwall in 1918 and 1888. The setting is fictional but was inspired the Kennall Vale Nature Reserve. The real atmosphere however is not so much the rural landscape but there is a distinct Cornish flavour to the novel. The house in the novel is a dark, cold and uninviting manor house so the perfect place for a novel of strange and spooky goings on.
Locked doors, a missing key, a maid not saying much, a tragic turn of events…
Wait until you get inside the rooms and hear the creak of the stairs, the maid in the room next door, the room where the child sleeps and the strange table in the middle of the dining hall. The kitchen too, sees a lot of activity and there are shadows and strange sights throughout the house.
Booktrailer Review
What a gothically infused gem of a novel. A dark, mysterious manor house in Cornwall, some of the creepiest characters you will ever meet, and a distinct flavour of Du Maurier throughout. This is a novel where the tiniest of details means something very significant. Keys, shadows, noises next door….and a veil of truth and lies covering anything that might explain away the fog.
This is a slow burn of a novel, one where every page, chapter might reveal that little bit more. Like Ivy in the novel, you are desperate to discover the truth. Ooh creepy and so atmospheric. I sunk into this and felt immersed in the setting completely. An interesting visit to a Cornish manor house with inhabitants you would really not like to meet!
I am so pleased I did however. This is one heck of a web of deceit, lies and desire.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Key in the Lock
Destination/location: Cornwall Author/guide: Beth Underdown Departure Time: 1888, 1918
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