The Heir of Ravenswick

by Ally Hastings

After leaving his last place under a cloud, Stephen Davenport is glad to find a job as a secretary at a country estate, helping Mr Alleyn and his wife Lady Priscilla claim the barony of Ravenswick. But that claim is not as straightforward as his employers would like to believe, and Stephen knows they are hiding things from him. Why is the west tower out of bounds? How did Lady Priscilla’s sister die? And who is the stranger he keeps seeing in the park?

As Stephen gets more entangled in the house’s mysteries, he realises that he must do the opposite of what he was hired for, and find out why Lady Priscilla has no right to the barony. But someone has already killed to protect that secret, and they will not hesitate to hurt Stephen, or to damage the fragile love he has found at Ravenswick.

The Heir of Ravenswick is a queer historical novel inspired by the sensation fiction of the nineteenth century, from the author of The Savages of Falcote.

Genres: Historical, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Fiction, Victorian, M M Romance

226 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 23, 2025

About the author

Ally Hastings loves to read mystery, romance, literary fiction and sometimes fantasy, but writes only one of them. Preferably after a long walk, with a cup of tea and the radio tuned to something from the sixties or seventies. Ally is the author of The Savages of Falcote, a queer historical romance series, beginning with Unwritten Rules (March 2023).

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

YESSS someone is writing queer sensation novels! Very much in the vein of Wilkie Collins, only a lot shorter and somewhat queerer. We have a complicated family, an even more complicated inheritance plot, disputed titles, a big lost diamond, colonialism, family secrets, murderers, people hidden in large houses, multiple narratives, and an investigating secretary. Just throw it all at the wall, why don't you (positive).

I enjoyed this hugely. I will say it took me several flips back to the family tree to get my head round the family, and it is, perhaps, a bit rosy in its attitudes occasionally, but that makes it a nice break from actual Victorian sensation and also reality. Look, let's be honest, I will read all the queer Victorian sensation novels you can give me, but this is nicely written, mostly well edited, and strongly plotted. A gleeful recommend.

[Misty · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a really engaging novel with a great sense of time. There's a bunch of colorful characters, there're family secrets, lies, suspense and mystery with lots of twists and turns. It reminds me very much of Wilkie Collins books which I've read and reread. I'm looking forward to reading the next one!

[Pickyperkypenguin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am honestly on the fence with this one. On one hand this was written well (although the punctuation was all over the place and did /not/ help the readability) and the author has done her resesearch. On the other hand, the plot was so robust that for me it really didn't feel like reading a romance. The romantic part was so restrained I felt I had to guess mostly what was it in the characters that they even became interested in each other, and not just very superficially. Generally, a good novel, but maybe not for me. I prefer character-driven plot and a lot of explorations of emotions, motives, etc.

Some spoilers, but I think might be useful for someone who plans to read it:
The romantic scenes: completely tame if not non-existent. What stuck in my memory was, paraphrasing, 'and we did other things than talking', repeated a couple of times. I think if it were a harlequin, it'd be one of the white-cover ones (i don't even think it'd count as pink, and especially not the red or purple), so one would knew what to expect.
The case of the kinship: the main pair are cousins but not related by blood at all, it's just the affinity. Also, one can consider how all aristocracy was sort of related to each other, historically. I did not find it offensive.
The ending: it really made me question whether this book belongs in the contemporary genre of romance - it may be read as HFN, but one has to imagine the happy quite intensively. It's sort of a: 'they were kinda happy until they broke up, but let's see what happens in the next installment of this series...'. I wasn't aware it was supposed to be just the first tome; thinking the book a standalone, I'd judge it lower, because I can't say it stands well on its own.

[Hazey Sunshine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable gothic mystery. Well written, with a perfect spooky atmosphere. I'm surprised this hasn't got a lot more reviews!

I didn't have any of the issues brought up in less positive reviews - I found the MC/narrator enjoyable, Lionel's anxiety & difficulties and the MC's response to them realistic, and although the sex scenes are mostly off page, there are descriptions and hints given via books being read aloud prior, which I felt worked well with the style & characters. The epilogue felt sensible & in keeping with the characters, and I'm looking forward to the next story.
Possibly I enjoyed it more for not remembering it was sold as a romance - I bought it on KJ Charles' rec, but when I came to reading it I remembered nothing about the book.

[Answers Only · Rating 3 out of 5]

unfortunately didn't like this one very much
Stephen is annoying but gets bonus points for having a mustache
Lionel could have been interesting if he had done a single thing during the plot. also his character was handled with less sympathy than I would expect? he's not crazy, but he does read as mentally ill, suffering from anxiety and probably agoraphobia, and the narrator frames him like a shy indecisive child. very strange.
the social commentary was mostly jarring and felt forced.
also I get that this is supposed to be the first part of the series, but the way the entire relationship of this book is undone in the epilogue in two sentences is just ??????
3 stars

[glacial_approach · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Полкниги следим за передвижениями ГГ и когда он, наконец, встречает ЛИ, то никакой искры не случается. Никакого сближения мы не видим (да, они разговаривают друг с другом, но всё это подаётся в такой описательной манере), по сути всё остаётся за кадром. Короче говоря, романтики не завезли от слова совсем, повествование занудное.

Несмотря на попытки в историчность чувствуется дуновение двадцать первого века. Меня много чего смущало. Например, сомнительно, что человек того времени в открытую не будучи уверенным в том, что собеседник разделяет его вкусы, скажет «да, а с этим челом мы, кстати, были любовниками».

[LadyGwethelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

A delightful read, that does a great job of combining the charm, storytelling and deliciously ridiculous family intrigues of a 19th century novel with a queer and diverse cast. I had a great time following along the (un)expected twists and turns of the plot. I did find that the central romance felt as much like a match of proximity as one of love to me, but that might also be due to the story being told almost like a journalist's report and either way did not bother me much, since it fit the novel one way or the other.

[Ally Hastings · Rating 5 out of 5]

First in a new series! (It's connected to The Savages of Falcote, but you don't need to have read the other books to enjoy this :)
If you like Wilkie Collins and other Victorian sensation novels but always wanted them queerer, this is for you.

[LizI · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely atmospheric romance, slower-paced and less spicy than the author's other books. Can't wait to read the next one!

[Spitz]

I enjoyed reading it, but the problem for me was the narrator, who has plenty of common sense and whose lack of sensibility works against how preposterous the story is intended to be.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

looking forward to the sequel the epilogue is promising me.