A classic whodunit mystery. I loved the gothic writing style of this author and I was hooked from the very beginning! I can say I enjoyed the characters and was invested in what happened to them. Ruby had some of her own personal issues going on alongside the main plot but that just had be guessing even more. My opinion on the killer changed drastically almost every chapter I felt like! I can say that I was surprised at the end which is always a bonus when it comes to a good thriller!

A good ol’ fashioned whodunnit! The Secret Garden meets Knives Out meets Hasbro’s Clue, I had a truly enjoyable time reading this book. It hooks you in right from the start and keeps you wondering who you can really trust! I never did guess who the killer was before the big reveal, so that’s a true sign of a good mystery!

This was a thrilling mystery, woven with gothic atmosphere, romantic longing, folklore, and delightful characters. I was so caught up in the story that the reveal truly caught me by surprise. Once I started reading I truly could not put this book down and it's been on my mind since. Overall a memorable read and one of the best mysteries I'[ve read this year!

The central mystery of the murder of Edward and the possible curse of Penryth Hall is not the only mystery in the book. The main character, Ruby, has some mysteries of her own. Especially when it comes to her relationship with the town's Pellar, Ruan. Much the mystery of Ruby's past and the meaning of the strange connection between the two is left unanswered in this book, which might be to everyone's liking but it is something I enjoyed. It only made me more curious to go back and read sections to see what else I could glean from the text. I'm eager to read the next installment and to follow along on whatever mystery Ruby stumbles upon next!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this e-ARC in return for an honest review.

After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. She’s always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she’d never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall.

A foreboding fortress, Penryth Hall is home to Ruby’s once dearest friend, Tamsyn, and her husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. It’s an unsettling place, and after a more unsettling evening, Ruby is eager to depart. But her plans change when Penryth’s bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchard, and with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivell, the person whose books brought her to Cornwall, the one the locals call a Pellar, the man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesn’t believe in curses—or Pellars—but this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but lore, and they believe it will soon claim its next victim: Tamsyn.

To protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night.

Firstly, I'd like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Book, and the author for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so close to a five star for me. I'm a sucker for a good gothic novel. The setting was eerie, the idea of the curse, Penryth Hall, the pellar. It all adds up to a book that I'll love.

Ruby is a great MC. She's mysterious, feisty, and determined. And she's got a cat! I loved watching her relationship with Ruan evolve while almost simultaneously watching her relationship with Tamsyn devolve. It was an interesting dynamic which definitely helped with the plot twist that comes towards the end of the book.

My only complaint with this book is that it doesn't wrap up nicely. It seems to be obviously leading into a sequel or a series. There are so many unanswered questions. I do kind of wish that there wasn't so much left open ended at the end, especially for a first book.

Other than that, it was a great read! I especially recommend if you like books in the gothic genre.

This was such an intriguing cover, leading me to request it immediately. I’m a big fan of Gothic novels, and I was so excited to read this. I ended up really enjoying it. I enjoyed the timeline of World War I, and I also enjoyed the characters themselves. The authors writing style drew me right in. I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys a little historical fiction with a Gothic twist.

rare bookstore, Ruby finds herself delivering books and finding her old childhood friend is also living in the Cornish countryside. Soon though, Ruby finds there’s something strange going on when Tamsyn’s husband is found dead and the locals believe a curse will get her friend next.

Ruby finds herself working with a local sort of witch doctor type, called a seller, to figure out what’s really doing on with the said curse and trying to keep her friend safe. Will they be able to figure it out, or will the “curse” take Tamsyn next?

Truly a delightful and engaging read. I couldn’t put it down and devoured this one quickly. It does not disappoint!

This was absolutely spellbinding. I could not get enough of this page turner. I ate this book up!!! Absolutely perfect!
I just reviewed The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong. #NetGalley
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Such a great traditional and historical mystery! I highly enjoyed it! I would recommend this book as a book for both traditional and historical mystery fans! I will be placing this on my book club's reading list.

Lately these gothic mysteries have been a bit of a miss for me. The concept of a curse and a creepy old manor has a lot of promise. I’ll admit I love the idea of a good old-fashioned thriller set in a historical fiction timeline.

Ruby is introduced to the reader as a kind of fly-by-night American heiress living with an extraordinarily indulgent older gentleman, Mr. Owen. Her background is a bit muddled and not clearly revealed until later in the book. Essentially, she was scandalized in America and was sent abroad. Her parents met untimely deaths and she inherited their vast wealth. As a way to deal with her grief she indulges in drinking, partying, and debauchery as well as serving in the Great War as an ambulance driver. Her history during the Great War is unnecessary to the storyline.

On an errand for Mr. Owen, Ruby reconnects with a childhood friend whom she also served in WWI with. There was a lot of alluding to a romantic relationship between Tamsyn and Ruby, but only from Ruby’s perspective. Upon her arrival in the Cornish countryside, she makes the acquaintance of Ruan Kivall. Ruan is a Pellar, witch, and very respected in his small town. I believe the attempt was to setup a connection and love interest between Ruan and Ruby, but this fell flat. Ruan’s character does not have a lot of depth and he is pretty unlikable for the first half of the story. Besides a forced paranormal link between the two, they do not seem romantically inclined to each other at all.

As Ruby and Ruan investigate the curse and murders, past and present, the story hits a huge slowdown. It does pickup for the last couple chapters where the twist is revealed. Though I found the twist surprising, it was not exhilarating. There were also many other threads, like the White Witch, that were not weaved back into the story.

Ruby is a wayward heiress whose family sent her from America to England. She makes her home with a wealthy fatherly antique bookseller in England. He sends her to deliver some books to a man in the countryside where her friend Tamsyn happens to reside. Tamsyn is Ruby's best friend from childhood until they were young woman driving ambulances in the war. Tamsyn lives at Penryth Hall with her husband Edward and young son Jori. Ruby visits Tamsyn and realizes how unhappy she is in her marriage and how deep her feelings for Tamsyn lie. The man she delivers the books to is the towns "Peller" . The towns healer/witch/ protector. He and Ruby soon learn they have a special bond.. Someone dies and the book is basically a very gothic who dunit .. I enjoyed the fast pace of this book.. It kept me questioning till the end...Are curses real or is it a person? I was surprised till the end. I wish the author would have invested a little more time into the Tamsyn character. I found her so bland and boring and since most of the book was about protecting her and her son, I felt the author should have made me love them. I would like to read another story about Ruby and hopefully her next adventure with the gorgeous Peller. Hint ,. Hint , hint.

The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong is an awesome historical fiction, murder mystery, and overall great book that kept me interested from beginning to end.

I love how this book incorporates so many things: historical fiction, gothic narratives, mystery, and just an overall fun and engaging plot.

The author did a great job with creating a background and location that helped add a shadowy, mysterious, gothic vibe. But, it was balanced well with wit, humor, and excellent characters and dialogue.

Early 20th century Cornwall never seemed so interesting and fun as it did with this book. Ruby is an excellent main character. She is fun, sassy, witty, and carries this murder mystery quite well.

So much fun!

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 12/5/23.

In the Roaring Twenties, Ruby Vaughn’s employer sends her on an errand that takes her to the Cornish countryside, where she decides to drop in on an old friend with whom she has a fraught history. During this visit, the friend’s husband is found dead and brutally mauled. The townsfolk believe an old curse is to blame. Ruby teams up with the local folk healer/witchy man to investigate, and to determine if the murderer is myth or man.

This was an uncorrected galley that I read, and I’m not sure how many of the issues I noticed with grammar and clarity will get fixed before publication of the final version. Sentence structure was odd in many places, and new and surprising pieces of the main character’s history were mentioned throughout the book in ways that implied the reader was already supposed to have been aware of them. For example, it wasn’t until I was well into the book that I understood that Ruby was actually originally from America. Then at some point, her friends asks what she has been up to since they last saw each other during their time together in France, and this was the first indication that she had ever been to France (and also doesn’t align with what we’re otherwise told about Ruby having been present at her friend’s wedding in Cornwall). As you read on you realize that Ruby spent time driving ambulances on the Western Front during the war, but it’s just an awfully confusing and convoluted path to reaching that understanding.

But the mystery at the core of the story was decent, and Ruby was an interesting main character. She was a plucky heroine, but not in the kind of way that might make you roll your eyes when describing how a book tried too hard. A woman who has found her place in the world after traversing something of a bumpy road, Ruby works hard, plays hard, and refuses to dwell on the past. She is seen to have had both male and female romantic relationships (and actually, there was another point of confusion, where her friend’s housekeeper addresses her as “my lover” and Ruby reacts in a way that totally gave me the impression that they had actually hooked up after the wedding and she was just too drunk to remember, but then later on another character who she has just met also calls Ruby “my lover” and so now I think it was just supposed to be a term of…acquaintanceship?)

Ruan Kivell was the second most important character, but honestly I didn’t find him very likable. In the majority of scenes he was in, he was all prickly and in a huff and not always with an obvious reason why, which got kind of annoying.

I don’t think the writing was bad, but it was far from perfect. Some of the plot points were kind of silly, but overall it was fine and fairly original. So while I didn’t love this book, I do think it’s possible with more experience and some polishing, this author’s work could be something worth keeping an eye on.

Thank you the NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC.

I loved the book I loved finding out what happened to Edward, i love how the mc's long time friend believed that it was on a curse and that she was next of course to die. I love how it was a murder mystery had gothic vibes. I loved the book it was a fun read, thank you to netgalley for giving me this arc!

The fact that this is a debut novel blows my mind. This Gothic mystery combines humor, forbidden romance, and a big found family aspect. Everything was so well written, the characters felt real, I felt like I was in 20th century Britain, and the pacing was perfect. I really loved the writing style as it’s written how people talked in the early 1900’s. I would love to go on another adventure with the characters if a sequel is released! Highly recommend this. Can’t wait to read more from this author.

Immediately, I was transported to the 1920’s Cornell countryside and introduced to the MC, Ruby. Ruby is about to go on a mysterious adventure, to a place she vowed not to return to. Ruby is tasked with delivering a truckload of dangerous books (which she must never open). She delivers the books only to find herself seeing an old friend in need, and a murder mystery to solve. Is an old curse involved? Can she help her friend and solve this mystery? With sass, determination, and the help of a new acquaintance, readers are taken on an old world, gothic mystery, that is deserving of the Minotaur Books & Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award. Well written and hard to put down, I highly give this story five of five stars.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this! Overall I found this an enjoyable story. It was mysterious and action packed! There was almost too much going on at a few points that it overwhelmed the goal of the story. But overall I found it enjoyable. I could easily see it becoming a series. I appreciated Ruby as a main character. It was interesting to see a bit of her character progression at the end. I would be intrigued to see how the author moves her forward from here. The line between real and superstition was handled well! Overall a lovely book and a nice read!