Gömställen

by Katherine Webb

Wiltshire, sommaren 1922.

När ett mord sker i det sömniga, idylliska samhället Slaughterford är ingen förberedd på att det kan drabba den lilla byn. Mordet chockerar alla som kände offret och när Puddy Cartwrights bror misstänks för brottet söker hon sig till godsägarens hustru, Irene. De bestämmer sig för att ta reda på vem som är den egentliga mördaren.

Ju mer Puddy och Irene nystar i dödsfallet, desto mer inser de vilka konflikter som döljer sig under ytan. Det oväntade fyndet av ett länge försvunnet föremål ger dem en ovärderlig ledtråd. Men vill de verkligen avslöja sanningen, som riskerar att förändra allt?

Katherine Webb har med Gömställen skrivit ännu en roman som fångar läsaren från första stund. Webbs Italienska nätter blev nominerad till Årets bok 2017.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Novels, Historical, Crime, Audiobook

450 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2017

About the author

I was born in Kent in 1977 and grew up in rural Hampshire before reading History at Durham University. History remains a passion, and I write character-led mystery dramas, often with historical settings. I love to explore the way past events can reverberate in the present, and I'm fascinated by the vast grey areas in human morality and behaviour.

My debut novel 'The Legacy' was voted viewers' choice for Best Summer Read on the Channel 4 TV Book Club in 2010, and was nominated for Best New Writer at the National Book Awards in the same year. Subsequently, 'The Unseen','A Half Forgotten Song' and 'The Misbegotten' were all Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers, and my books have been translated into 24 languages around the world.

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story starts in Slaughterford, Wiltshire. The year is 1922. Irene has recently married and moved from London to the town with her new husband Alistair where they live with his Aunt Nancy who raised him. Pudding Cartwright, daughter of the town’s doctor is training as a groom. She lives with her mother Louise who has mental issues and her brother Donny, who has come back from the Great War a different person to what he was before. When a murder of one of their own, who is well liked or loved by many in the town, the small community is shocked. Blame falls on Pudding’s brother but she refuses to believe he is capable of such a thing. She is determined to uncover the real killer and enlists help to do so. But will they be able to find the real killer in time before Donny is hanged? What secrets will be uncovered in the process?
This is a hard book to review. On the one hand the blurb tells us about the murder and as I read I kept waiting and waiting, getting more impatient with each page. It was about 140 pages in before the murder occurs. While the story is interesting and has an eerie feel to it, there is a lot of waffle that to me added nothing to the plot or the characters. As for the characters I never really connected with them to any great degree. Although I had my suspicions about some people and their involvement in the murderous events and wanted to read to find out how it played out, it wasn’t a book that absorbed me. It was too easy to skim. I felt like it needed to get moving faster.
Others may enjoy this languid way of telling a story, but for me the novel was lacking a consistent pace. There were a couple of likable characters but I wasn’t greatly enamoured of most of the main characters. This was just a so-so read that in my opinion could have been cut a lot and would have been stronger for it.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the whodunit part of this mystery was easy to figure out well before the half-way mark, the characters and setting kept me happy to stay with the book to the very end. Well done!

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine it's a cold winter's day, you're curled up in your favourite comfortable chair in front of a wonderful roaring fire with a cup of hot steaming cocoa (or your favourite hot drink), there's frost on the trees outside but you're inside reading this huge but wonderful book. That's the only way I can describe it; it's utterly delicious in every way. It has one of the biggest twists I have ever read in a book and was absolutely jaw dropping. I didn't see it coming at all and I can't stop thinking about it. Just wow.

The year is 1922 and Irene enters into a hasty marriage to the rather wonderful Alistair, after a huge scandal involving her in London. She doesn't love him and is deeply in love with a worm of a man, Fin. She is taken to Manor Farm, a huge rambling house in the countryside, where she is desperately unhappy. Alistair is in love with her and everyone in the village just loves his kind ways.

A brutal murder occurs and everyone is in shock but Donny (who has brain damage from a WW1 injury) the doctor's son, is accused of said murder and taken into custody. His sister, the wonderfully named Pudding, knows it's not him and does all in her power to prove who the real murderer is. She strikes up an unlikely friendship with the very lonely Irene, and together they become amateur sleuths. What they uncover along the way will rock the village to its very foundations.

At the same time a love affair blossoms between a beautiful mute girl, Clemmie (who I just loved) and the local 'bad' family son, Eli, who absolutely adores her. He needs to escape his violent father but doesn't realise that Clemmie has overhead a conversation and knows who the murderer is, but can't tell anyone: she also has dyslexia. She makes it her mission to try and teach herself to talk with just enough words to name him.

As I say, the final part of the book is simply stunning and totally unexpected. I didn't want it to end.

I devoured this book and couldn't put it down. It's just superb and beautifully written, as all Katherine's books are.

Highly recommended, even on a summer's day!

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find this author very hit and miss, rating her books between 5 and 2 stars.

As with all her books, The Hiding Places has a well crafted plot that should make for a great read, but as with too many of her tales, the plot is dragged down by way too much padding. There's reams of it - page after page after page of rambling descriptions and inner monologues, and minutely detailed backstories that had no relevance to anything that actually happened.

Despite adoring a couple of the characters and wondering where we were heading, I was skim-reading by the half-way point because of the excessive padding. I battled on as I know she writes good reveals, and true to form, I was completely caught out by a clever and original twist that I defy anyone to guess.

With better editing I may have rated this 4 stars, but there was just much waffle to plough through.

[CA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro muy lento,vas por la mitad y sientes que no avanzas ni un paso pero termina agarrando ritmo. El suyo es de esos finales que te hacen querer leerlo de nuevo para ver si es que todas las pistas cuadran porque si te deja un poco wtf, pero me ha gustado.

[Marta Marlau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tras un comienzo denso, presentando a demasiados personajes, el libro fue cogiendo fuerza.
Las dos protagonistas tienen una gran evolución en el libro, siendo muy valientes en sus decisiones.
Cuando el misterio se ha descubierto me ha dejado sin palabras. La autora ha conseguido engañarme.
Próximamente reseña en https://rincondemarlau.blogspot.com

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

A secret buried so deep, only a liar could uncover it

I had this book pre ordered from amazon in kindle format, i was that eager to read it i waited up until midnight so i could could start reading it straight away.

I have read all of Katherine Webb’s book and loved them all but i do think this book is my favourite!

Set in 1922 The story takes place in a small village in Slaughterford and revolves around the Cartwright family.
The characters are well written and make you feel like you know them personally.
There is the wealthy Hadleigh family who everyone depends on for work and tenancies.
The Cartwright family that have their own struggles, Pudding Cartwright comes alive before your eyes.
The Tanner family who live on the outskirts of the village living in poverty in a small damp cottage that has more people living there than there is room. They are the family that no one trusts and are known as trouble.
Then there is the Matlock family, they are neither rich or poor, Clemmie Matlock is mute but is a lovely character.

The village is brought to life on the pages beautifully, from the big Manor house to the small damp little cottages. The contrast between the families, rich and poor is portrayed with perfect clarity and is completely believable.

When a murder happens in Slaughterford, the lives of all the characters intersect in unexpected ways, and slowly old secrets and intricacies come to two light in a dark and sorrowful tale. The consequences of one person’s actions have a massive effect on the whole village, and events from the past are affecting the future.

I don’t want to give too much away as the twist at the end caught me totally by surprise and i don’t want to ruin it for anyone.

I can tell you that this book is fantastic and if you are fans of historical thrillers and historical romance this is a definitely a book you should read.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had actually forgotten I read this one a few years ago, but it was actually brilliant...

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this! Love Katherine Webb's beautiful books - great story, brilliant writing!

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this! Love Katherine Webb's beautiful books - great story, brilliant writing!

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this! Love Katherine Webb's beautiful books - great story, brilliant writing!

[Wedma · Rating 4 out of 5]

In diesem neuen Roman von Katherine Webb findet man im Grunde alles, was man von einem englischen Frauenroman erwartet: spannende, starke Frauenfiguren, Atmosphäre samt Sittengemälde der zwanziger Jahre des letzten Jh., mehrere Liebesgeschichten. Hinzukommen der Mord und die privaten Ermittlungen.

Klappentext beschreibt die Eckpunkte der Geschichte ganz gut: „England, 1922. Zuerst stellt die Ankunft der Londonerin Irene die Ordnung des idyllischen Dorfes Slaughterford auf eine harte Probe. Kurz darauf geschieht ein brutaler Mord. Der Tote ist ein angesehener Gutsherr – und Irenes Mann. Gemeinsam mit dem Stallmädchen Pudding begibt sich Irene auf die Suche nach der Wahrheit. Die Spuren führen das ungleiche Paar tief in die angrenzenden Wälder und zu einer Liebe, die nicht sein durfte und ein ganzes Dorf schuldig werden ließ.“

Es geht erst sehr gemächlich los, was an sich schön und entspannend wirkt. Das Eintauchen in die Atmosphäre der damaligen Zeit gelingt mühelos. Man ist in Irenes Erinnerungen bei ihrem Erwachsenwerden und Nach-dem-wohlhabenden-Mann-in-London-Ausschau-halten hautnah mit dabei. Wie es damals so war, eine junge Frau zu sein, mit all den heute als Anachronismen geltenden Dingen, deutlich werdend auch beim gestörten Verhältnis zu ihrer Mutter, steht klar vor Augen.

Nach Irenes Heirat begleitet man sie in die Dorfidylle Slaughterford auf das Anwesen ihres Mannes Alistair. Ein ruhiges, schönes Leben nah an der Natur. Doch wie es sich nach und nach herausstellt, die Idylle trügt. Und als Alistair brutal ermordet wird, und Irene gemeinsam mit ihrer neuen Freundin Pudding nach dem Mörder sucht, da tun sich die Abgründe auf.

Über diese Freundschaft der ungleichen Frauen, die einander dort ergänzen, wo die Defizite, in welcher Hinsicht auch immer, auftauchen, war nett und ermunternd zu lesen. Da sich die Polizei als unfähig erwies, haben sich die zwei jungen Frauen zusammengetan. Was sie herausgefunden haben, das hätten sie anfangs wohl kaum für möglich gehalten.

Irene kam sympathisch rüber, obwohl sie erst distanziert und etwas kühl rüberkam. Eine realistische Darstellung, denn die damalige Erziehung forderte die jungen Frauen der „besseren Gesellschaft“, sich so zu verhalten. Von zarter und schmaler Statur beweist sie die innere Stärke und Talent zu eigenhändigen Ermittlungen. Auch Pudding, so ziemlich das genaue Gegenteil zu Irene, mit ihrer schlichten Art, aber guten Portion Neugier und der stark ausgeprägten Fähigkeit, logisch zu denken, habe ich gerngehabt. Pudding ist so fest entschlossen, ihrem im ersten Weltkrieg zum Invaliden gewordenen Bruder zu helfen, dass sie einen sofort mitreißt und durch die Geschichte trägt. In dem Sinne weist der Roman auch eine deutliche anti-Krieg Note auf, denn er führt die tragischen Konsequenzen für die einfachen Leute aus dem Dorf und ihre Familien deutlich vor Augen.

Zum Schluss gab es Überraschungen, mehrere, der besonderen Art. Die Auflösung kann man nicht unbedingt klassisch nennen, sie hat aber auch durchaus ihre Reize. Vielleicht auch deshalb wird mir dieser bemerkenswerte Roman von Katherine Webb lange im Gedächtnis bleiben.

Fazit: Ein netter, atmosphärischer, spannender Frauenroman, den frau gern abends oder am verregneten Wochenende durchschmökern kann. Für Fans der Autorin und englischer Frauenromane ein Muss.
Lassen Sie sich einfach überraschen.

[Eva Hechenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wie in der Inhaltsangabe bereits ersichtlich, spielt die Geschichte im Jahr 1922 und zwar im Dorf Slaugtherford. Die Hauptprotagonistin Irene ist hierhin geflüchtet und hat geheiratet. Allerdings erfährt man im Laufe der Geschichte, dass es keine Heirat aus Liebe war, sondern eher eine Flucht wegen eines Skandals. Man liest so einiges darüber, wie das neue Leben auf Irene wirkt und wie das Zusammenspiel von ihr in Kombination mit ihrem neuen Mann und seiner Tante ist. Ich kann euch nur sagen, dass es nicht sehr leicht ist. Als es dann eine Überraschung gibt und zwar wird Irenes Mann Alistair ermordet aufgefunden.

Übrigens gibt es auch noch eine Nebenerzählung, welche von Clemmie handelt. Diese verliebt sich in jemanden, dessen Vater nicht unbedingt willkommen ist.

Persönlich fand ich die Handlung eigentlich ganz unterhaltsam. Es war doch recht spannend zu sehen, was sich im Laufe des Mordes so alles ergibt und ich wollte auch unbedingt wissen, ob man denn den Mörder finden wird. Zuerst hat es nämlich den Anschein, als wäre es sehr leicht diesen zu finden.

Schön fand ich an der Geschichte, dass die Autorin ein wunderbares Setting geschaffen hat. Alles wirkte auf mich sehr realistisch und ich fand es auch, wie direkt das Dorfleben von der Autorin beschrieben wurde. Wirklich amüsant. Ebenso war der damalige Alltag sehr interessant beschrieben. Es war damals sicher nicht leicht. Ich würde diese Dinge als sehr gut recherchiert bezeichnen.

Die Charaktere waren wunderbar. Gerade Irene und Pudding fand ich richtig klasse beschrieben. Ich würde beide als recht interessant, aber auch sympathisch beschrieben. Generell würde ich die Personen im Buch aber auch als durchwegs authentisch bezeichnen. Irgendwie hatte doch mehr oder wenige jeder Person, das gewisse Etwas. Wirklich toll.

Die Schreibweise war sehr flüssig, so war das Buch wirklich sehr angenehm zu lesen. Persönlich würde ich das Buch allerdings nicht als unbedingt leicht bezeichnen, denn die Autorin schreibt stellenweise sehr ausschweifend und so muss man wirklich aufpassen, dass man nichts verpasst. Der Handlung konnte man aber im großen und ganzen doch sehr gut folgen.

Das Cover finde ich recht schön und spannend. Ich finde es passt gut zur Handlung.

Zur Autorin:
Katherine Webb, geboren 1977, wuchs im ländlichen Hampshire auf und studierte Geschichte an der Durham University. Heute lebt sie in der Nähe von Bath, England. Nach dem großen internationalen Erfolgsdebüt »Das geheime Vermächtnis« folgten zahlreiche Romane wie »Das fremde Mädchen« oder »Italienische Nächte«, die die Autorin auch in Deutschland zu einer festen Größe auf der SPIEGEL-Bestsellerliste machten.

Quelle: Verlag
Fazit:
4 von 5 Sterne. Schöner, unterhaltsamer Roman mit tollem Setting. Kann ich weiterempfehlen.

[Anja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nach einem zähem Start hoffte ich auf Spannung. Diese Hoffnung wurde
nur bedingt erfüllt. Es ließ sich gut lesen, der Stil war total okay und ließ sich locker und leicht lesen.
Das war das erste Buch der Autorin für mich.
Nur die Spannung fehlte mir. Für kurze kleine Episoden kam sie bei
mir auf, konnte sich aber nicht durchsetzen. Die Idee der Geschichte hat mir
aber gut gefallen. Gerade die Hintergründe zu Donny und die Krimi- Elemente fand ich interessant.
Die Charaktere, hauptsächlich starke Frauen, haben mich überzeugt und ich
konnte mitfiebern.
Die Liebe kam natürlich auch nicht zu kurz. Die Autorin hat mehrere Handlungsstränge
miteinander verflochten.

[Kristin Fägerskjöld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Svår att komma in i början med mängder av olika namn att håll reda på. Omständlig och mycket irrelevanta saker i början. Tog långt över 100 sidor innan något hände. Finner kapitlen ganska röriga där författaren byter perspektiv flera gånger. Och jag blir irriterad på slutet när det mörkats att perspektivet med en flicka, Clemmie, inte alls har utspelat sig samma tid som de andra. Jag störde mig också på att den här Tanner aldrig kallades vid förnamn och visste att det var något lurt med det. Inte Webbs bästa, om ni frågar mig. Alldeles för pladdrig och ofokuserad.

[Joana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts really slowly and practically nothing happens until a 1/3 is done. Then it suddenly becomes a mystery and later on there's a moment when everything is turned upside down. At least for me, it genuinely left me speechless and with my brain reeling trying to compute everything that I now knew. I've rarely been this gobsmacked with a twist. I guess it could be slightly slimmed, as many things are repeated over and over, but it was an interesting story. It also masquerades as a nature book almost, with many descriptions of the idyllic english countryside.

[Louise Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dark and twisted tale! As always, Katherine Webb draws you in and spins a tale that keeps you on the edge of your seat! Can't wait for a new tale from her!

[Schneehase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toll gelesen!

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! A superb novel. Loved every bit of it. Beautiful writing, great story. Katherine Webb is fantastic! 😍

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely little read with a twist at the end which I did not see coming!

[Cathy McIntosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent plot twist after a very slow start.

[Lisa M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-4 stars
Such a quaint read! I can't say too much as it'll give away an excellent twist at the end but this was such a lovely whodunit from times gone by

[Jenny Hardesty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Safety Net Turned Murder Scene

Another brilliantly written novel by Katherine Webb. She’s weaves together a whodunit here that will keep you wondering until the end.

[Thebooktrail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visit the locations in the novel Slaughterford

It reads like a tapestry of a time gone by and each of the characters are woven into the scene with style – Charmingly stubborn Pudding, Mute Clemmie, Alistair and new wife Irene who remains an outsider, having escaped something from London. Then there’s the family everyone is told to avoid.

The murder takes place at least 100 pages into the story but it’s the build up and scene setting which brings the shocks. Each character is carefully crafted and lovely placed in the scenes, the reader gets to see Slaughterford – the early morning dew to the low lying sky at night – you can almost see the changes of the seasons as you turn the pages.

Pudding and Irene form a unique friendship and alliance (You’d just have to friends with a girl named Pudding!) and their search for the truth reveals a lot more about the village and its people than they ever could have imagined.

There’s so much to immerse yourself in here – and not just the fields of hay – the lazy village feel, the farming landscape and the stain of murder on a tranquil part of the British countryside.

Katherine lives up to her name and weaves a web of mystery and suspicion with vivid characters, a ramshackle location and a quietly bubbling plot.

Slaughterford – a village with secrets, shadows and more. The suggestion of witchery goings on, the suspicions which haunt the village, began to haunt me. Slaughterford is eerily recreated as a bygone mystery and Webb weaves her magic, pulling all the threads together so when, at the end, you step back the tapestry is even more impressive than you thought.

[Katrina Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a read! I loved this book! The story kept me completely engaged from the beginning to the end. It was a real wrench to put the book down! The story begins in the village of Slaughterford, not long after the end of WW1. The villagers have all been affected in some way by the recent conflict, none more so than the local doctor's son, Donny, who has returned but with a severe head injury. Meanwhile the local squire, Alastair, has brought a new wife home to live in the Manor House with his sister. Life is not easy for any of the characters as they try to settle into a new 'normal'. Things have changed unavoidably for everyone. Then something big happens, which really impacts on all of the village. The consequences of one person's actions have a massive effect on the whole village, and it is not clear how things will work out. Events from the past are affecting the future. The twists and turns of the plot kept me riveted. I really struggled with putting the book down. The ending had me totally surprised! A definite must read! Highly, highly recommended! I will seek out more novels by this author. Loved it!

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant evocative novel, got really lost in it, the characters are fantastically well drawn. Twists have been overdone, but the one in this book is stupendous. However, I'd advise against spoiling your reading by trying to anticipate it, just lose yourself in the story!

I don't think the blurb does justice to this book at all, a frequent issue of mine, but particularly true here. In fact, it could be said to constitute a spoiler, though I only say that with the benefit of hindsight. Anyway, hugely recommended!

[Pauline Agius Farrugia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book managed to present a beautifully crafted picture of another era, whilst maintaining a storyline which kept me interested in finding out more. The descriptions of the people and places were elaborated just well enough to enable the reader to picture them fully, without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail.

I would describe this as a slow-burn drama/mystery, but in spite of its pacing I was never bored. The time-bending twist at the end caught me off guard in a good way, as I often find myself guessing the plot twists before they are revealed; not so here. And its only when you reach the end that you realize how well crafted the storyline is.

[Sue Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this very carefully having been warned by a friend that the ending was a puzzle. I was glad of the warning. It would have been easy to miss an essential construct of the story if you skimmed it quickly. I prefer to be warned when two timelines are being written about, but here we are thrown straight in, and the two are intermingled willy-nilly. At the end I was tempted to go back through and check for anomalies and where the cross-overs happened, but this is not easy when reading on a Kobo, so i didn't. This reader was left unsatisfied.

[Tiffany Chevis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last 50 pages were the saving grace I found. It was a nice enough story, but I felt it rather plodded on until that twist. Then the final chapters flew by and I got the buzz of a good story I'd been waiting for. That said, the impact of such a twist may not have been felt so keenly had it not been for the more sedate preamble...

[Charlotte Betts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I nearly gave up on this book. it took so long to get going. Once it did it was a good plot but there was too much padding and could have been done with so much more quickly.