The House on Cold Hill

The House on Cold Hill by Peter James

Published by Macmillan

8th October 2015

Hardback Edition

 

Moving from the heart of Brighton and Hove to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for Ollie and Caro Harcourt and their twelve-year-old daughter Jade. But when they view Cold Hill House - a huge, dilapidated Georgian mansion - Ollie is filled with excitement. Despite the financial strain of the move, he has dreamed of living in the country since he was a child, and he sees Cold Hill House as a paradise for his animal-loving daughter, the perfect base for his web-design business and a terrific long-term investment. Caro is less certain, and Jade is grumpy about being separated from her friends.

Within days of moving in, it becomes apparent that the Harcourt family aren't the only residents of the house. A friend of Jade's is the first to see the spectral woman, standing behind her as the girls talk on FaceTime. Then there are more sightings, as well as increasingly disturbing occurrences in the house. As the haunting becomes more malevolent and the house itself begins to turn on the Harcourts, the terrified family discover Cold Hill House's dark history, and the horrible truth of what it could mean for them . . .

This is a stand-alone novel by Peter James and it's certainly a haunting tale.  I read it in a day as I couldn't put it down!  It's a tense, and spookily haunting tale, that will send chills down your spine, so don't read it alone, in a dark, and eerie house!

Ollie and Caro Harcourt put everything they have financially into buying Cold Hill House in Sussex.  It's a Georgian mansion that requires a lot of updating but it's a dream come true for the couple, and their young children.  What they don't know is that Cold Hill House has had many an owner over the years, but none of them have actually ever managed to leave the property alive!

Neither of the adults discuss their suspicious feelings about the supernatural aspects of their house and each of the Harcourt's are disturbed in very different ways once they have moved in.  It appears that whomever, or whatever haunts the walls of the house is not a happy spirit and the family may not be safe within their own home.

The villagers are all keen to offer advice, but it's difficult to know whom to believe, especially when the person you are talking to might not actually still be living!  From beds that move in the night, to emails that can't possibly have been sent, Cold Hill House is not a house you would want to have brought.  However, for the Harcourt's, it might not be a decision that is so easy to reverse, no matter how much they may eventually want to!

 

A perfect Hallowe'en read.

Happy Reading

 

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