Ivy’s son Tim had been killed in WWI but she still feels his presence hiding under his bed. This takes her back 30 years to a terrible fire in nearby Polneath House when the young son William tragically lost his life when he was locked in Agnes the maid’s room. His lifeless body found hiding under the bed.
The story flits between the events of 1888 & 30 years later when,now married, Ivy discovers the truth of what really happened.
This is a slow moving atmospheric read. It was reminiscent of a much older written story. Whilst it wasn’t a frantic page turner it nevertheless kept my interest throughout & the end few chapters definitely picked up considerably.
4/5 stars

'The Witchfinder's Sister' is one of my favourite historical novels of recent years. And so, I was excited to have the opportunity to read the next offering from Beth Underdown, 'The Key in the Lock'.
This meticulously researched 'novel takes place over two timelines: 1888 and 1918 - as Ivy is mourning the loss of her son Tim in the first World War, (1918 timeline), she is also recalling the tragic death of young William in a suspicious fire back in 1888. Events of that long ago night have haunted Ivy ever since.
Weaving the past and present timelines expertly, without ever leaving the reader unsure of the era or story segment, Underdown has once again created a highly atmospheric, gothic story that you are compelled to finish in one go!
Such an enjoyable novel and one I definitely recommend.

Mixed feelings about this book - the story itself is engaging and well thought out, but the dual timeline delivery did cause some confusion. I also found the writing style somewhat derivative, with echoes of Du Maurier, Winston Graham and to a lesser extent, Dickens. The words did not always flow in the ‘Victorian’ style the writer was clearly intending, and there were some moments where the inconsistencies were obvious. So, that’s all the negative bits! The characters were well drawn, even if they weren’t always likeable, and the final denouement was built with skill and excellent timing. Overall, this is a decent book that will appeal to so some readers more than others and I wish it well.

"I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire" is the dramatic opening to this latest novel from acclaimed historical fiction author Beth Underdown. "Thirty years have elapsed, since that business at Polneath" explains the novel's narrator, Ivy Boscawen. "I see now that the decision I made at Polneath was the only decision of my life. Everything marred in that one dark minute." Even thirty years later, there were "Things I had forgotten, or chosen to forget"

Christmas 1918, and Ivy Boscawen (nee Cardew) is so grief-stricken by the death of her son in the trenches of the Great War that she imagines - hopes - that is at home hiding under his bed. This prompts Ivy to recall another frightened boy hiding under his bed, thirty years before...

Travelling back in time and space, we arrive at the Great House, at Polneath, Cornwall, in 1888. It is the family home of the Tremains: Old Tremain, his son Edward, and young son William. There is both love and conflict in the family: "William, a lovely child, and Edward as doting a father as Old Tremain had been a harsh one".

After a tragic fire at the house, William is found dead, hiding under the bed in a servant's room - and it is discovered that he had been deliberatley locked in there. "There was no more shirking the fact, now. The truth was cruel. William Tremain had been locked in to die ... a fire started with uncertain cause. A little boy dead."

Ivy Cardew is deeply troubled by these events, and resolves the uncover the circumstances behind this tragic event - one which has repercussions thirty years later.

Suspicion falls on the servant, Agnes Draper, who has come from the foundlings' hospital in Falmouth. "It's my fault," she tells Ivy - but is it? The key to Agnes's room is discovered to be missing, and "The master [Old Tremain] keeps the keys. Only one, to any door in the house, and no copies made, he won't have it." Does that add to Agnes's guilt?

"The truth will never out by itself," declares Ivy, who determines to find out the truth, whatever the cost - to herself, most of all, as it transpires. For Ivy also carries a dark secret though her life, and how "in one particular case, my wrongdoing has concealed itself. My crime." She declares that "I wish to understand, at least, where I went wrong. My soul has grown dark to itself, like an old stove, too smoked to see the light inside. And I am resolved, now, if I can, to open the door."

This well-crafted and gripping novel reveals its dark secrets until its dramatic and shocking denouement.

I was put off this book straight away due to its dual timeline. Historically, these are not books that I enjoy. It was slow to star and the pace did not quicken throughout the book. I was left wanting answers and wanting more of everything really. Tough one to review.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When Ivy's son is killed in WWI, his death reopens old wounds and takes her back to the death of a child in a fire thirty years earlier. The timeline weaves between the events surrounding the fire in 1888 and Christmas 1918, as Ivy agonises about whether she did the right thing in the way the boy's murderer was brought to justice and wonders if her own son's death is a punishment for her sins.

Ivy herself is an elusive narrator. She is not a particularly sympathetic character, and yet her story is extremely compelling. I did spot the villain early on but overall a cleverly-plotted and skilfully revealed gothic thriller.

Wow - a superb story extremely well-written story, gripping, haunting, and most of all heartbreaking.
I read Beth's previous novel ‘The Witchfinders Sister’ so I was very excited to read this one. Beth did not disappoint!
The way Beth slowly peeled back the layers of the story through two different timelines, while offering up small pieces of detail as this mystery unfolded - just superb. The characters are well-formed, believable, and the descriptions of the period really set the scene.

A must-read for anyone who enjoys period fiction that is dark, mysterious, and most of all devastating.

Excellent...

Locked doors and false faces ★★★★☆

After the devastating loss of her son in World War One, Ivy is certain that the events of 30 years ago have come back to haunt her. Driven by grief and guilt she starts to pick apart the terrible fire at Polneath in 1888 and everything that came after.

The mystery of the fire – who started it and why, who is to blame for the terrible loss – is teased out across the pages, the past blurring with the present as Edward Tremain, erstwhile Polneath heir, comes back into Ivy’s life.

What are the terrible secrets Ivy and her husband have kept? Has she trusted the right people? Does she still have a chance at a different future?

An intriguing and clever mystery where no crime is as it first seems and the true villains and heroes of that fateful winter are gradually and unexpectedly revealed.

For fans of Stacey Hall.

The Key in the Lock drew me in on Netgalley through the similarities to Du Maurier. It is the story of Ivy, a woman whose son, Tim, has died in action in WW1, and whose presence she can feel under her bed at night, reminding her of the death of a young boy called William Tremaine in 1888. The events of this night haunt her and have shaped who she is, but she learns that all from that night is not as it seems.

This book was beautiful and haunting: Underdown crafts deceptively simple sentences that hit hard and make you stop for a moment and pause. It was the perfect Gothic novel for October and it really got under my skin: it is full of twists but they come about so slowly and gently that you hardly realise their significance until a few pages afterwards.

A superb blend of historical fiction and murder mystery, I felt slightly like I was reading a Jane Austen crossed with an Agatha Christie, which is no bad thing! Ivy is the daughter of the village doctor, called with her father late one night to assist at the local Manor House, Polneath, after a fire, which quickly turns to tragedy after one of the family members is found dead from smoke inhalation. But everyone in the house seems to be hiding things, as Ivy is quick to discover when she is left there after the fire to nurse one of the maids.

Alongside this strand in 1888 we also read from Ivy’s point of view over twenty years later, when her son has gone off to fight in the war. Ivy still doesn’t know exactly what happened back at Polneath - but it suddenly seems like she must confront the old ghosts if she is to solve another mystery in the present. I wasn’t totally sure about the second strand of narration in the future and if it worked, but in the end I think it made some of the revelations even stronger because Ivy had been waiting such a long time to get to the truth. I definitely preferred reading the segments set in 1888, however.

My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin UK, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This historical novel centres round the deaths of two boys, around thirty years apart. The first is William, the grandson of the local powder mill owner. He dies in a fire at their house and is found locked in the maid's room. The maid is blamed but Ivy, the daughter of the local doctor doesn't think she did it and comes up with an alternative theory. Thirty years later, Ivy is married to the coroner who carried out William's inquest. Their only child has been killed in the first world war and there are hints that it was suicide. Ivy is devastated at this and tries to find out what has happened. Eventually she does find out and she also discovers who was really to blame for William's death.

This was an ok read but rather slow in pace. I didn't really warm to Ivy or any of the characters and found that I didn't really care what happened. A lot hinges on keys and where they were and who had them and this was difficult to follow at times. Ivy also kept hinting at something awful she had done which led to her penance in having to marry the coroner. I didn't get it. But I did manage to finish it though truth be told it was a bit of a chore. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I very much enjoyed this story. It is a slowly revealed mystery using a dual timeline to discover how young Willian Tremain died, and in doing that we are given the story of Ivy Boscawen's life. The daughter of a country doctor she does not have much expectation for marriage but Edward Tremain, son of the owner of Polneath gunpowder mills catches her eye and wins her heart. When Ivy's son, Tim, is killed in the Great War, her life begins to unravel and her thoughts return to the time before she was married, to Edward, his son, William, and the events at Polneath.
The two time frames blend well together and slowly the story is revealed, with several plot twists that are enough to keep the reader interested. The book has a slightly melancholic feel, nobody every appears truly happy at any point in the narrative, and when I imaging the settings I see dark, dingy houses, and wintery, cold landscapes. The effect is quite haunting...
The characters are well drawn. One has to feel sorry for Ivy, wondering if her son's death was in some way recompense for the tragic events of years before. Every time she appears about to get what she wants it is snatched away from her. The characters of Edward and his father Thomas Tremain are interesting and distinct and Boscawen comes across initially as a pompous and stuffy coroner, but as things are revealed we learn he had another side to him.
All in all a great sense of place and great characters and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and will look out for more works by this author.
Many thanks to Netgalley, Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

An enjoyable read with lots of atmosphere and creepiness. A bit of a slow burner the ending wasn't quite what I was expecting.

Different to a regular country house mystery, this book follows the same characters as they navigate two different timelines- the death of a child in a house fire in the late 1880s, and the loss of a beloved son during the First World War.

There's a lot going on in this book, and I sometimes found the jumping about a little bit hard to follow. Whilst it's signposted which year we're in, there's also some back and forth within these timescales which I occasionally struggled to keep up with.

There's enough of a mystery to keep you interested to the end, but there's the odd element that keeps being referred to without ever fully being fleshed out - most notably with the character of Jake.

I read this book fairly quickly which is a good sign of how intrigued I was to find out exactly what had happened, but I didn't really find myself caring too much for the main protagonists.

An enjoyable enough read if you're looking for a bit of escapism to country houses and turn of the century manners.

Dual timelines are clearly 'flavour of the month'. This book describes the life of a Cornish woman and mother, Ivy between 1918 as she mourns son's recent death in the trenches and copes with an ailing husband, and 1888 where she is living on the fringes of a great house, whose family is utterly dysfunctional, and where deaths and inquests become all-too frequent. Hovering between the Gothic and the realistic, between the whodunnit and the romance, the story just about keeps you wanting to turn the pages. Ivy is a very believable protagonist. Though at times I really would have glad of a simpler structure: I feel that at time there are too many subgenres being shoehorned in for the book's own good. Underdown has lovely descriptions and a great setting. I would have been glad to have had more of the 1880s' story, essentially a criminal investigation where Ivy, as the doctor's daughter, is well placed to find things out. (a clever idea.) I felt the setting of a gunpowder factory was very strong - obvious suspense there, which she could have done more with. The earlier part of the narrative was more original and stronger and, for me, it didn't really need so many time jumps 30 years forward. Still, there is much to enjoy here.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review**

I enjoy historical fiction and mystery books so this was a good title for me. The narrative twisted and turned until the end and I enjoyed the 2 storylines as we found out more of the truth. I was definitely fooled by one of the characters!

I wanted to love this but found it far too slow for my liking, I felt the same story could have been told in far fewer pages and it would have given it more of an impact. I did, however, like seeing the development of Ivy’s character, and the links between the generations were very cleverly done.

I enjoyed ‘The Key in the Lock’ by Beth Underdown however I found that the jump between the two time periods was sometimes a little confusing and I had to re-read bits when I realised I was in the wrong time so to speak. Nevertheless I found it a good read.

Firstly thank you to @penguinukbooks @vikingbooksuk and @netgalley for the advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

The Key In The Lock explores two timelines one following Ivy in 1888 and one following her in 1917 - The Mansion next door has gone up in flames, and unfortunately seven year old William was trapped inside it. Mysteriously upon further insight it seems that William was locked inside a room left to die in the fire, therefore casting a nasty shadow on the family, its servants and pulling Ivy into this dark world where we must find out why this happened to William.

I really enjoyed this book, Ivy is an interesting character and side characters Edith, and Edward are thought out and bring complex storylines which are enjoyable and excellent to read.

The flipping from past to present created a nice and well balanced contrast and neither one felt too oversaturated and each piece fit perfectly into the next.

Cons are limited however I did find at the end I wanted just a little bit more. Maybe some sort of dramatic monologue but it felt a little up in the air for me. But all around a great read!

Beautifully researched with believable characters, this was a compelling and atmospheric read. The author handled the dual timelines with real skill and I felt genuine emotion for the characters