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The Violet Thorn Mysteries #1
The Horror of Haglin House
Home is where the horror is…
Jilted thriller writer Lady Violet Thorn has withdrawn to the Suffolk market town of Montford with two servants and her leading character, the adventuress Ruby Gibson, for company.
Violet’s peace is disturbed when a stranger asks her for help, claiming that a friend is being kept prisoner in her own home. Her visitor seems so afraid that Violet, despite her scepticism, is persuaded to investigate.
A woman is killed outside Violet’s house, then another murdered in the town and, as the deaths mount up, she becomes convinced that they all lead to one place: the increasingly forbidding Haglin House, and whoever lives there…
M.R.C. Kasasian returns with a fresh, witty and totally enthralling take on the classic crime genre, perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz, M. C. Beaton and Oscar De Muriel.
Jilted thriller writer Lady Violet Thorn has withdrawn to the Suffolk market town of Montford with two servants and her leading character, the adventuress Ruby Gibson, for company.
Violet’s peace is disturbed when a stranger asks her for help, claiming that a friend is being kept prisoner in her own home. Her visitor seems so afraid that Violet, despite her scepticism, is persuaded to investigate.
A woman is killed outside Violet’s house, then another murdered in the town and, as the deaths mount up, she becomes convinced that they all lead to one place: the increasingly forbidding Haglin House, and whoever lives there…
M.R.C. Kasasian returns with a fresh, witty and totally enthralling take on the classic crime genre, perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz, M. C. Beaton and Oscar De Muriel.
457 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 8, 2023
98 people are currently reading
687 people want to read
About the author
M.R.C. Kasasian
30 books515 followersMartin Kasasian was raised in Lancashire. He has had careers as varied as factory hand, wine waiter, veterinary assistant, fairground worker and dentist. He lives with his wife in Suffolk in the summer and in a village in Malta in the winter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
May 12, 2023
Thank goodness this is over!
This was the longest, most convoluted, slightly gross, entirely ridiculous book I’ve read in a very long time. It had more endings than Lord of the Rings and more side characters.
Though parts of this book were amusing -the author definitely has wit and the servant characters often stole the show- this needed serious editing and to be cut down by *at least* 200 pages. I honestly think this book was written for the author’s own amusement and the reader experience wasn’t ever taken into account.
The first part of the book was incredibly difficult to follow. The main character, Violet, is an author and her characters live in her head and give comment on EVERY.SINGLE.THING. After you figure out that she’s not, in fact crazy, you kind of start to make sense of the author’s writing style. But then the inner voices start to multiply and we have characters break into her thoughts that we’ve never met or seen before, and sometimes inanimate objects speak to her as well. This is INCREDIBLY overdone and VERY distracting. It’s like a literary fly is buzzing around in the narrative and you just want to swat it away to focus on the plot.
Now the plot itself was all over the place, there are murders and deaths happening left and right. The murders are then solved once, and then solved yet again and then there are still chapters left to get through. Ultimately I was bored and annoyed most of the book. The murderer is pretty obvious and the red herrings equally so. In fact, it is so obvious I found myself (with my lovely reading buddy Dab) talking myself out of what was obvious, because it was so entirely obvious.
Anyway I could go on and on but I’m going to end this before it starts to read like the book. Do not recommend. The cover is very well done, the rest needs significant work.
Thanks to Canelo and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thanks to my reading buddy Dab for suffering through this with me. We are trauma bonded for life.
This was the longest, most convoluted, slightly gross, entirely ridiculous book I’ve read in a very long time. It had more endings than Lord of the Rings and more side characters.
Though parts of this book were amusing -the author definitely has wit and the servant characters often stole the show- this needed serious editing and to be cut down by *at least* 200 pages. I honestly think this book was written for the author’s own amusement and the reader experience wasn’t ever taken into account.
The first part of the book was incredibly difficult to follow. The main character, Violet, is an author and her characters live in her head and give comment on EVERY.SINGLE.THING. After you figure out that she’s not, in fact crazy, you kind of start to make sense of the author’s writing style. But then the inner voices start to multiply and we have characters break into her thoughts that we’ve never met or seen before, and sometimes inanimate objects speak to her as well. This is INCREDIBLY overdone and VERY distracting. It’s like a literary fly is buzzing around in the narrative and you just want to swat it away to focus on the plot.
Now the plot itself was all over the place, there are murders and deaths happening left and right. The murders are then solved once, and then solved yet again and then there are still chapters left to get through. Ultimately I was bored and annoyed most of the book. The murderer is pretty obvious and the red herrings equally so. In fact, it is so obvious I found myself (with my lovely reading buddy Dab) talking myself out of what was obvious, because it was so entirely obvious.
Anyway I could go on and on but I’m going to end this before it starts to read like the book. Do not recommend. The cover is very well done, the rest needs significant work.
Thanks to Canelo and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thanks to my reading buddy Dab for suffering through this with me. We are trauma bonded for life.
May 11, 2023
This was some horror alright…
Violet writes thrillers and because of that is by some considered an expert in solving mysteries. A stranger shows up at her door; she is convinced that her friend is being held hostage and asks Violet to investigate. At the same time people start getting killed in strange circumstances.
This book was exhausting and way too long. It was so cluttered with irrelevant details that it was almost impossible to follow the actual story. It badly needs an editor. Or Marie Kondo. Or both.
It is told from the pov of Violet with a running commentary of a bunch of characters from her books whose voices she hears in her head. Which is not a bad idea per se, but there’s no moderation whatsoever here; these characters have nothing to do with the storyline but they just won’t shut up! It’s overwhelming and confusing.
The second star is for the humor because some of the comments are witty and astute. It is however not enough to recommend this book; I posted all good stuff in my updates, the rest is not worth your time.
My favorite part of reading this book was buddy reading it with Kristina and sharing our daily mini rants 🥹
Thank you Canelo and NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
—-
I really shouldn’t have said that pwmov was exhausting. Because this book…
Violet writes thrillers and because of that is by some considered an expert in solving mysteries. A stranger shows up at her door; she is convinced that her friend is being held hostage and asks Violet to investigate. At the same time people start getting killed in strange circumstances.
This book was exhausting and way too long. It was so cluttered with irrelevant details that it was almost impossible to follow the actual story. It badly needs an editor. Or Marie Kondo. Or both.
It is told from the pov of Violet with a running commentary of a bunch of characters from her books whose voices she hears in her head. Which is not a bad idea per se, but there’s no moderation whatsoever here; these characters have nothing to do with the storyline but they just won’t shut up! It’s overwhelming and confusing.
The second star is for the humor because some of the comments are witty and astute. It is however not enough to recommend this book; I posted all good stuff in my updates, the rest is not worth your time.
My favorite part of reading this book was buddy reading it with Kristina and sharing our daily mini rants 🥹
Thank you Canelo and NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
—-
I really shouldn’t have said that pwmov was exhausting. Because this book…
August 10, 2023
Jilted thriller writer Lady Violet Thorn has withdrawn to the Suffolk market town of Montford with two servants and her leading character, the adventuress Ruby Gibson, for company.
Violet’s peace is disturbed when a stranger asks her for help, claiming that a friend is being kept prisoner in her own home. Her visitor seems so afraid that Violet, despite her scepticism, is persuaded to investigate.
A woman is killed outside Violet’s house, then another murdered in the town and, as the deaths mount up, she becomes convinced that they all lead to one place: the increasingly forbidding Haglin House, and whoever lives there…
Wow… this book could have been epic as the characters were FANTASTIC and the storyline gave off feminist Sherlock Holmes vibes which is LOVED… but… and it’s a big one… the CONSTANT diatribe from the protagonist’s fictional characters in her head throughout the novel just completely ruined it for me. There was TOO much of it, literal word vomit of no consequence that added absolutely nothing to the storyline. Cut this all back and edit accordingly and you would have a wonderful start to what could be an epic series.
Violet’s peace is disturbed when a stranger asks her for help, claiming that a friend is being kept prisoner in her own home. Her visitor seems so afraid that Violet, despite her scepticism, is persuaded to investigate.
A woman is killed outside Violet’s house, then another murdered in the town and, as the deaths mount up, she becomes convinced that they all lead to one place: the increasingly forbidding Haglin House, and whoever lives there…
Wow… this book could have been epic as the characters were FANTASTIC and the storyline gave off feminist Sherlock Holmes vibes which is LOVED… but… and it’s a big one… the CONSTANT diatribe from the protagonist’s fictional characters in her head throughout the novel just completely ruined it for me. There was TOO much of it, literal word vomit of no consequence that added absolutely nothing to the storyline. Cut this all back and edit accordingly and you would have a wonderful start to what could be an epic series.
July 31, 2023
The book opens with Lady Violet Thorn jilted on the day she was to be married. A year later, we find her living on her own with two opiniated servants, and now a successful novelist of popular stories. Violet is also somewhat unconventional in her beliefs and actions.
What makes Violet a little different is that she carries on conversations with two of her most prominent story characters, Ruby Gibson, an adventurer who gets into danger and foils plots with aplomb, and police Inspector Hefty. Their voices are constantly interjecting, cajoling, insulting, and commenting on every interaction or situation Violet finds herself in.
This is initially amusing and interesting, as it illuminates Violet’s psyche, but grows increasingly tiresome as the novel progresses.
Irritant aside, the mystery in this beginning to a new series is fairly simple.
The mystery here entails a missing woman, Dolores, married to a doctor Poynder who practices both amongst the town’s better off patients, as well amongst its poor. He was also peripherally involved as a witness with a series of unexplained murders in town.
Violet investigates Dolores’ disappearance at the behest of Martha, Dolores’ best friend, and we see not only Violet blundering around, but Kasasian also shows us a lot of the background action on the streets Violet passes through; some of this is even important to the resolution to the case, which Violet cleverly deduces (though I didn’t feel the author showed me adequately how she got there). VIolet then mistakenly confronts the murderer by herself. For someone pretty smart, Violet makes a series of not particularly intelligent decisions on her way to the resolution.
I liked what I read of the Gower Street series. (Violet actually resides in the same England and time as Kasasian’s Gower series, of which I’ve read book one.) I think that if Kasasian reduces the frequency of Ruby's interjections, I could be convinced to continue this series.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Canelo for this ARC in exchange for my review.
What makes Violet a little different is that she carries on conversations with two of her most prominent story characters, Ruby Gibson, an adventurer who gets into danger and foils plots with aplomb, and police Inspector Hefty. Their voices are constantly interjecting, cajoling, insulting, and commenting on every interaction or situation Violet finds herself in.
This is initially amusing and interesting, as it illuminates Violet’s psyche, but grows increasingly tiresome as the novel progresses.
Irritant aside, the mystery in this beginning to a new series is fairly simple.
The mystery here entails a missing woman, Dolores, married to a doctor Poynder who practices both amongst the town’s better off patients, as well amongst its poor. He was also peripherally involved as a witness with a series of unexplained murders in town.
Violet investigates Dolores’ disappearance at the behest of Martha, Dolores’ best friend, and we see not only Violet blundering around, but Kasasian also shows us a lot of the background action on the streets Violet passes through; some of this is even important to the resolution to the case, which Violet cleverly deduces (though I didn’t feel the author showed me adequately how she got there). VIolet then mistakenly confronts the murderer by herself. For someone pretty smart, Violet makes a series of not particularly intelligent decisions on her way to the resolution.
I liked what I read of the Gower Street series. (Violet actually resides in the same England and time as Kasasian’s Gower series, of which I’ve read book one.) I think that if Kasasian reduces the frequency of Ruby's interjections, I could be convinced to continue this series.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Canelo for this ARC in exchange for my review.
May 1, 2023
I thought the premise sounded promising but for me the execution wasn't the best, it felt muddled in parts and I was confused for most of it, I did like the dark gothic elements.
December 4, 2023
This was an odd but enjoyable read, and I liked it more than most reviewers seemed to. I loved the concept behind it and enjoyed the interactions between the author and her characters as she attempts to solve a real life mystery.
Interestingly the one thing that other reviewers seemed to like was the one thing that I didn’t: The humor. I found the “banter” kind of irritating and not especially funny. But the story was good and I disagree that it was bloated or overlong.
For anyone worrying about the Horror classification, I don’t think the book should truly be classed as such. It’s more of a Mystery, and though there are few gross parts, it’s not truly scary at all.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Interestingly the one thing that other reviewers seemed to like was the one thing that I didn’t: The humor. I found the “banter” kind of irritating and not especially funny. But the story was good and I disagree that it was bloated or overlong.
For anyone worrying about the Horror classification, I don’t think the book should truly be classed as such. It’s more of a Mystery, and though there are few gross parts, it’s not truly scary at all.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
June 12, 2023
This is part of a Victorian crime thriller series I had never heard of before. It was a good read but read as more as a cosy mystery than the thriller I was promised. I found nothing to get my heart racing and does not encourage me to read more. Saying that I am sure other readers will enjoy it more just not for me.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
2023
September 16, 2025Halloween TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo
January 16, 2025
I've only read the Sidney Grice series before this, which I loved, but unfortunately this start to the Violet Thorn series was not as gripping. However, Emma Gregory once again knocks it out of the park with her narration. I think if I had been reading this myself as a physical book, I may have DNF-ed it mid way through, but Ms Gregory is such a wonderful narrator!
Read
June 15, 2023Lady Violet has retired to a quiet town with two servants and her adventuress Ruby,
to get over and to understand why her partner jilted her. There she is approached
by a lady who needs her services to find out why her friend who was deeply attached to her
is no longer receiving her calls. She feels she is a prisoner in her home.
The problem is acute because the suspect here has an impeccable reputation and is popular
the local doctor. when one death after another follows with no connection at all, both
the police and lady Violet are confused but Violet is decided that it is in some
strange way connected to Haglin House and the doctor.
Unravelling the story was complicated particularly because the comments - some not at
all helpful or relevant comefrom voices speaking to Violet. A tad confusing that.
Nevertheless an interesting take on detective stories.
to get over and to understand why her partner jilted her. There she is approached
by a lady who needs her services to find out why her friend who was deeply attached to her
is no longer receiving her calls. She feels she is a prisoner in her home.
The problem is acute because the suspect here has an impeccable reputation and is popular
the local doctor. when one death after another follows with no connection at all, both
the police and lady Violet are confused but Violet is decided that it is in some
strange way connected to Haglin House and the doctor.
Unravelling the story was complicated particularly because the comments - some not at
all helpful or relevant comefrom voices speaking to Violet. A tad confusing that.
Nevertheless an interesting take on detective stories.
May 2, 2023
A very entertaining mystery with pleasant vibes. This was perfect to curl up with this rainy weekend
June 23, 2023
DNF
Could not get into this and it came across like the author was trying too hard to be funny. It failed.
Far too OTT for my liking. The persistent additions of her book character, Ruby, adding comments threw me at first but, once I understood who this commentary was coming from, it just made it more ODD!
The lead character came across as schizophrenic as she was having conversations with “Ruby” and it all got very confusing and annoying.
The attempts at humour also failed miserably.
Could not get into this and it came across like the author was trying too hard to be funny. It failed.
Far too OTT for my liking. The persistent additions of her book character, Ruby, adding comments threw me at first but, once I understood who this commentary was coming from, it just made it more ODD!
The lead character came across as schizophrenic as she was having conversations with “Ruby” and it all got very confusing and annoying.
The attempts at humour also failed miserably.
June 14, 2023
Violet is or wants to be a rider and she has these scenarios that play out in her head while real life is happening. Her neighbor comes to ask her assistance because her friend is being held against her will and she thinks Violet is the perfect person for the job. I really couldn’t wait to read this book and so was very sad that one it was confusing in that too the execution was way off. They however do have some very likable characters in the parts of the book I did understand were very interesting but I feel like as a concept this could’ve been a great horror story but maybe the execution was off? I found myself getting confused and I don’t know if that was just me or the writing style although I did love the characters especially her driver friendless but I think the book would be served better with more distinction between her thoughts and what is really happening having said all that I did get through all the confusion and finish the book and I’m sure some more love this book and I did like it sitting writing it differently would make it so much better. I received this book from NetGalley and boldWoodBooks but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
September 1, 2025
I tried, I really really tried. The mystery itself seems interesting, but I cannot read any of Lady Thorn's dismissive, rude, better-than-thou superiority complex anymore. I understand that this time period came with insane etiquette, and I'm willing to sit through a bunch of that if the story is interesting, but man it gets tiring when every tiny little normal thing is described as 'unladylike'. But most of all, I hate that all the lower-class people in this book are depicted as incredibly dumb, unempathetic, and rude, whereas most of the upper-class people are smart, sophisticated, and half of em are kind. We know from primary sources and oral history that upper-class people were the unemphatic ones whereas lower-class people would often take care of each other. This entire book is a mish-mash of stereotypes, the only stereotype that gets 'broken' is with the protagonist, because she's a 'smart' woman. Get the fuck outta here. I would've stayed to figure out the mystery, because that did seem interesting, but I cannot deal with this protagonist and her 27 split personalities any longer.
July 14, 2023
3.75 stars
For all of 2022 and much of 2023 I was eagerly anticipating the fourth book in the Betty Church series as the fabulous ‘The Ghost Tree’ left us dangling. I was a tad disappointed to see that we were actually getting a new series from a different publisher.
Oh well, it’s M. R. C. Kasasian. It’s going to be brilliant, right?
‘The Horror of Haglin House’ is good. Very good in places. The new central character, the diminutive Lady Violet Thorn, is as likeable as she is eccentic, and the dark humour we’ve come to expect drips from every line. But, somehow, this was not enough for me. I think it's down to expectations. It seems Sidney Grice, March Middleton and Betty Church set the bar too high. On the strength of this outing, the diminutive Lady Violet Thorn could walk under it without knocking her bonnet off. But I don't want to end the review on a negative note as I did enjoy the book, so I'll finish by saying I'm looking forward to the next in this new series. (Though not as much as I was looking forward to Betty Church #4!)
For all of 2022 and much of 2023 I was eagerly anticipating the fourth book in the Betty Church series as the fabulous ‘The Ghost Tree’ left us dangling. I was a tad disappointed to see that we were actually getting a new series from a different publisher.
Oh well, it’s M. R. C. Kasasian. It’s going to be brilliant, right?
‘The Horror of Haglin House’ is good. Very good in places. The new central character, the diminutive Lady Violet Thorn, is as likeable as she is eccentic, and the dark humour we’ve come to expect drips from every line. But, somehow, this was not enough for me. I think it's down to expectations. It seems Sidney Grice, March Middleton and Betty Church set the bar too high. On the strength of this outing, the diminutive Lady Violet Thorn could walk under it without knocking her bonnet off. But I don't want to end the review on a negative note as I did enjoy the book, so I'll finish by saying I'm looking forward to the next in this new series. (Though not as much as I was looking forward to Betty Church #4!)
June 9, 2023
I absolutely love the March Middleton novels so I was really excited to get my 👂🏻👂🏻on this. It did take me a little while to grasp that some of the characters were imaginary, even within the fictional universe (I know, how meta, right?!) but once I had that sorted I was fine.
The storyline is a little bit histrionic and more than a little bit unlikely but still enjoyable and full of trademark Kasasian humour. Credit to the narrator for suitably deadpan delivery of all of the dastardly plot.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Saga Egmont Audio for an arc of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
The storyline is a little bit histrionic and more than a little bit unlikely but still enjoyable and full of trademark Kasasian humour. Credit to the narrator for suitably deadpan delivery of all of the dastardly plot.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Saga Egmont Audio for an arc of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
April 30, 2023
Thank you to Canelo and NetGalley for the chance to read this! I enjoyed the overall premise of this book. It’s a clever concept to have a writer and her characters interacting. The plot was good. Where I struggled was the constant back and forth and asides especially early on. It almost took away from the action and the plot. It was like reading an episode of the Gilmore Girls. Overall it’s a lovely entry into the genre but I would have loved a little less internal monologue to help really become immersed in the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2023
3.25/5 stars! The cover of this book was stunning and it really set the stage for this story. This is a crime horror story and I found it to be predictable but enjoyable. The pacing seemed slow at times, but I did truly enjoy the conclusion.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review
November 4, 2025
I feel a tad mean giving only three stars because it is genuinely really funny in parts but that was, for me, outweighed by the plot. It’s easy to see where this story is going - and we really didn’t need the parallels to Jane Eyre’s madwoman in the attic pointing out , for that matter the dismembered parrot is also a step into the Sargasso Sea too far, but Violet’s mind is so crowded with characters that , half way in, I just wanted them all to combust a la Miss Havisham.
It’s a fun take on Gothic but too wordy - the conceit takes over so there’s little real gothic horror even the brutal murders seem just ridiculous.
But that’s just me - I feel I was stupidly mislead by the Anthony Horowitz reference .
It’s a fun take on Gothic but too wordy - the conceit takes over so there’s little real gothic horror even the brutal murders seem just ridiculous.
But that’s just me - I feel I was stupidly mislead by the Anthony Horowitz reference .
September 6, 2023
I loved the authors other two series so was really looking forward to this but i didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
I think that having her character talk to her is a good idea but I agree with other reviewers that it became a bit much, especially when drinks and her body parts start talking to her too.
I'm not sure if I will pick up the next in the series or not.
I think that having her character talk to her is a good idea but I agree with other reviewers that it became a bit much, especially when drinks and her body parts start talking to her too.
I'm not sure if I will pick up the next in the series or not.
February 9, 2024
I was hoping for a little more out of this one.
February 26, 2024
Contemplated not finishing. 😴😴
August 8, 2023
Often times I had no clue what I was reading because of the Old English or kind of peasant-like language. But overall this was an original story, which makes you shiver time and time again throughout the story because of the unbelievable horror.
I gave the book three stars because the language made it hard to read as a non-native speaker of the English language. I also thought the dialogues in her head were sometimes making it a bit confusing. 🤷🏻♀️
The book is about thriller writer Violet Thorn. She lives in Suffolk with her two servants and her leading character Ruby Gibson. Violet is living a quiet life until that quietness is being disturbed by a stranger asking for her help. The stranger claims her friend is being held captive in her own home by her newlywed husband, a well known doctor in the town Violet lives in. Violet is hesitant but will investigate the case. Then all of a sudden a woman is killed right in front of Violet’s house and things start to take a turn for the worse. Murders continue to happen and it’s up to Violet to solve this mystery, while hoping there won’t be too many gruesome happenings along the way.
I gave the book three stars because the language made it hard to read as a non-native speaker of the English language. I also thought the dialogues in her head were sometimes making it a bit confusing. 🤷🏻♀️
The book is about thriller writer Violet Thorn. She lives in Suffolk with her two servants and her leading character Ruby Gibson. Violet is living a quiet life until that quietness is being disturbed by a stranger asking for her help. The stranger claims her friend is being held captive in her own home by her newlywed husband, a well known doctor in the town Violet lives in. Violet is hesitant but will investigate the case. Then all of a sudden a woman is killed right in front of Violet’s house and things start to take a turn for the worse. Murders continue to happen and it’s up to Violet to solve this mystery, while hoping there won’t be too many gruesome happenings along the way.
May 26, 2023
DNF at 28% ARC courtesy of Netgalley for an honest review.
I saw a review on Goodreads that said this book has more characters than the LoTR trilogy, and I can't disagree. Every side person we see once is a named character and it makes it difficult to know who the reader must keep track of. The whole thing is extremely wordy and reads as though the author has little writing experience. We didn't reach an actual plot point until 20% when Haglin House is mentioned, up to which point the rest had been useless dialogue and drawn-out events that served little besides making me hate MC Violet.
Shorter chapters are mostly used as a tool to make a book feel faster in pace however in the case of Haglin House, it slows it down dramatically as we are told the ins and outs of every interaction and gain no character progression or understanding from any of it. It was a slog for me to get through and I learnt very little about the characters, many chapters feeling entirely redundant. Even when we got some proper storyline that felt relevant, it was largely interspersed with distractions, made-up words, and unnecessary dialogue.
In the case of Ruby, it wasn't made obvious who she was from the start or why she was there, and her (novel) chapters weren't in italics as though they were written by Violet, so they came across as part of Violet's own story, confusing things further.
For Violet herself, she was immediately painted as not a very nice or understanding person in the first handful of chapters as she made fun of their driver who isn't very quick-witted and doesn't comprehend sarcasm. Followed by that the way she speaks about the appearance of her maid makes it seem as though she has prejudices against certain "ugly" stereotypes such as "powerful arms", "furry mole on her top lip" and hairs on her chin, and how she mispronounces some words. While this gave an understanding of what sort of person Violet is, it did make me not want to like her immediately or care particularly what happened to her.
I saw a review on Goodreads that said this book has more characters than the LoTR trilogy, and I can't disagree. Every side person we see once is a named character and it makes it difficult to know who the reader must keep track of. The whole thing is extremely wordy and reads as though the author has little writing experience. We didn't reach an actual plot point until 20% when Haglin House is mentioned, up to which point the rest had been useless dialogue and drawn-out events that served little besides making me hate MC Violet.
Shorter chapters are mostly used as a tool to make a book feel faster in pace however in the case of Haglin House, it slows it down dramatically as we are told the ins and outs of every interaction and gain no character progression or understanding from any of it. It was a slog for me to get through and I learnt very little about the characters, many chapters feeling entirely redundant. Even when we got some proper storyline that felt relevant, it was largely interspersed with distractions, made-up words, and unnecessary dialogue.
In the case of Ruby, it wasn't made obvious who she was from the start or why she was there, and her (novel) chapters weren't in italics as though they were written by Violet, so they came across as part of Violet's own story, confusing things further.
For Violet herself, she was immediately painted as not a very nice or understanding person in the first handful of chapters as she made fun of their driver who isn't very quick-witted and doesn't comprehend sarcasm. Followed by that the way she speaks about the appearance of her maid makes it seem as though she has prejudices against certain "ugly" stereotypes such as "powerful arms", "furry mole on her top lip" and hairs on her chin, and how she mispronounces some words. While this gave an understanding of what sort of person Violet is, it did make me not want to like her immediately or care particularly what happened to her.
January 6, 2024
This is such a tricky book to review because of the mixed emotions it invoked!
On the one hand, it is a really good, fun mystery story with really unique and memorable characters. I could honestly give it 5* on these basis alone! On the other hand, however, there were two distinct problems with the story that made it almost impossible to read until I got the hang of it.
Firstly, main character Violet’s jilting is introduced at the very beginning, briefly mentioned throughout, then revisited at the end, but it never seems to relate to the main plot and just confused the introduction of the characters at the beginning of the book, making it more difficult to find the flow of the story at the start.
More importantly and with greater negative effect though, was that Violet is such an imaginative author that her characters constantly speak to her in her head. As in, she has two main characters of her own books (a female adventurer-detective and a fussy male deductive-detective) who comment on everything that happens during the plot, frequently intruding on both the action and the dialogue in a way that is both irritating and confusing for the reader and slows the plot for no real benefit. I actually loved the idea of this, but there is way too much of it here – less would have been more!
Despite these issues, once I got the hang of the writing style and characters (which took a few chapters), I really was hooked! Violet herself, and Friendless, Agnust and Gerrund (her ‘servants’) are all utterly brilliant and I could read endless books of their adventures together. The humour really made me laugh and the repeated twists to the story kept me guessing right up to the very end.
This really would be one of my favourite books, if it had been trimmed a little more for clarity’s sake. I still want to read more though, and will be keeping an eye out for book 2!
On the one hand, it is a really good, fun mystery story with really unique and memorable characters. I could honestly give it 5* on these basis alone! On the other hand, however, there were two distinct problems with the story that made it almost impossible to read until I got the hang of it.
Firstly, main character Violet’s jilting is introduced at the very beginning, briefly mentioned throughout, then revisited at the end, but it never seems to relate to the main plot and just confused the introduction of the characters at the beginning of the book, making it more difficult to find the flow of the story at the start.
More importantly and with greater negative effect though, was that Violet is such an imaginative author that her characters constantly speak to her in her head. As in, she has two main characters of her own books (a female adventurer-detective and a fussy male deductive-detective) who comment on everything that happens during the plot, frequently intruding on both the action and the dialogue in a way that is both irritating and confusing for the reader and slows the plot for no real benefit. I actually loved the idea of this, but there is way too much of it here – less would have been more!
Despite these issues, once I got the hang of the writing style and characters (which took a few chapters), I really was hooked! Violet herself, and Friendless, Agnust and Gerrund (her ‘servants’) are all utterly brilliant and I could read endless books of their adventures together. The humour really made me laugh and the repeated twists to the story kept me guessing right up to the very end.
This really would be one of my favourite books, if it had been trimmed a little more for clarity’s sake. I still want to read more though, and will be keeping an eye out for book 2!
April 15, 2024
This book started out well, and has a lot of elements I really liked: an unconventional heroine, some engaging supporting characters, and a somewhat intriguing plot. And it starts of marvellously, with the lady doing something decidedly unladylike and dangerous for a good bit of money. So far, so good.
Unfortunately it goes downhill from there. Lady Violet Thorn, the protagonist of this book, is a somewhat successful writer (it's never entirely clear how much success she actually has), and as such her fictional creations are constantly in her head to provide a running commentary on what's happening to her.
It's a shame, I'd still have liked to know if there were other secrets to discover in this case, but it was just too slow.
Unfortunately it goes downhill from there. Lady Violet Thorn, the protagonist of this book, is a somewhat successful writer (it's never entirely clear how much success she actually has), and as such her fictional creations are constantly in her head to provide a running commentary on what's happening to her.
It's a shame, I'd still have liked to know if there were other secrets to discover in this case, but it was just too slow.
June 9, 2023
It is the kind of book that you cannot fully grasp. It takes a while to understand characters and their motives. Their connection with each other. And then only you are able to grasp it all and process it. It has a mysterious and suspenseful vibe.
Lady Violet Thorn is a Thriller writer. Then we were introduced to Ruby Gibson and Gerrund. It felt like brain storming the ideas or different pieces of puzzles and joining them together. While Lady Violet is a writer who talks with her characters throughout the book. But a murder outside her home threatens her peace and then another murder in town and deaths mount up. All the clue leads to the Haglin house and whoever lives there.
I enjoyed the conversations in this book. The conversation between Martha and Ruby Gibson and many more. It was engrossing, dark, and the intricate mystery keeps at edge. The ending was scary, impactful, and unpredictable.
Lady Violet Thorn is a Thriller writer. Then we were introduced to Ruby Gibson and Gerrund. It felt like brain storming the ideas or different pieces of puzzles and joining them together. While Lady Violet is a writer who talks with her characters throughout the book. But a murder outside her home threatens her peace and then another murder in town and deaths mount up. All the clue leads to the Haglin house and whoever lives there.
I enjoyed the conversations in this book. The conversation between Martha and Ruby Gibson and many more. It was engrossing, dark, and the intricate mystery keeps at edge. The ending was scary, impactful, and unpredictable.
July 27, 2023
I loved it! As I love all M.R.C. Kasasian's previous books. I was worried for a while that there weren't going to be anymore, so I was thrilled to see the notification that The Horror of Haglin House was being released. Violet is as witty and fun as Betty Church or March Middleton and the crime is as mad as any they faced. I hope another book will quickly follow. Can't wait.
May 8, 2024
Took me a few pages to work out who was talking but once done I flew through. Violet Thorn is a hero that the world needs. The characters are wonderful and the olde Suffolk dialect is hysterical and fun to read.
Moving straight on to the next book.
Moving straight on to the next book.
June 8, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyed! Unique and intriguing!
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