Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

The coven by Graham Masterton.
Beatrice Scarlet Book 2.
They say the girls were witches. But Beatrice Scarlet, the apothecary's daughter, is sure they were innocent victims...
Oa brilliant read. Loved the story. Beatrice was my favourite character. I hope there is more to come. 5*.

Captivating ! I enjoyed reading this novel ,the book contains great characters, description and use of words. I liked how the author ended this story setting Beatrice up for her next adventure.

I am usually a fan of Graham Masterson but I found this story a bit drab and not that faced paced but that might be my fault as I like my fantasy a bit more urban and I found this a bit Blah.

Sadly this book left me confused since the title mislead me to believe that it had something to do with witchcraft. It did not have much in the way of witchcraft and I was left with a boring read wondering when the magic would start. Just not my sort of thing I suppose.

1758,London.Beatrice Scarlet,a widow,works in a refuge for"fallen"women. But then some of these young girls(who after a rehabilitation period are sent out to factories) disappear. Although the title implies witches and witchcraft(so does the cover by the way),this is more of a mystery story with some dark/ horror undercurrents. But after a rather slow start it is definitely a thrilling read and mostly well written. This also happens to be the second book in this new series.
Only comment,perhaps certain scenes(rape mainly)might have been a little less graphic.

I really wanted to love this book but I found it quite hard going at times and and was a bit disappointed with the lack of witches and witchcraft!
Was ok though and I am glad I persevered through to the end and I will be keeping an eye out for the next in the series

I could not finish this book. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.
The author is great. I will continue to read his Katie Maguire series, which is really well done. This book just wasn’t right for me.

Beatrice is alone in the New World with the exception of her small daughter, Florence. She returns to London to work for a missionary society which cares for "fallen women". She stumbles across a den of iniquity where nothing is quite what it seems.

I felt that this book started quite well if slowly. The setting was reasonable but I was envisioning a later period in history than 1758. Beatrice frequently travels around London on foot and in cabs alone and meets with a young man alone in the evenings. Would a Missionary society really allow a young woman to do this all without a chaperone? I do wonder. I was also slightly puzzled by the police Inspector at Bow Street - surely 1758 is a bit early for that?

Beatrice is sometimes a very clever woman. Her knowledge of chemistry and apothecary remedies is exceptional. In fact I do wonder if this is knowledge is more suited to a later period in history. For example the information concerning arsenic poisoning in wallpaper was more in fitting with the Victorian age - though I may be wrong. Beatrice has learned a great deal from her Father and has an excellent remedy for every ailment from head lice to chest infections. In fact it seemed that every person she met mentioned a small ailment & she immediately piped up that she had a remedy of her Father's which would solve it. This started to get a little farcical!

At other times Beatrice is immensley dim. A wealthy factory owner comes to choose girls for his factory. He personally chooses them & only chooses the very prettiest. When Beatrice visits them a few days later they are all suddenly unwell & can't be visited. Um..........it took her a while to work that one out yet she can manage complicated chemical tests to prove poisoning. It just didn't quite work for me.

There are some brutal & explicit rape scenes in this book. I mention these particularly as someone searching for a historical novel may not be aware that the author writes gruesome horror stories. These rape scenes may come as quite a surprise to the unwary reader. Personally I felt they were a bit over the top and unnecessary.

I didn't particularly like any of the characters in this book. Some of them are quite cardboard and lacking in personality & others are just unpleasant. To be fair the subject matter isn't that nice.

It wasn't until I had completed this book that I discovered that it was the second in the series. This would explain some events and references that made little sense to me. Perhaps I would have understood Beatrice's character a little more had I read this book first.

The actual concept of this book is reasonable & the story did make basic sense leaving aside some questionable history. However I struggled to relate to or like any of the characters and despite the terrible situations I felt little empathy. The people just didn't come alive. I didn't particularly enjoy the brutal rape scenes but accept that this type of scene is part and parcel of the author's writing. I don't think I shall be looking out for any further historical work by this author.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

Graham Masterson at his very best he pulls his audience in and keeps them on the edge of their seats to the very end.
Beatrice Scarlet returns to London with her young daughter florence following the death of her husband and the disappearance of her son Noah.. She is employed in a refuge for young girls who have been offered a moral way of life rather than facing prison or death for prostitution or stealing.
Seven of the prettiest girls chosen by the homes main benefactor, Hazard, are taken to supposedly start work in his tobacco factory and then they all disappear and Beatrice finds the explanation of their disappearance to be inconsistent with the evidence left behind. Who can she trust, is her life in danger, who is trying to frighten her off and why ?
A 5 star read excellent book.

I usually like Masterton's books but this one just didn't work for me. The period setting and the language felt quite forced and wooden, making it a tough one to connect with. Fans of the Beatrice Scarlet series may find something more here but if you're looking to see what Masterton is capable of try one of his other novels instead.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the Head of Zeus Publishing and Graham Masterton.

I have always been a fan of Graham Masterton and have read all his horror books. I have not read any of his Katie Maguire stories. I was intrigued by The Coven. From the title, front cover and description I was expecting a witchcraft/supernatural/horror focus and whilst there were references to devil worshiping etc the witchcraft focus wasn’t there. I haven’t read the first book in the series, the Scarlett Witch and after reading The Coven don’t feel any motivation to go back and read it. The Coven can be read as a standalone book and there is a recap woven into the first few pages giving an adequate background to Scarlett’s story.

I can only say that the story was not bad, but not particularly good either. I don’t think it was particularly well written, lots of “she said” “she did” “she thought”. It is an historical novel but the language seemed to switch from era appropriate to modern, which didn’t sit right. It does contain gratuitous violence (including sexual violence) which might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but what you would expect from a Masterton novel. The plot moved along well with a cast of characters being introduced but the outcome was wholly predictable. There weren’t really any edge of your seat “heart pounding” moments.

There was little emotional depth to Scarlett and any engagement with her seemed superficial. The opening pages (spoiler) deal with her five year son going missing, presumably kidnapped by Indians. I don’t think any mother could function under the circumstances but she’s appears to shrug it off with a ‘oh well, let’s return to England then’.

As I said, it’s far from an awful read and if it had been written by a completely different author to Masterton I probably wouldn’t have been so critical, but having read his earlier outstanding horror works I expected more and the book just didn’t deliver. It was a quick read, taking me three nights and I was happy to put the book down every evening, rather than staying up until the early hours to find out what happened next.

For those of you who haven’t read any of Masterton books before, but want a first class horror story, I would really recommend you start with some of earlier works, there are so many to choose from, the list really is endless. They are really outstanding books in the horror genre.

I'm already a fan of Graham. I love his quality writing. I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down. Great work.

EXCERPT: 'Some of these girls are veritable savages when we first take them in. They are used to drinking gin and smoking and their everyday language would make Satan shrivel. They have been used by men ever since they can remember, sometimes by their own fathers and brothers, so they think nothing of virtue or virginity. In some cases, their own mothers have sold their maidenheads to the highest bidder to make ends meet.....A fair number learn to be thankful, I'll grant you. But some regard us as pious busy bodies and cannot wait to return to their life on the streets. They relish the flattery they are given by licentious men, and the money. They enjoy the orgies, and the drink. They have never been used to discipline or decorum, and they cannot understand that they are not only destroying themselves here on earth but abnegating any chance they might have had of going to heaven. '

THE BLURB: London, 1758. Beatrice Scarlet has returned to London and found work at St. Mary Magdalene's Refuse for fallen women. Beatrice enjoys the work and her apothecary skills are much needed. The home cooperates with a network of wealthy factory owners across London, finding their charges steady work and hopes of rehabilitation. But when 12 girls sent to a factory in Clerkenwell disappear, Beatrice is uneasy. Their would-be benefactor claims they were witches, sacrificed by Satan for his demonic misdeeds. But Beatrice is sure something much darker than witchcraft is at play.

MY THOUGHTS: I have to admit that I almost dnf'd this a couple of times in the earlier part of the book. I really only kept reading because I wanted to know if Noah was ever going to be found. I got the answer to my question, but if you want to know you can read the book for yourself.

The Coven is definitely not my favourite Masterton book. It is the second book in a series of, so far, two. I had not read the first, but The Coven can stand on its own. There is enough background information given so that the relevant events of the first in the series are explained.

My first quibble is with the title, The Coven. If you read this book you will see the relevance, which I still feel is rather tenuous anyway. The Coven gives the impression that the book is about witchcraft. It isn't. Not even remotely. Which is not why I chose to read it anyway, but people with reading interests which lie in that field would be disappointed. This book could definitely have been better titled.

Masterton's writing does get, somewhat uncharacteristically, laborious in parts. Although just occasionally his quirky sense of humour shines through, and again,occasionally, there are passages of his trademark beautiful prose.

Overall, I am glad I read The Coven. I liked it more than not, but only just. But probably not enough to bother with reading any more of the series, although Beatrice's future does look rather more interesting. I will leave the jury out on that decision.

WARNING: The Coven contains graphic violence and sexual content.

Thank you to Head of Zeus via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of The Coven for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This is the first book I have read by this author. It is very dark and atmospheric but the plot was a little too predictable for me. Not a bad read though and I would probably read this author's work again.

Thanks Head of Zeus and netgalley for this ARC.

I wanted to like this book, but it just didn't' gel with me. It seemed very juvenile

This book wasn't what I was expecting. From the title, cover and synopsis I was expecting witches and witchcraft however this just didn't happen and I found it rather misleading. It was a good story, quite graphic at times and I'm sure people will like it however I just didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my advance copy in return for an honest review.

As a fan of this authors Katie Maguire series I looked forward to the Widow Scarlett series. These stories are historical fiction based and are an entertaining read but I don't find them as being on the same level as the Maguire series. Still for anyone new to this author they act as a good spur to try some of his earlier work.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows on from the first one nicely, and is well written. Some of the scenes are quite graphic and work well in the context of the book. The pace is good, although a little slow / detailed at a couple of points.

I think reading the first book first is very beneficial as it does help set the scene, the period language, pace.

The church vs science angle is a debate that rages to this day.

I would definitely read any further in the series, should any be written. Very enjoyable.