The Haunting of Maddy Clare

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James is an exciting, intelligent, creepy ghost story that will keep you engaged until the very end. Essentially, Sarah Piper's life changed the day she accepted the temporary position as an assistant to wealthy Alistair Gellis, a man who documents ghostly manifestations and determines their credibility. Alistair is obsessed with his work, and also uses it as a distraction and a diversion from his war experiences. Sarah is of particular importance in this case because the ghost to be documented hated men during her life and continues to do so in the after-life. Sarah who has never felt important or essential, begins to evolve and eventually desires a new life, different from the lonely existence that she was rescued from. Maddy Clare, the ghost in question, was a mystery in life as well as death. She arrived on the doorstep of the Clare's residence, 12 years old, beaten and abused, covered in mud, without shoes, and unable to speak with the exception of her first name. After attempting to locate the girl's family, to no avail, the girl was taken into the household, cared for, and assisted as a servant in the home. Maddy acted out at times, and flew into violent rages. She subsequently hung herself in the barn, but remained in the barn haunting it. Mrs. Clare has called in Alistair and his team to force Maddy to leave. Matthew Ryder, Alistair's assistant, who also is a war veteran and suffering from his military experiences, who also has an obsession with ghosts and who is Alistairs long-time friend, returns to help with the documentation. How the characters interact with one another, and bond with one another through their experiences is very interesting. It was a great story and very different from anything that I have ever read.

After trying and failing to get into any of the novels I've picked up recently, I decided to read something different and started 'The Haunting of Maddy Clare' which is a bit out of my norm. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised and found this to be a fascinating debut, though it fell slightly short of perfect. Miss St. James has huge potential however, and I've already bought another of her books which I can't wait to receive. The story takes place in 1922 England and is told in the first person from the viewpoint of Sarah Piper, the heroine of said story. She is hired as a temporary assistant by Alistair Gellis, a ghost hunter and author who investigates and records the sites of supposed hauntings. The story centers around Sarah, Alistair, Matthew Ryder (the assistant who Sarah was replacing) and of course, the malevolent spirit of nineteen-year-old Maddy Clare who committed suicide. Well, I was expecting this to be a mystery but its also a bit of a romance, since there's a relationship (of sorts) between Sarah and Matthew, not to mention a love interest for Alistair. The writing and pacing were both great, and this intriguing tale pulled me in from the very beginning and held my interest throughout. I was so anxious to find out what would happen next, I literally read this book in every spare second I could find. With that being said, while I did like all three of the lead characters, I never felt truly connected to any of them for some reason. At turns chilling and creepy, but also heartbreaking when you discover what happened to a twelve-year-old Maddy, this story sucked me in. I did find the perpetrators predictable but this fact didn't ruin my enjoyment in any way. In the end it was a dark and intense read that was thoroughly captivating and one I'd definitely recommend!

I think this is my favorite Simone St. James book so far. You want creepy?! Holy heck, does this book have it! Favorites would be the scene where Sarah first goes into the barn and hears the noises six feet behind her(and OMG, Simone has set that seen up fantastically!!!) and where Maddy visits Sarah in her room in the bed (ala The Ring!). I have got to say that I gasped more than once and was definitely checking dark corners while reading this. I really enjoyed the romance in this one. The last two of her books I enjoyed it also, but there seemed to be something special here. The intensity of the feelings between Sarah and Matthew was something else. I could almost feel the sexual tension and desperate holding onto each other coming off my Kindle screen. I liked how they each balanced each other out, too. Sarah seemed like the healing factor Matthew needed after the war, and Matthew made Sarah feel attractive and worth something as a woman. Just lovely... This book is definitely one to look into if you're in the mood for a romantic, creepy story set in the 1920's. It's got emotional pull and enough thrills to keep you up late into the night. If I was going to recommend any Simone St. James novels, it'd be this one. It's just cemented my adoration for her as a writer. Onto the next when it comes out in 2015!

I,'ve always loved a good ghost story, and the premise of this one is intriguing and well written. Set in the early twentieth century just after WWI, temp worker, Sarah Piper, is interviewed and hired by handsome, personable Allistair Gellis, an author and investigator of the paranormal in need of a temporary replacement for his assistant, Matthew Ryder, who is attending to personal business. In need of funds to pay her rent, Sarah reluctantly agrees to accompany Allistair to Waringstoke, the location of his latest investigation - the man hating ghost of a servant girl who hung herself in her employer's barn - even though the idea of meeting a dead soul repulses her. The story that follows is both a ghost and detective tale, as Allistair, Sarah and Matthew attempt to piece together the mystery of the ghost named Maddie. I found the dialogue (which has been criticised by some reviewers) to be mostly in keeping with the time period, though some terms (apartment instead of flat and town instead of village are two examples that come to mind) are more American than English; but I do not believe these minor flaws detract from the story. My only criticism is more a matter of my taste regarding the sexual encounters between two of the main characters. I am not a fan of erotica, and I found the detailed descriptions (several pages worth) to be unnecessary to the story and ended up skimming past them. Fortunately there were only two instances of this, however, and I found both the plot and character development interesting enough to look past it. If you are looking for a good period mystery with a ghostly theme, this one is worth checking out.

Wish it wasn’t first-person, though the character development of the others was quite good. The mystery wasn’t all that difficult and it was a bit slow developing, but totally engaging (if that makes sense). The writing is excellent. Some niggles pulled me out of the story. Hard to say without spoilers, but I did find the heroine’s previous casual sexual encounters unsettling and out of tune with the times. I understand that the author didn’t want the heroine to be a virgin. Fine, but casual sex without any type of birth control couldn’t possibly have been that common, and our heroine doesn’t come off in the least bit slutty. What do they call people who practice the “pull-out” method? Parents. Not valid birth control. I couldn’t quite get over that. And there were some other such things that bothered me throughout the book, in spite of the excellent writing. Ending tied everything up nicely, if not wholly convincingly for me. Not a romance, but the romantic element is fairly strong (though slow-building) and does contain sex. The horror element was excellently executed.

Good book! I generally don’t love storylines based in times like 1920’s but this was fitting and I read the whole thing with proper British internal monologue😆 Spooky good read. Sundown Motel > this one for me personally, but both 4+ to 5 ⭐️ !!

Book's Physical Condition: The book arrived in good condition. It was brand new which is what I ordered. I didn't notice any ripped pages, scuffing, or any other imperfections on it. There also weren't any misprints, missing pages, or other errors as I was reading the story either. Book Review: I believe this book is now the fourth book I’ve read by this author and another one I thoroughly enjoyed. This has become one of my auto-buy authors and I have yet to find a book of hers that I don’t like. Her books are always reliable if you’re looking for a good spooky read in a book that acknowledges the paranormal. The way the haunting manifested was so interesting too. I haven’t seen it displayed like that before in a book and it added to the eerie vibes of it all. The story behind the haunting though was rather dark and sad. I didn’t expect it to go that route, but I appreciate the author for only referencing the violence and not giving us too much graphic detail as to what took place. It still may be a little hard for some people to read, but as I mentioned, it’s not graphic so it shouldn’t necessarily cause a problem. <spoiler> Although if I’m being honest, if I was Sarah, I wouldn’t have even gone through the trouble of trying to save the sick bastards. They deserved everything they had coming and the only one who deserved peace was Maddy. That was entirely too much trauma for a twelve year old girl to go through. </spoiler> I did like that the author broke away from their normal structure of multiple POV and an alternating timeline of past and present. The three previous books I read were like that, even though the storylines were all different. It’s nice to have a change of pace and it worked so much better for the way this particular story played out as well. Maddy’s story also wasn’t the only tragedy in this book either. Each character had their own devastation that plagued their lives and brought them together. The more we found out about their pasts the more I felt for them. I loved the romance side more than I thought I would. Realistically it probably would’ve been mad if you considered the short time with which it transpired, but I can also understand there weren’t exactly normal circumstances either. I did really like the fact of how much Sarah accepted Matty’s scars, even when he didn’t want them to be seen. I don’t know what it was about it, but from that first awkward moment in the washroom, I was rooting for them. Even with Matthew’s more grumpy temperament, it was funny and sweet to see the way he opened up with Sarah. <spoiler> Although when it comes to that first night he came to her room, I kinda had mixed feelings about it. I get it was supposed to be that “Finally!” moment where they finally get together, but the creepy way he came into her room and the way he left just kinda ruined it for me. Granted be, the second time finally got rid of that ick feeling, it still just didn’t work for me the way it was intended to. </spoiler> I was even rooting for Alistair’s love too because he was such a sweetheart that deserved so much more happiness. The one thing that kept this book from being a five stars for me is that I guessed all of the big reveals and plot twists. I wouldn’t say they were extremely obvious, but it also wasn’t too hard to put together if you paid enough attention. Although, with that being said, even guessing what could happen didn’t take the fun out of reading it. I still didn’t know how things would play out once we got to those moments, so the curiosity and suspense kept me hooked. I think this is now my new second favorite book by this author and I will continue to read more of their books. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

While I did not get all the spooky books read I wanted to this season, this was the perfect one to wrap up the month! Set in the 1920s, Sarah Piper is sent through her temp agency to help a wealthy war veteran, Alistair Gellis, who enjoys ghost hunting and needs a feminine touch on his next endeavor. Young Maddy Clare, just 19 when she hung herself in a barn, has been haunting the family ever since. She’s become increasingly hostile and the family wants her out once and for all. But she did not like men when she was alive and most definitely does not in the afterlife. Will she connect with Sarah and leave the family in the end? This was such a great ghost story. The townspeople are all very suspicious and it seems they want to keep Maddy’s secrets buried. Eerie and sad, it gave me chills in the best way. I found myself wanting to uncover the truth as much as the ghost hunters!