Margaret's Reviews > The Bell Tower: A Haunted House Mystery

I always love it when I discover a new author that I really enjoy reading.

"The Bell Tower" is the first book by Sarah Rayne that I have read, but it won't be the last.

Nell West and Michael Flint are attending a recreation of a medieval revel at a small Dorset town that is dominated by a crumbing bell tower on the cliff by the sea. The organisers of the revel are trying to track down a mysterious ancient song known to have been sung, whilst a supposedly dotty old lady is insisting that they stop.

"The Bell Tower" is pretty much a 21st century gothic novel. All the elements are there. Ancient curses, a doomed family, star crossed lovers, burials alive...all tied together in a taut, sharp package that zips along dragging the reader helpless in its wake.

Sarah Rayne is a brilliant writer. The atmosphere of the book flows from eerie and chilly, to the warmth and bounce of everyday life. I thought I'd made a mistake beginning this in the evening, I honestly thought there would be nightmares, as in places the book is so genuinely creepy that the hair on the back of my neck was standing up! But Sarah tied everything up in a wonderful ending that relieved the tension of the book, without being cheesy.

Highly recommended.