Room Beneath the Stairs

by Jennifer Wilde

On an island haunted by the ghost of a murdered girl, a young wife must unravel an eerie mystery to save her marriage in New York Times–bestselling author Jennifer Wilde’s spine-tingling novel of romantic suspense

With its crashing waves, secret coves, and rumors of being haunted, Greycliff Island is a thrilling and magical place to lonely eleven-year-old Carolyn Dawson. It is here that she meets Grey Brandon, whose family owns the island’s cannery and who becomes her only friend. Thirteen years pass before he walks into her London bookshop. After a whirlwind courtship, Carolyn returns to her beloved island off the Cornish coast—as Grey’s bride.

Not everyone likes the new mistress of Greycliff manor—not hostile, intimidating Burke, the servant who practically raised Grey; not Grey’s aunt; and not her insolent son, Evan, who think Carolyn is a fortune hunter. One day, in the gardens beyond the estate, Carolyn finds a tiny gravestone. That night, she’s awakened by a child’s screams. Years ago, a girl was murdered in one of the island’s caves. Is her ghost haunting Greycliff manor?

When the household is rocked by murder, Carolyn must confront a flesh-and-blood killer—and a long-buried secret someone will kill to keep.

Genres: Gothic

229 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 1975

About the author

Jennifer Wilde is a pseudonym of T. E. Huff (Thomas Elmer Huff). He also wrote under the names Edwina Marlow and Beatrice Parker.

Reviews

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was eleven years old when I first saw Greycliff Island, and I immediately made it my own. I would never be able to go there, of course, but that didn’t matter. It was my private place, safe and secure, removed from all the heartbreak and sadness I had known so often in my short life. It was a symbol, and in my imagination I dwelt there like a storybook child, surrounded by warmth and beauty and the friends I had never known.

And we're off! This book was meant to be just a placeholder while I waited for a book I really wanted to read to become available at the library. I really enjoyed the trip back into time to the days when Gothic romances were the be all and end all. This one was a contemporary, written and set in the '70s when guys were "with it" and if you had sex before marriage, you were a "swinger". I loved the short time we are with our heroine in London where she meets her future husband for the second time after spending a day with him when she was an orphaned young girl, living in Cornwall. We quickly move to his forbidding mansion on a mysterious island near the coast of her old home. Something sinister and mysterious is going on, and something is wrong with her husband.

As this might as well be a template for the typical gothic, we quickly determine who the hero is. And because we know who the hero is, we also know who the villain has got to be. Hint: gothic heroes are not jovial or idle. All the plot points and set pieces fall into place. anyone looking for surprises and twists will be disappointed.

Yet T. E. Huff can really write! I was just carried along by the atmosphere and the immediacy of the action. I felt like the author was constantly winking at me as all of the stock characters and obligatory happenings marched across the page. There is very little humor but there is a lot of fun.

Now, it seemed like a scene from a rather pedestrian horror film, wildly far fetched: heroine in darkened hall, paralyzed with fear as chilling sounds rise up from the sinister stairwell. But it had been real, all too real. The wind didn’t make that kind of noise. Neither did cats.

I don't think it's a coincidence or a careless anachronism that our modern-day heroine carries a candle down into the basement and not a flashlight. And her silk skirts rustle on the stairs. Because Mini-skirts unfortunately don't rustle.

I heartily recommend this book for anyone in the mood for an old-fashioned gothic. **3.5 stars**

https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....

[Crystal Cavendish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good for the time period.

I used to read this type of book as a teenager and in my twenties. This one was pretty good, though a little dated. I'm so glad so many of these older books are being made into ebooks.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit that this book is predictable and has the air of a cheap suspense, but it had me at the edge of my seat for the last third. It was an easy and enjoyable read.

[cass · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf transphobia 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

[Ericka · Rating 4 out of 5]

im still in shock....

[Twist · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say, this book really surprised me. I don't know that I read the blurb, because I was looking for a book with stairs in the title, and it didn't really matter what it was about.This is a mystery, almost psychological in nature, but not quite. However, it is not like current mysteries. I believe that it was set sometime in the 50's due to the H wearing rusty orange and brown checked pants. Makes me think of the harlequin pants of that time, and she wore a scarf. Despite it being in a 'modern' time frame, it was almost Gothic in nature. The way it was written, the descriptions, the old house, all remind me of a Gothic novel. Quite the interesting twist.I will admit, I didn't suspect the culprit until near the end. I was totally wrong in my deductions. I would make a horrible detective. LOL.This was a well written
story. It ended in a decent place, but I really would have liked to have seen more of the last of the book.I do recommend this book.