About the Book

Book: In the Shadow of Croft Towers
Author: Abigail Wilson
Genre: Historical fiction, romantic suspense
Release Date: January 15, 2019

From debut author Abigail Wilson comes a mysterious Regency tale of secrets and spies, love and treachery.

Orphaned Sybil Delafield jumps at the opportunity for a position at the mysterious Croft Towers. She believes she was hired to act as companion to a dying woman, but a highway robbery and a hostile welcome from the Chalcroft family cause her to wonder if she was actually hired to help someone spy for France.

An unsolved murder adds intrigue to this already secretive family, and Sybil recognizes Mrs. Chalcroft’s handsome grandson as one of the infamous highwaymen who robbed her. Sybil must determine if this man’s charming smile and earnest eyes speak the truth or if he is simply using her like others in the house. Everyone seems to have something to hide, and Sybil must decide who to trust while also coming to terms with the truth about her own past.

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My Thoughts:

Sybil Delafield is an orphan, an orphan who has had a mysterious benefactor and who now is on her way to be a lady’s companion to a Mrs. Chalcroft at Croft Towers. Told solely from Sybil’s view point we step into a mysterious home, an eccentric family, and plenty of secrets. What Sybil thought her role would be in this household is far different than what she prepared for.

There are family secrets and “ghosts” that still “haunt” the Towers. On top of all that there are soldiers in town intent on finding spies for France, highwaymen (which Sybil had an unfortunate meeting with), a murder, and almost everyone has a secret for Sybil to keep.

From the first words of this story I was drawn into Sybil’s journey. Who is the he she said she would never have met? Does she find out who she is and why she has been given an education for the upper class? As for the family themselves, they certainly do not act normal. Each of them seem to be hiding something and or have ulterior motives in which involves who will be bestowed the title of heir when their Aunt Chalcroft dies. Many times I wondered if Sybil should just leave, but where would she go?

This was a moody read with a perfectly creepy setting, not really the place but all the players in the home and the town that surround Sybil with her comings and goings. If you are looking for a gothic read, this is a perfect one to curl up with.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

About the Author

Abigail Wilson combines her passion for Regency England with intrigue and adventure to pen historical mysteries with a heart. A Registered Nurse, chai tea addict, and mother of two crazy kids, Abigail fills her spare time hiking the National Parks, attending her daughter’s gymnastic meets, and curling up with a great book. In 2017, Abigail won WisRWA’s Fab Five contest and ACFW’s First Impressions contest as well as placing as a finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is a cum laude graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and currently lives in Dripping Springs, Texas, with her husband and children. Connect with Abigail at www.acwilsonbooks.com

Excerpt from the Book

1813

THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE

I often wonder what my life would have been like if I had never learned the truth. I wouldn’t have set off as I did for Croft Towers. I never would have met him.

It’s strange what I remember about the day I left London. The mail coach was late; the weather wretched. The clock had struck midnight long before two strangers and I ducked beneath the postmaster’s outstretched umbrella to board the Royal Mail and rumble across the North Downs.

That difficult journey east marked the beginning of an unseasonably cold autumn. Frigid rain pelted the coach windows. The undercarriage squealed beneath the seats as a metallic scent wound its way between the drafty boards. I gripped the windowsill, wondering if the coachman intended to hit every bump in the road.

“Far to go, miss?”

The woman’s voice startled me. Dressed head to toe in red satin, she’d endured the last few darkened hours with a handful of smelling salts and a tongue hot for complaints, but she hadn’t spoken to me until now. Not until the first hint of rain-soaked daylight peeked over the horizon.

I lowered my gaze and fiddled with my bonnet ribbons. “Yes, ma’am . . . well, not too much farther, I hope.”

Taken from “In the Shadow of Croft Towers” by Abigail Wilson. Copyright © 2018 by Abigail Wilson. Used by permission of http://www.thomasnelson.com/.