Ghosts, psychics, a mysterious murder, and a missing child … it’s the perfect recipe for a Gothic novel. I’m always on the lookout for new authors who write neo-Gothic tales—stories that continue the legacy of the 18th– and 19th-century genre, yet aimed at modern audiences. The Secrets of Chateau Swansea by R. C. Matthews is the latest book to scratch that itch. Set in the Victorian era, this self-published novel blends mystery and romance in a classic Gothic setting. The book came out just last week and is available as an ebook only.
Maribeth Sommerset is determined to start her career as a psychic investigator, despite protestations from her friends and family that she should focus on finding a husband instead. First, though, she needs to find someone to hire her. When the mistress of Chateau Swansea is found dead on the very day that Maribeth visits the historic estate, it seems to be the perfect opportunity. Aurthur Dunn, the handsome steward of the estate, is reluctant to put his faith in a medium. But if talking to ghosts is what it takes to clear his employer’s name from this grisly murder, that’s what he’ll have to do. But once Maribeth starts investigating, she realizes that the identity of Mrs. Turner’s killer isn’t the only mystery at Chateau Swansea, and she may be more deeply entangled in the history of this haunted home than she knows.
What surprised me about this story so centered on haunted houses and mediums is that the spirits of the deceased actually play an unexpectedly small role in the story. Chateau Swansea is haunted by the spirit of Mr. Turner’s first wife—the famed spiritualist Arabella Brown—and with the recently departed Caroline Turner. But Maribeth only has a handful of encounters with these spirits and comes to find that they have their own agendas and may not be a reliable source of clues. Instead, Maribeth turns her attention the mystery of what happened Arabella’s daughter, who went missing as a child. It turns out that the answer to this mystery may solve the murder case, as well. While I don’t feel that the minimal use of Maribeth’s ability to speak to ghosts subtracted from the story, I did have to adjust my expectations—this is more a straight-up mystery than a supernatural-centric tale.
The novel had a few shortcomings: the writing occasionally feels unpolished and connoisseurs of the Victorian era may find that the dialogue is often not quite period. But the book’s true strength lies in its setting, as is often the case with Gothic novels. Chateau Swansea is a charming estate, complete with an untouched child’s bedroom, a disused seance room, and secret passageways for spying on the parlor. My favorite feature, though, was its most unique: a hedge maze that connects the chateau to the modest home of its steward, Arthur Dunn. The maze serves both as a romantic backdrop to casual strolls between Maribeth and Arthur and as the terrifying scene of a nighttime chase, straight out of a horror movie.
The Secrets of Chateau Swansea was a fun homage to the Gothic for those willing to indulge a few lapses in historical accuracy and literary finesse. It is currently available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Kobo.