The Missing Girls of Alardyce House (The Alardyce Trilogy #1) by Heather Atkinson
Genre: Historical fiction, Historical thriller, Gothic, Victoria Era
Read: 12th June 2022
Published: 15th June 2022
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Edinburgh 1880. When Amy Osbourne’s parents are lost at sea, she is forced to leave her London home and is sent to live with her aunt and uncle at the opposite end of the country.
Alardyce House is depressing and dreary, her aunt haughty and cruel. Amy strikes up a friendship with her cousin Edward but his older brother Henry is just as conceited as his mother, and a mutual loathing develops between him and Amy.
As her weeks of mourning pass, the realisation begins to dawn on Amy that her aunt has designs on her inheritance and the candidate she favours to be her niece’s husband fills Amy with horror. Struggling in this strange, unwelcoming environment, Amy begins to suspect that something isn’t right at Alardyce House.
There are rumours below stairs of a monster on the loose, local women are being brutally attacked and her cousin Henry is the prime suspect. Alardyce House is full of dark secrets and Amy isn’t sure who she can trust…
MY THOUGHTS:
What a delightfully dark historical thriller THE MISSING GIRLS OF ALARDYCE HOUSE is. I really didn't know what to expect, having never read the author before, but the premise was incredibly intriguing. As soon as I started I had the sense of it being an atmospheric gothic tale in the wilds of Scotland. Ok, so Edinburgh is not exactly "the wild Highlands", but the setting of Alardyce House elicits a sense of isolation and malevolence with decidedly creepy undertones. Definitely atmospheric.
Beginning in 1878, Amy Osbourne is sent to live with her maternal uncle and his family at Alardyce House in Edinburgh, until she is of age or has found a husband, after the death of her parents at sea. She warms to her uncle Alfred but finds her aunt Lenora cold and haughty and their oldest son Henry as aloof as his mother. Alardyce House itself, whilst a commanding presence, is dreary and depressing and ruled by her aunt with an iron fist. Her only saving grace is her friendship with the youngest son Edward who is something of a black sheep to the family, with his predilections that he soon confides in Amy, and her maid Nettie. Both of whom warn her of the dangers of getting too close to Henry.
Soon after her arrival, her aunt Lenora decides to marry the girl off quickly so that she could be her husband's problem and no longer their's, and proceeds to host dinner parties in order to parade her for eligible bachelors as if she were a show pony. Amy doesn't appreciate being ambushed but realises she must play along and relent to her aunt's ministrations if not for the sake of peace. After all, she is still in mourning and cannot marry until after her period of mourning is over. When two possible suitors are inevitably found neither of them are deemed worthy and therefore a new plan must be hatched. And that is when aunt Lenora devises her most evil and cunning scheme.
However unbeknownst to the family Amy has had her eye caught by one of the footman, Matthew, who pursues her arduously. And it is here that Amy goes all Lady Chatterley for a time until their secret tryst is discovered. And aunt Lenora inflicts her worst. It is then that Amy's fate has been decided - she is to marry the oldest son and heir to the Alardyce estate, Henry. Amy is horrified. After all that she knows about the unsavoury character and his depraved proclivities, Henry is the last person she wishes to be wedded to. She couldn't think of anything worse. And so, along with Nettie and Edward as her allies, she devises and plan to escape.
Ten years later it's 1888 and Amy is now working as a governess in England having lost her fortune to her uncle of which he was the trustee. She has been highly recommended by a family who are relocating to France to a Esther Huntington who is in need of a governess for her niece Jane, of whom she is responsible for after the deaths of her dear sister and husband. The two women form a friendship almost immediately and Jane flourishes under Amy's guiding hand. Life is good for Amy now and she is happy once again. And then Esther's husband returns...and Amy couldn't be more shocked. How could this be? Will he reveal her true identity? Or has she unwittingly put herself and all she loves at risk?
Amy thought life had improved since her escape from Alardyce House but now she finds that her past has caught up with her and nothing is at all what she had thought. And the lovely family she had been working for turns out to be anything but. But try and try as she might, she cannot escape the clutches that terrorise her now. Is this to be her fate? Is she being punished for her sins? She has but one friend she can run to, if she can make her escape, but is he really?
THE MISSING GIRLS OF ALARDYCE HOUSE, while a little far-fetched at times, was a thoroughly entertaining historical thriller that was atmospheric, sinister and very very dark. The horrors within was something akin to a present day thriller but then again, this was set in the times of Jack the Ripper who was just as depraved as the malevolent characters penned here and even gained a mention in passing as if to emphasise the fact. It most definitely is not for the faint-hearted with some of the descriptions and elements of torture together with the brief albeit vivid depiction of violence.
The characters were very well portrayed, drawn with just enough detail for ambiguity or purpose. Amy was nothing at all like women of the Victorian era should behave, which did give her an air of unlikeability. She was promiscuous from an early age and didn't hide the fact believing it to be quite normal behaviour. That being said it had tarnished her reputation lending her aunt to conniving up ways to rid herself of what she saw as a problem whilst gaining something out of it in the process. Hoisting up her skirts and going all Lady Chatterley with a footman was a decidedly stupid move but Amy showed no real care at the time, that one had to wonder if she brought a lot of her misfortune on herself. But then, the violence that was to come further into the story, she did not. However, Amy certainly didn't do herself any favours with her carry on in her early days at Alardyce House. As for the other stalwart characters in the tale, each had their parts to play and they did so very well.
The twist, when it came, was stealthily done and an even bigger one towards the end turned everything on its head! I was fist-pumping the air because it was as I suspected in the very beginning and then forgot about it...until I didn't. I wasn't surprised but I was still shocked particularly at the lengths of depravity.
A clever well-plotted story that had be intrigued from the start, THE MISSING GIRLS OF ALARDYCE HOUSE is a thoroughly enjoyable gothic tale of secrets and deception that is both atmospheric and deliciously dark. It is also depraved and disturbing. But very addictive. With a fantastically chilling ending that clearly paves the way for the second book.
This is a very difficult book to review because there is so much I want to say but can't! I do recommend you read it yourself. It may be your thing, it may not be. But it is an addictive ride just the same.
I would like to thank #HeatherAtkinson, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheMissingGirlsOfAlardyceHouse in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Heather's tastes in all things are eclectic, which extends to her writing. Although she primarily write crime books - especially gangland thrillers - she also write paranormal, historical romance and fantasy. She publishes on Amazon Kindle and some of her novels are available in paperback too. She has also signed my first traditional publishing contract with Boldwood Books for the gangland Gallowburn series, set in Glasgow. As well as the republication of the Alardyce Trilogy, beginning with "The Missing Girls of Alardyce House".
When she's not writing - which isn't very often - she enjoys reading, especially the Assassin's Creed novels, Agatha Christie, Oscar de Muriel and Edgar Allan Poe, among many others. Heather also enjoys walking, exercising and spending time with her family.
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