Summary from GoodReads:

The year is 1856, and orphan Abigail Tamper lives below stairs in Greave Hall, a crumbling manor house in London. Lord Greave is plagued by madness, and with his son Samuel away fighting in the Crimea, the running of Greave Hall is left to Mrs Cotton, the tyrannical housekeeper. The only solace for the beleaguered staff is to frighten Mrs Cotton by pretending the house is haunted.

So when a real ghost makes an appearance – that of her beloved mother – no one is more surprised than Abi. But the spirit has a revelation that threatens to destroy Abi’s already fragile existence: she was murdered, and by someone under their very own roof. With Samuel returned to England badly wounded, it’s up to Abi to nurse him back to health, while trying to discover the identity of the killer in their midst. As the chilling truth dawns, Abi’s world is turned upside down.

My Review:

I have a love/hate relationship with ghost stories.  I love the thrill I get from reading them, and I hate the “over the shoulder” compulsion I get.  I do not like spooky things, so I read The Poisoned House by the light of the day.

What I got was pure entertainment.  No, the story wasn’t really anything knew and I guessed at the outcome about 1/3rd of the way through the book, but still – I wanted to read because I was being entertained, spooked and it felt good.  I loved the atmosphere of the house, the cast of characters and the Cinderella feel that Abi had.

So while the book really didn’t have much that I could go on and on about, it did provide me with a fun few hours of enjoyment and, really, isn’t that what you want from a good ghost story?

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