• Title: The Secrets of Colchester Hall
  • Author: Sophie Barnes
  • Date Reviewed on GoodReads: 7/11/2021

**Spoiler Alert** The Secrets of Colchester Hall is a ghost story wrapped in a romance shell. Two years after the mysterious death of his first wife, Viscount Randolph Sterling realizes he really better get on with finding himself a new wife who can produce an heir for him. He invites six women to his manor house for a week, hoping to find himself a new wife. Yes, it's Regency The Bachelor.

Angelica is one of the six women. And even she notices that she and the others are not the belles of the ball. Each woman has been passed over for one reason or another: too plain, too shy, too spoiled, etc. Lady Angelica herself is a bit older, and she is very forthright and opinionated. It's not a bad thing, but most men she's met during the Season have wanted a woman who will parrot the expected answer instead of the honest one. However, Viscount Sterling and Lady Angelica hit it off almost immediately upon meeting and they have a spark. He even likes her honest and forthright critiques of the food at the first dinner he serves and the decoration style of the manor house.

So the issue isn't really one of a couple that is destined for each other but faces difficulties (including one or both parties not realizing how perfect they are for each other). Rather, the issue is that Lady Angelica is being haunted by the viscount's dead wife. First, it's a sense of someone being behind her, but there is no one there. Then, it's cold spots, and Angelica herself feeling ice cold. Angelica tries to find out what is going on (at first she has no idea it's the viscount's wife who is haunting her or even that there is a ghost at all). Bit by bit she learns more and more, while also being courted by a very eligible viscount.

I loved the atmosphere and the characters in this story. It's a very short story, just 113 pages per Amazon, but the length is perfect. Angelica and Randolph fall for each other immeditely and we quickly see why the other women aren't suitable, without any scenes of cruelty or pranks. Angelica even befriends Lucy, another of the candidate women, and probably second in the running. Lucy has a friend at home she admires, and whom she would probably no doubt like to marry. This means Angelica can pursue Randolph without guilt.

The mystery of just what is going on with Lady Angelica is well-handled too. It's told in bits and bits as more and more strange things happen to Angelica. She even gets Randolph to tell her the full story of what happened to his wife. It's a satisfying and well-written ghost story.

That the story is atmospheric goes without saying. I could practically feel the cold, dark manor, with its grey stone, oil lamps, and candles. And the characters are brilliantly brought to life.

I loved this story and I would really, really like to read more stories set in similar atmospheric situations by the same author, because this was brilliant. The Secrets of Colchester Hall is a stand-out gothic romance and I highly recommend it.

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