The Whispering Muse: The most spellbinding gothic novel of the year, packed with passion and suspense

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The muse whispers into the ear of Caeneus, once an argonaut questing for the golden fleece, now second mate on a 1940s Danish merchant vessel schlepping paper pulp to Turkey. Each evening at dinnertime he tells tales of his 3,000-year-old experiences, prompted by the voice inside a rotten fragment of the Argo's hull, which he holds to his ear like a telephone receiver. Long-term fans of Sjón, the Icelandic bard whose projects have included lyrics for Björk, volumes of surrealist poetry and several prizewinning novels, will recognise this trademark interweaving of myth and postmodern playfulness. Were you always a fan of ghost stories when you were growing up? And who are your favourite spooky writers?

Gangbuster: One Man’s Battle Against Crime, Corruption, and the Klan, by Alan Prendergast (Citadel)* The threat and presence of Melpomene – well I didn’t know much about this but I did wait until after the novel to research it and wow, so much to learn and investigate. I feel Laura must have had some fun researching all of this. LAURA: I was a bit of a wimp as I child and remember hiding behind the sofa for many scenes in the Ghostbusters films! But I got into R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps series and Point Horror as I neared my teens, progressing on Gothic literary classics like The Phantom of the Opera and Wuthering Heights. Okay, let's start with the main character, Jenny. She is just such a delight. It may feel at first like a familiar story, a Victorian orphan having to work in service to look after her younger siblings, including a handicapped brother, Jenny has lost her position and fallen on hard times after her older brother ran off with anything of value he could get his hands on. She does what she needs to do to look after her family, with such a fiercely protective instinct. But what I love most about Jenny is her attitude. She takes absolutely no shit off anybody and it is such a joy to watch. She's sarcastic, cutting, mean even, but somehow never comes across as an unpleasant or unsympathetic character. She's just someone who stands up for herself and tells people what she thinks, and for someone in her position in society, with so much at risk, that comes across as incredibly brave and bold. It also doesn't feel anachronistic, and that may be due in part to the theatre setting, typically outside of societal norms, and also because she's very clever about it. She knows when to toe the line, and is often careful about what she says to Mrs Drury in particular, when she holds power over her, but also knows when she can get away with flashing her attitude.

The Morgue

When Jenny is offered the job of dressing the heroine of Mercury theatre by Mrs Dyer, the wife of the owner, she has every reason to be grateful. Jenny's brother Greg had a bad parting with The Mercury and Jenny is struggling to make ends meet and care for her three younger siblings. This opportunity is a god's gift, and so what if Mrs Dyer wants Jenny to spy on the leading lady Lilith? But as the story progresses, Jenny realises that she has bitten more than she can chew and is soon hanging between the two women, in turn liking and hating both these complicated characters. And then there's the muse and her curse which Jenny feels is destroying Lilith as well as The Mercury. But what can a lowly dressmaker do but watch them all burn? Unable to refuse and eternally grateful for the position of dresser to Lilith Erikson, Jennifer soon learns there's more to the situation. Mrs Dyer explains that her husband has been bewitched by the woman, and Jennifer is to keep a close eye on her. The reader is thrust straight into the social politics of the theatre, and additional meaning and nuance is communicated in the different plays the characters stage throughout this historical fiction masterpiece. Lilith, the lead actress is desperate to have a taste of the good life, to become an actress so ethereal, so beloved, that people will adore her for eternity. Enter Melpomene and with a pact firmly in place, Lilith soon becomes infamous yet she must remember the shadow that begins to turn her world darker will only make her more and more hungry for things beyond her reach, even when those around Lilith try to warn her about what lurks in the shadows.

This was a fun, gothic read set in a Victorian theatre. I loved all the atmosphere and references to classic tragedies during this novel and the scene setting was vivid and colourful. Deliciously creepy, riveting and full of heart with compelling characters and brilliant twists ... glitteringly dark and mesmerising' Jennifer Saint, Sunday Times bestselling author of Ariadne and Elektra Purcell’s prose is wonderfully precise, from the onset there is an easily immersive flow to Jenny’s first person narration, compelling us to learn more about her life and of those she meets along the way. However as the novel progresses the prose fittingly becomes lyrical, atmospheric and razor sharp when the more unsettling scenes play out.The Riders Come Out at Night: Brutality, Corruption, and Cover-Up in Oakland, by Ali Winston and Darwin Bondgraham (Atria)* Following a format I’ve used with previous quarterly rolls, books marked below with an asterisk (*) are non-fiction, while the remainder are either novels or collections of short stories. Atmospheric, gripping, absorbing - The Whispering Muse is another Gothic triumph from Laura Purcell. It's deliciously creepy, riveting and full of heart with compelling characters and brilliant twists. The theatrical setting and use of the tragedies on stage that are woven expertly into the unfolding story is glitteringly dark and mesmerising -- Jennifer Saint, Sunday Times bestselling author of ARIADNE and ELEKTRA The Whispering Muse is atmospheric, sinuous and darkly enchanting. One of my favourite things about this novel is how the theatre business was depicted: shifting and duplicitous. Nothing is ever as it seems on the surface, and people are alarmingly adept at twisting and changing their personalities to best suit their interests. Just like Purcell's other novels, the supernatural elements in this one are there to serve as a reminder of the evil in human nature - jealousy, greed and ambition - and how it can ultimately lead to ruin.