This is more than an historical crime novel, as Andrew Taylor, also paints a lively picture of Cambridge and one of its colleges in 1786 when the events occur. John Holdsworth, and impoverished London bookseller, is engaged by Lady Anne Oldershaw to investigate the belief that her son, Frank, that he has seen a ghost. This experience has lead to him being taken into a doctor’s care in Cambridge. During the course of his enquiries, Holdsworth has to face his own past as there are parallels with the events surrounding Frank. Interwoven, are the contrasting social and financial circumstances of most of the privileged college students and their tutors with those of their servants. This makes for a vivid backdrop to Holdsworth’s efforts to unravel the truth in what is a highly entertaining and enjoyable book.

I wanted to enjoy this book, and I stuck with it in the hopes that the story would get better, but unfortunately it just wasn't my cup of tea. None of the characters were particularly agreeable and the story played out in a fairly predictable manner. The concept is great, and I love historical/academic-y fiction, but this just fell flat. ( )

My actual rating for Andrew Taylor’s novel is 3.5 stars, and 5 stars for the narration of the audio edition by John Telfer.

Taylor’s novel, set in the late 1700’s at a fictional college in England, is almost Dickenson-like fraught with numerous colorful characters, and close attention paid to period detail.

While I wouldn’t say it was a suspenseful page-turner, it did hold my attention, and the ending was a surprise. I would absolutely recommend the audio version as Telfer does an amazing job with all of the different voices. He is much like Jim Dale, in that you know what character is speaking just by his voice. I think the book may have lagged a bit if I had actually read it rather listened to it.

The conclusion of the book seemed to lend itself to perhaps a sequel? If so I would want to check it out, especially if it were on audio read by Telfer. ( )

After the deaths of his infant son and his wife in separate drowning accidents in London, John Holdsworth is glad to accept the offer of employment by Lady Oldershaw to investigate the possible sighting of a ghost by her son, a resident undergraduate at Jerusalem College, Cambridge. Little does he know that amid the tranquillity lie power struggles and intrigues, and that it is not only the dead who have the power to haunt a person.

If, like me, you picked up this novel expecting it to be a ghost story in the original sense (i.e. infused with the supernatural) in a historical setting, then be warned: the title and the blurbers' comments on the front and back covers give quite the wrong impression; this is a historical mystery holding up a magnifying glass to 18th-century society, and it is debatable whether anything paranormal does indeed take place as the book explores how people and events from the past can haunt someone – and even the living. Andrew Taylor once again manages to effortlessly create the atmosphere of a bygone age, along with its inhabitants, sights, sounds, smells, conventions and manners. It moves along at a slow pace, and it becomes apparent that several layers are woven through the narrative, which are worth exploring in a second reading now that the ending is known, though one important question remains unanswered. There are unexpected gems hidden among the prose, and even though the novel is well crafted, it leaves behind a slight sense of dissatisfaction. ( )

Meh. Disappointment. ( )