Lay Me To Rest by E.A. Clark
Genre: Paranormal/Psychological Mystery
Read: 29th July 2018
Purchase: Amazon
★★★ 3 stars
I wasn't sure what lead me to choose to read LAY ME TO REST as I don't really go for paranormal stories, though I have read two previously - "The Amityville Horror" (the horror being in that it is so poorly written and edited even worse) and "The Secret of Crickley Hall" (which I did quite enjoy). In the end, I did actually enjoy this book BUT....I will come to the "but" later.
LAY ME TO REST is a psychological mystery with a difference. It's about grief, ghosts and secrets. It begins with Annie Phillips, recently widowed and pregnant with her first child. In trying to come to terms with both her pregnancy and the prospect of motherhood on her own as well as dealing with the loss of her husband Graham, she finds herself in somewhat of an emotional mess. So on the recommendation of her sister's work colleague Peter, she travels to a remote cottage in Anglesey, North Wales run by a charming couple reaching their twilight years who live in the larger farmhouse a few 100 metres up from the cottage. The couple, Will and Gwen Parry, are lifelong friends of Peter's who spent childhood summers there and many more when he was older. Upon arrival, Will stirs everyone up with a "ghost story" said to be true, occurring some hundred years before when his great grandparents ran the farm. Despite being a little shocked, Annie remained passive to the story with no belief that it had actually happened. But upon returning to the cottage after dinner that night, she found she wasn't alone there. Something sinister inhabited the walls and almost at once she didn't feel safe.
What ensues is an intriguing mystery with a supernatural flair, as Annie tries to uncover the secrets that lay buried with the help of some locals with a knowledge of the paranormal. They make some progress but that doesn't eliminate the problem - for it soon becomes apparent that there is more than one ghost occupying the remote cottage. And to top it off, it seems that no matter where Annie goes, the ghost is sure to follow.
Without wanting to spoil the story, let's just say it is very atmospheric and and enjoyable easy read. At times creepy yet thrilling and intriguing. You won't want to put it down...
...However - and here comes that BUT I mentioned at the beginning - I think the book would have been best left at the end of this particular story. The reader seems to be lulled into some kind of limbo between the end of the actual story and the beginning the next. I feel the last couple of chapters could have been left out altogether, just ending with the park, the handsome stranger and then the shadow of a girl emerging as he left - leaving THAT as an Epilogue. All the rest which was dragged out into a couple of final chapters just seemed like a whole new story that would have been best left for another book. Let the shadow of the girl Annie saw emerge from the bushes be the ending. That would have been enough to pave the way for a new book and a new story which the last couple of chapters could have been incorporated into. To me, it just felt a little disjointed and superfluous to end such an intriguing story. It only needed the promise of something more in the Epilogue - not a whole emerging story. Those last chapters ruined the book for me, sadly. For apart from that, it was an intriguing tale.
LAY ME TO REST is not really a story I would have picked to read, and again I'm not sure why I did, but I'm glad I did because although it is not my usual genre, it was still enjoyable.
LAY ME TO REST is a psychological mystery with a difference. It's about grief, ghosts and secrets. It begins with Annie Phillips, recently widowed and pregnant with her first child. In trying to come to terms with both her pregnancy and the prospect of motherhood on her own as well as dealing with the loss of her husband Graham, she finds herself in somewhat of an emotional mess. So on the recommendation of her sister's work colleague Peter, she travels to a remote cottage in Anglesey, North Wales run by a charming couple reaching their twilight years who live in the larger farmhouse a few 100 metres up from the cottage. The couple, Will and Gwen Parry, are lifelong friends of Peter's who spent childhood summers there and many more when he was older. Upon arrival, Will stirs everyone up with a "ghost story" said to be true, occurring some hundred years before when his great grandparents ran the farm. Despite being a little shocked, Annie remained passive to the story with no belief that it had actually happened. But upon returning to the cottage after dinner that night, she found she wasn't alone there. Something sinister inhabited the walls and almost at once she didn't feel safe.
What ensues is an intriguing mystery with a supernatural flair, as Annie tries to uncover the secrets that lay buried with the help of some locals with a knowledge of the paranormal. They make some progress but that doesn't eliminate the problem - for it soon becomes apparent that there is more than one ghost occupying the remote cottage. And to top it off, it seems that no matter where Annie goes, the ghost is sure to follow.
Without wanting to spoil the story, let's just say it is very atmospheric and and enjoyable easy read. At times creepy yet thrilling and intriguing. You won't want to put it down...
...However - and here comes that BUT I mentioned at the beginning - I think the book would have been best left at the end of this particular story. The reader seems to be lulled into some kind of limbo between the end of the actual story and the beginning the next. I feel the last couple of chapters could have been left out altogether, just ending with the park, the handsome stranger and then the shadow of a girl emerging as he left - leaving THAT as an Epilogue. All the rest which was dragged out into a couple of final chapters just seemed like a whole new story that would have been best left for another book. Let the shadow of the girl Annie saw emerge from the bushes be the ending. That would have been enough to pave the way for a new book and a new story which the last couple of chapters could have been incorporated into. To me, it just felt a little disjointed and superfluous to end such an intriguing story. It only needed the promise of something more in the Epilogue - not a whole emerging story. Those last chapters ruined the book for me, sadly. For apart from that, it was an intriguing tale.
LAY ME TO REST is not really a story I would have picked to read, and again I'm not sure why I did, but I'm glad I did because although it is not my usual genre, it was still enjoyable.
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