As the first in the Great Tew series by author, Frederick Petford, The Ghosts of Passchendaele kept me hanging on every word.
Set in the backdrop of the bloody aftermath of the first world war, Frederick weaves a supernatural tale of political intrigue, a murder investigation, a mother’s love for her deceased son, and the effects of war on a man of the cloth.
Claire Spense, the Dowager Lady Langford, sent two of her three sons to the war, and only one returned. She wages war of her own against the government’s decision to inter the British fallen in foreign graves and loses. Not content with the outcome, and still grieving heavily, she enlists the help of her youngest son, Edward, to bring her son home.
Edward returned from the front with an uncanny new talent – he can see dead people. It’s not a talent he relishes, and thinks he is going insane. He denounces his faith and refuses to go back to his priestly duties, finds himself embroiled in the investigation of the murder of a returned soldier, and is coerced by his mother to rob his brother’s grave in France to bring his brother home. Flung into the mix is his growing attraction to the Innes Knox, a lass from Glasgow who has taken up a doctor’s post at the cottage hospital.
The Ghosts of Passchendaele takes us from the sleepy Oxfordshire village of Great Tew, to London, and across the channel to Chambrai, France, unravelling the mysteries as we go. Frederick’s book is well-edited and fast-paced with believable dialogue relevant to the era in which the story is set. He has a good set of characters – perhaps too many to do them all justice. I wasn’t sure who was the main character in the story and wondered if perhaps it was the village itself, or at the very least, the Langford Estate. Some minor characters have a strong part to play, examples being Eve Dance, the local wise woman who still follows the old religion, and Burrows, the village constable.
Other characters are just as memorable, such as Laura Bessing, the barmaid who plots to capture the heart of the constable and Tirrold, the barman at the Black Horse. Frederick weaves an intricate plot with many twists and turns to keep you on your toes, and yet the story is simple enough to follow along. I thoroughly enjoyed this supernatural thriller and award this book 5 stars.
By Phoebe Wilby
