By Shannon Morgan
Looking for more novels set in Scotland after enjoying In The Lonely Hours? Check out these thrillers with some Scottish flair.
The Whistling by Rebecca Netley
Set on a remote Scottish island, the Whistling is a gorgeously dark gothic tale of grief, tragedy and ghostly retribution. Elspeth Swansome takes a position as nanny in a creeping, creaking house where horrible dolls bound in human hair appear in empty rooms and eerie whistling lingers in the night. Her charge, Mary, is a mute, unsettling child, keeping secrets and grieving for the loss of her twin brother, William. As Elspeth starts to unpick the mystery of the previous nanny’s disappearance and the tragic death of William, she and Mary form a bond forged in grief. The island of Skelthsea is a character in itself; a brooding, menacing presence, bearing witness to the unfolding drama. A fabulous gothic read.
Pine by Francine Toon
A modern gothic tale, Pine, brings to life the brooding, desolate Scottish Highlands with haunting, raw prose. Ten-year-old Lauren lives with her father, Niall, on the edge of the remote village Strath Horne surrounded by deep woods. In their own way both are still grieving the loss of their mother and wife, Christine, who disappeared soon after Lauren was born. Lauren is a heartbreaking character who is bullied at school and viewed as peculiar by the villagers; she is also the only one able to retain the memory of a young woman’s ghost often seen in the surrounding woods. When a teenage girl goes missing, suspicion falls on Niall, but as a hunt to find the girl leads into the dark woods the mystery of Lauren’s mother’s disappearance starts to unravel.
The Company of Ghosts by Berlie Doherty
I read this in one sitting. It’s a beautifully written story, set on a tiny island in Scotland guarded by a defunct lighthouse. Sixteen-year-old Ellie Brockhole, through a series of unfortunate events, ends up alone on Wild Island by herself and is forced to survive while contending with a ghost who haunts the island. It’s spooky, heartbreaking and vivid with haunting prose. One of my favourite reads this year.
The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke
Not strictly a ghost story, THE GHOST WOODS, is a fabulous supernatural tale set in the Scottish Borders. Slowly decaying Lichen Hall sits in an ancient wood and offers a dubious home for unwed mothers with nowhere else to go. Something evil haunts the wood, the cause of numerous legends of witches and ghosts. Told in dual timelines that merge together, two pregnant women, Mabel and Pearl, illustrates the awful dangers and choices unwed mothers had to endure in the sixties and earlier, so often forced to give up their children to avoid reputational damage. With a rather endearing child who has the Sight and an old manor slowly succumbing to mould and fungi, this is a great gothic tale with a feminist edge.
The Turn Of The Key by Ruth Ware
This was a fabulously creepy story set in a smart house with a Victorian manor’s skin. When Rowan arrives in Scotland to look after four unruly children, everything that can go wrong in a smart house does. Throw in a poison garden, noises in the attic, spooky writing on the walls and secrets lurking in the shadows, and you have an unsettling gothic tale with a modern edge.
In a bewitchingly melancholy, thrillingly modern ghost story for readers of Eve Chase, Megan Shepherd, and Lisa Jewell, the new inhabitants of a centuries-old castle perched on a remote island in northwest Scotland must confront its tragic and terrifying history…
On a small island in a remote corner of northwest Scotland lies Maundrell castle, owned by its wealthy namesake family for centuries—until now. Edwina Nunn is shocked to learn a relative she never heard of has bequeathed the castle and its land to her. What awaits Edie and her teenage daughter, Neve, is even more startling, for the castle is home to a multitude of ghosts.
Yet there’s a strange beauty in the austere architecture and the eerie, bloody waters of Loch na Scáthanna, the Lake of Shadows. Beguiled by a frightened ghost who gazes longingly out of the castle’s windows, Edie and Neve are drawn to the legends shrouding the island and the mystery of the Maundrell Red—a priceless diamond that disappeared decades before.
Is the gem really cursed, and the cause of the family tragedies that have all occurred on Samhain—Scottish Halloween? As Samhain approaches once more, Edie and Neve race to peel back the dark secrets entwining the living and the dead—a twisted story of bitter cruelty and hidden love—or they will become another Maundrell tragedy trapped in the lonely hours . . .
Some Books We’re Grateful for This Thanksgiving