Today’s review is of Simone St. James’s debut novel, another novel I got for Christmas. Unlike her two previous novels I’ve reviewed on here, The Haunting of Maddy Clare is set in 1920s England, an entirely different time period and country.

Sarah Piper is a young woman living in London who works for a temporary agency. She has no family and few friends, and her existence has dwindled to the assignments she receives. This time, she’s sent to meet Alistair Gellis, a “ghost hunter” in need of a temporary assistant to investigate a haunting. She travels with him to the village of Waringstroke in Northern England to visit the Clare residence. Maddy Clare was a servant who lived with the Clares’ for seven years and died in their barn at the age of 19. Mrs. Clare is tired of the unrest caused by Maddy’s supposed ghost and hopes Gellis’s investigation can help cast Maddy away. Eventually joined by Gellis’s usual assistant Matthew Ryder, Sarah soon discovers Maddy’s ghost is very real and there’s actual mystery behind his haunting.

Since the story takes place in 1920s England, the dialogue was unique, as people spoke differently back then and some British terms differ from American terms. I was able to understand most of it due to being a long-time reader and fan of British media, and I was really impressed at Simone St. James’s ability to accurately capture the vibe and style of the era. I do think the style difference was one reason why this novel took me a little longer to read, but I liked the change of pace.

I would say that the character development and setting helps move the story along. We learn about the tragic backstories of both Sarah and Matthew and how limited resources were back then, further illustrated by Sarah’s first-person narrative. Alistair uses a camera and sound recorder during their excursion, rare for that time period. Otherwise, the storyline and mystery of Maddy was a little slow and predictable.

This wasn’t my favorite Simone St. James’s novel, but I recommend it if you’re interested in a ghost story set a hundred years ago.