The Sin Eater
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The sins of the past break through to the present in this chilling tale of supernatural suspense.
When Benedict Doyle finds himself the owner of his great-grandfather's North London house, it stirs memories of his time there as a frightened eight-year-old and the strange glimpses that revealed the darkness in his family's past—through which runs the grisly thread of an old legend about a chess set believed to possess a dark power. And when Michael Flint, meeting Benedict in Oxford, starts to research his story, chilling facts begin to emerge—facts that suggest the old legend contains a disturbing reality. Could the chess set's malevolence be reaching out to the present?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rayne follows Property of a Lady with another strong take on classic ghost stories. Once again, antiques dealer Nell West and her paramour, Oxford don Michael Flint, are drawn into a haunted house investigation when Nell is hired by Benedict Doyle to catalogue the house he's inherited. Benedict is visited by the ghost of his great-grandfather, Declan, who was cursed when he agreed to be the titular absolver of sins for a disgraced priest killed by his friend Colm. Also in the mix is a chess set said to be cursed by the devil. Rayne expertly juggles academic research, multiple flashbacks, a series of twisted murders, and even some humor (much of it surrounding the cat Wilberforce), combining them into a fast-moving tale that recalls the gothic movement without aping it. The twists are often as melancholy as they are sudden, and the seriousness of Colm and Declan's long-past adventures partner nicely with Nell and Michael's developing relationship.
