The After-Death of Caroline Rand by Catherine Cavendish

I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and Anne from Random Things Tours for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for fair and honest review

Publisher - Flame Tree Press

Published - Out now

Price - £9.95 paperback £3.82 Kindle eBook

At a weekend house-party at ancient Canonbury Manor, Alli is caught between fantasy and reality, past and present, in the life of Caroline Rand, a famous singer from the late Sixties, who reportedly killed herself in that house. Alli soon learns that evil infests the once-holy building. A sinister cabal controls it, as it has for centuries. Before long, her fate will be sealed, and she will learn about her role in the after-death of Caroline Rand.

The haunted house is a stalwart of horror stories. Strange family history, weird sightings and ghosts are what we expect because we’ve seen it from The Haunting of Hill House to Scooby Doo. But it is always great when a story aims for something a bit different and in Catherine Cavendish’s eerie tale The After-Death of Caroline Rand we get a tale that offers a compelling mystery that has a really effective and unusual approach.

Alli is feeling lost. Her high flying job ceased when the company went into administration and she has slowly been getting bored in her London flat and realising how her social life is non-existent. She is therefore a little desperate when the offer of a sixties themed weekend with an old school friend named Nancy at a stately home is offered and so Alli finds herself in the countryside meeting someone she has not seen since they were teenagers.

But Canonbury Manor has a famous previous owner in the form of 60s singer Caroline Rand, minor star known for one particular song, and who died tragically just a few years ago. Alli and the other guest Ric soon find Nancy has been experiencing strange events every night, ones that now cast Alli under their spell and the mystery of Caroline Rand binds them all together.

I found this a really refreshing haunted house tale as rather than simply the traditional ghosts and bumps in the night the tale has a unsettling fluidity on the form of sudden timeshifts as Alli finds herself transported in space and time to key moments in Caroline’s life.

Cavendish merges the traditional manor with a past with a focus on a recent individual which feels a newer idea. It also allows the story to shift location from a standard English creepy Manor House to 1960s Lauren Canyon in California the home of various famous singers like Mama Cass, The Monkees and Beach Boys and the circle in which Caroline Rand found herself trying to make the big time. I really enjoyed these scenes as we get the feel of the calm before the storm as these artists all party and laugh and yet we know many now face a tragic future which Allie is trying not to reveal to them while she works out what has happened. It neatly foreshadows the darker scenes into come as well as events continue to escalate and get increasingly creeper Alongside this Caroline too seems to know who she is and aware she may be dead too - the after-death the title alludes to is an interesting twist on a traditional haunting.

The story is constantly in flux with the timeshifts warping often without warning and on top of that we find an adversary who seems to be able to possess and create matter in any way they wish. It keeps us on our toes and makes us doubt what we read as to if the events are real or supernatural illusions. The pace gets quicker and quicker and more revelations about Allie’s role in these events hint to more trouble to come.

The finale is dark with sinister sexual overtones but it’s also neatly pulling all the strange threads together and make us review again all the scenes and secrets revealed so far.

The After-Death of Caroline Rand is surprising, ingenious and very atmospheric. A great supernatural tale to listen to with a 60s sidetrack alongside it watch out for the darker shadows. Highly recommended!