The Shadow Key - Susan Stokes-Chapman - ★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Susan Stokes-Chapman
GENRE: Gothic Historical Mystery
PUBLICATION DATE: April 18, 2024
RATING: 3.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A Gothic historical mystery set in Wales. Great use of the location and an interesting storyline, somewhat marred by the lacklustre ending. Not as dark as it promised to be.


Plot Preview:
1783. Meirionydd, Wales. When Dr. Henry Talbot loses his job in a London hospital after a scandal, and no other offers work out, he has no choice but to accept the post of a private physician to Lord Julian Tresilian of Plas Helyg, a castle in a small and remote mining village of Wales. Henry doesn’t speak Welsh, and he isn’t prepared for the hostility shown by the locals to him as an Englishman. When he discovers that his predecessor was found death under mysterious circumstances, Henry begins to wonder if there is some darker foul play involved in the villagers’ response to him. To add to his woes, Julian’s niece Linette, who takes of the estate, isn’t what Henry expected the lady of a house to be. And neither is her mother Lady Gwen. What’s happening in Plas Helyg? Are the women as mentally ill as Julian claims? Is it just Henry’s imagination, or is he in danger?
The story comes to us in the alternating third person perspectives of Henry and Linette.


Bookish Yays:
🤩 Atmospheric writing with vivid descriptions that made me long to visit Wales.

🤩 Superb use of the setting and era. Feels accurate in terms of historical content and the villagers’ superstitions. Great usage of Welsh lore. Also incorporates the Welsh resentment towards the English and the atrocious attitude of the wealthy Brits towards the Welsh villagers.

🤩 Highlights the pathetic condition under which miners worked.

🤩 Merlin the dog – as awesome as all dogs are.


Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 The lead characters of Henry Talbot & Linette Tresilian: Had so much potential but only some is realised. Liked their unusual background and personality, but wish there were more sense in Henry and more amenability in Linette.

😐 At 464 pages, the book is quite lengthy. The pace is very slow at the start, but picks up around the midway mark.

😐 Many Welsh words and phrases, which add to the authenticity, but there’s no translation/glossary. Not all of these are guessable from context.

😐 The prologue creates a dark, somewhat paranormal/occult kind of tone in an outstanding manner. Because of this, the ending feels very tame. The rest of the book isn’t as dark as the prologue was.

😐 The plotting was sufficiently convoluted and twisty for a mystery. However, there’s so much of hinting and clue-sprinkling that most big reveals didn’t come as surprises to me. (And I am not even a regular reader of mysteries!)


Bookish Nays:
😕 Way too much miscommunication between the lead pair. Characters also switch back and forth in their opinions and also make assumptions and jump to conclusions like no one’s business. All this gets annoying after a while.

😕 The ending spoiled much of my enjoyment. I hate these kinds of infodump endings in mysteries where the villain(s) pause all retribution and begin an elaborate explanation of their intent and modus operandi. This book also had much Bollywood-style OTT drama in the climax.

😕 The prologue made me expected more of the supernatural content. But the story isn’t at all creepy despite the regular mention of creepy elements.

😕 There was not much romance (which is great!), but even the little that was present was not to my taste. The insta ‘she’s a hottie; me wantie’ kind of attraction always irritates me.

😕 Some plot points stay unresolved even after the end.


All in all, this book had great atmospheric writing, a good plot, and a poor ending. It is more like a historical mystery than a supernatural one, so it might work better for you if you go in with the right expectations and are patient with the ending.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author through The Pigeonhole. This review is voluntary and contains an honest opinion about my reading experience.

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