The Winter Guest by W. C. Ryan
Narrated by Liam Hourican

It's January 1921 and Irishman Captain Tom Harkin is an IRA intelligence officer. His physical and mental injuries from the war, to body and mind, have him often feeling weak and almost anything can trigger his mind to have him back among the muck, explosions, and death. Not only that, the maimed and dead are with him almost constantly. If he isn't seeing them wherever he goes, he is still feeling their weight on his heart and soul.

Tom is working as an undercover IRA intelligence officer and his former fiancé, Maude Prendeville, has been murdered during an IRA ambush. But the IRA men say that they left her safe and unharmed. Instead someone came back and put a bullet through her head. Being sent to the home of a woman he still loved, a family he knew so well, to investigate her murder, makes the things Tom sees worse, real or not.

The narration by Irishman Liam Hourican is great. The Irish accents are there but they aren't so strong that I don't understand what is being said. Tom is obviously a good man, well liked and trusted, but he's seen and experienced too much so his war is never really over, especially when his countrymen are still fighting for independence. No one can be sure who can really be trusted, who is really on what side, and how to keep their friends and family safe while following their convictions.

And then there are the ghosts. They are there, right in front of us, all around us, we are there with Tom in the trenches and the death, but still, they are subtle. Tom has to go through life now, walking among the ghosts, whether real or not, he must continue through life, doing what must be done. Their presence adds to the gloomy, gothic feel of the story. Tom is a strong man but he's been through too much, just as have the other soldiers and victims of the war. And the fight isn't over until their country is free.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ARC.

The Winter Guest takes place during an interesting time. It’s post World War I in Ireland. Unfortunately, after the Great War was over Ireland still had some hardships as their civil war broke out.

Maud Prendeville was killed and Thomas Harkin is sent to investigate. It was said that Maud was killed in an IRA attack but Harkin starts to investigate and discovers what really happened.

I was sadly let down by this book. The summary talks about ghosts haunting the house. I was expecting this to be a fun read for the Halloween season. The ghosts are basically nonexistent and did not do much for the plot.

When Harkin was making discoveries and putting pieces together I found that I was really enthralled with the story and how it all starts to fit together, but then when it would go back to different characters talking I would tend to lose focus.

This really is a hard one for me to rate. I like the overarching story but I just feel it failed to grab me in ways I could have hoped. Certain parts of the story were told well and written perfectly, I only wish there was more of that. I think if you like this era in history this is a good mystery book otherwise you may have a hard time staying focused like I did.

Set in Ireland in 1921 after the WWI, THE WINTER GUEST circles around the Troubles of Ireland with the IRA, the Black and Tans, and everything that was happening as Ireland fought to get out from under the rule of the British. This novel has a slow pace as Captain (former) Tom Harkin is requested to uncover who killed his former fiancé, Maud Prendeville outside her family's estate, Kilcolgan House after an attack from the IRA (who claims Maud was alive when they left). As with any political conflict, there are various layers to the spying and double-crossing that is going on and the mystery is muddied by Harkin's PTSD from the Great War.

While I was able to pick out some of the red herrings, I didn't fully guess the part everyone was playing until Ryan's reveal to the readers. Overall I thought this was an intriguing read with a satisfying conclusion that made sense both to the murder and to the time period.

Liam Hourican does a good job with the audiobook narration though there are parts where it's very difficult to hear what he's saying because he whispers.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.