This book was just…fine? I rate a lot of the books I read 3 ⭐️ for what’s it worth. This is weird but I don’t feel like the cover was the best choice, it just doesn’t flow with everything? There are so many other choices. It was definitely a quick read, but I didn’t find myself devouring it as I’d hoped to.

First time reading Anne Wyn Clark book and definitely wont be the last. Really enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing.

Many library patrons will love this book. It wasn't really for me, but we will buy it. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Anne Wyn Clark is an auto-buy author.
Her books are rich in Gothic atmosphere and mystery, and The Cottage in the Ruins is no exception.

The setting alone is so rich in character. The ruins of a cathedral is the perfect place setting for this story, which follows Georgia and her daughter, Minnie. Georgia is grieving the death of her husband. Or at least some form of grief is at place considering he was controlling and prone to shady business practices. But at least she has his money to help with the sadness. All that money, though, can't help Georgia with the empty nest syndrome she's experiencing since her daughter left for college. The loss of her daughter's companionship is even more unbearable than the loss of her husband. When Georgia decides to move closer to her daughter, tensions between the two rise and secrets from the past are revealed.

Georgia is definitely a bit unhinged, and it made me questions a lot of her actions and motives. I was expecting the story to go in a completely different direction and was pleasantly surprised by all the reveals.

This story (as with all her stories) has a nice Gothic Bronte vibe with a slow burn mystery at its center. If that sounds appealing to you, give this book a read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Georgia moves into a cottage to be nearer to her daughter after her husbands death.

She feels as though she is being watched but is she paranoid or are old sins and secrets about to be uncovered.

Georgia is an unlikeable character but I think this was intentional on the authors telling of the story and it's one I really enjoyed.

It is a little OTT but as the story progressed I found myself more absorbed. I couldn;t wait to see how it all came together.

This book didnt disappoint me and I enjoyed my reading time

After the tragic death of her husband and feeling empty nest syndrome, Georgia moves to an old cottage to be nearer daughter Minnie. She feels as though she's being watched and that her past is creeping up behind her.
I have loved this authors previous books, the mystery and intruige, but sadly this one didn't grab my attention as much. I didn't particularly like Georgia's character, I get she's upset that Minnie has left home but she was overbearing and over protective. We kept hearing about Georgia's past but it wasn't until the last quarter that all the pieces fell into place. Before that I was wondering what each characters purpose was. However, despite not being my favourite book it won't stop me reading further novels by her

First of all (and this is not related to the book itself), but the cover is not my favorite. Mainly the fact that the title of the book is blurry. If I were to see this book in a store, I would likely skip over it based on that fact alone. In fact, had I seen a full-sized version of it, I wouldn't have requested it to review. Because yes, I do judge a book by its cover.

That being said, this is the third time that I have read something by this author and I realize now that they are just not for me. The blurbs are always excellently written, making you want to pick up the story and jump right in, but the stories themselves always seem to suffer from the same basic problems:

1. Over the top characters who either add nothing to the plot or are completely unlikeable (sometimes both).
2. Weird sub-plots that make no sense and are never explained/explored or are just forgotten about entirely.
3. Elements that are supposed to be supernatural and/or foreboding, but fall flat.

That being said, let's jump right into to this one shall we?

First we have the unlikable, Georgia, who is a paranoid piece of work (the irony of the fact her home was called Cuckoo Cottage was not lost on me), who cannot seem to grasp the fact that her daughter growing up and wants some freedom. YES, Georgia has a secret to hide, but that does not excuse all of the weird things she does. For example, she doesn't sell the home she once shared with her husband and daughter, but instead just rents a cottage far away... which happens to be very close to where her daughter Minnie is living. She not only calls Minnie almost every day, but she also just randomly shows up at the house her daughter shares with her roommates. Despite Minnie making it more than obvious that she doesn't want her there.

Then we have the 'adds nothing to the plot characters'; which I'm sad to say is the rest of the cast. I never really got the sense that we knew any of them in a way that makes them stand out (not even Minnie which is odd considering she was the second POV this story was narrated from). Although, to be honest, I am still trying to figure out what role Jethro Jackson was supposed to play considering he only seemed to show up now and then and when he did, it didn't make sense. I get it, he was supposed to be a villain and a slumlord, but when push comes to shove, he was a nobody meant to up the word count.

That brings me to the weird sub-plots as Jethro was definitely the main one. You see, we're told that he's a jerk. We're told he "roughs up" people who can't pay their rent. Heck, we even have a front row seat to Georgia finding something incriminating against the man. (in the brick wall of her bookcase, and yes this is important). We are told how she decides to turn the evidence in because she is dismayed that the police don't have a letterbox she can post her envelop through (which I thought was weird in itself), but anyway. She leaves said envelop on the first desk she finds and leaves. It is mentioned later on that Jethro has "left town" for a bit, but that he has someone in the police department who will "take care of it".

Yet later on, when Georgia decides to move out of the cottage, the evidence is suddenly back in her house in the hidey hole? And she contemplates turning it in after she leaves? Even weirder is that at the very end of the story, Minnie finds other evidence, not hidden within the brick wall (see I said it was important), but under a loose floorboard in the bedroom when the floorboards have never been loose?

And don't even get me started on the weird "sightings" Georgia supposedly had. I still don't know if those were the real deal, or a product of her ever-growing paranoia.

One final thing that I noticed in this book were some weird formatting bits, one major inconsistency in the plot itself and a couple of sentences that made no sense. Now keep in mind, I did read an Advanced Copy of this book, HOWEVER, I pride myself on my integrity to my followers, and since I have no way of knowing if these things were corrected or not I feel it is my duty to mention them.

The first of the formatting issues may just be because I'm old and have never used whatsapp, but the text in the story reads as follows

[display text message] Have to check my calendar [/text message].

There are a couple of instances later on where in the middle of two paragraphs there is not only a line break, but the following also appears

[line break]

It made me curious as to whether or not these were notes added by an editor or copywriter that just weren't corrected? What to me was more concerning is the fact that not only was a major plot-point seemingly forgotten about (as already mentioned), but also towards the end, the following passages made it into the book:

"Detective Sergeant are considering the Navpreet Gill, possibility that the speaking on behalf of Warwickshire CID is urging anyone with information...."

and

"It has murder of Ms.Trelawney may be linked to those deaths...."

It seems to me that the editor may want to take another quick pass through this one before it goes live.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

I absolutely love this author's books—they're so addictive! Georgia is starting a new chapter in her life after her husband passes away and her daughter heads off to university. Then, the anonymous letters begin. She decides to leave her big, cold house and move closer to her daughter. She rents an old cottage, gets a job at a pub, and then strange things start happening. Georgia feels like she's being watched. It's so good, with plenty of twists and turns, and very creepy—I highly recommend it!

I was unable to finish this novel. It was well written but I could not get into the characters or plot.

Last year, I was fortunate to read "The Shadows of Hill Manor" by Anne Wyn Clark, which proved to be an intriguing mystery, mixing the elements of the police procedural genre into a tale of mystery fears.
So, I'm delighted to read and review the latest novel from the author, ""The Cottage in the Ruins" which is set largely in Coventry. As in the previous book, our storyline has two timelines: we open in November 1995, with Detective Sargent (DS) Cora Peters interviewing a young child about the tragic arson attack on a family home, leading to the deaths of three members of the same family. Our second timeline is in 2022, where we move between September and November, 2022. This latter timeline is where the focus on the story takes place. Our protagonist is Georgia, a recent widow, who moves to Coventry to be closer to be daughter and soon discovers that she cannot escape her past.
There are plenty of spooky moments in the storyline, where the reader is left to wonder if there really is a ghostly influence and just how reliable are the events as narrated by Georgia.
This is a dark but entertaining read and one that I wholly recommend.

A fresh start? Or the beginning of the end?
After she finds her husband drowned in a swimming pool, Georgia moves to a cottage nestled behind the ruins of Coventry Cathedral so she can be close to her daughter. This should be a new beginning. New job, new friends, a brighter future. But strange things start to happen. Feeling watched and under threat, Georgia begins to realise that she can’t run from the past. And somebody knows what she did…. Good thriller! This book for some reason took me a bit to get through?! I kept coming back to it! In the end it was a good read! It had suspense, murder, mystery, and a few jaw dropping moments! The storyline was interesting! Thank you NetGalley and Avon books UK for sharing this book with me!

Very interesting thriller, great twist at the end or was it. Thank you netgalley for the advance copy