Mystery Review: The Curse of Penryth Hall | Jess Armstrong

I’m continuing to love gothic settings now that winter has set in. They just make me want to cozy up with a book by the fire while the world outside is dark and snowy.

I would have never guessed The Curse of Penryth Hall is a debut, but it is! Armstrong’s book centers around Penryth Hall, which may or may not be cursed and is set in the brooding moors of the Cornish countryside. I got Hound of the Baskervilles vibes particularly with the setting, the curse, and the mystery, which is a high compliment! That is one of my go-to books since I was a child.

Ruby Vaughn is an orphan, exiled from America and living in Exeter. She works at a cozy little bookstore specializing in rare books (include some old and dangerous books that may serve special clients). She meets Ruan Kivell when she’s delivering books to him in the Cornish countryside. Ruan is known as the Peller, which she likens to a Cornish exorcist, a witch, a physician, and a priest. When she meets Ruan again, she notices that his demeanor has shifted quite a bit from their first meeting, making him all the more intriguing.

This trek leads her back to the Cornish countryside which she swore she’d left behind for good, and to specifically to Penryth Hall where one of her oldest friends and former lovers Tamsyn lives with her husband, Sir Edward Cheowyth, and son. Penryth Hall is said to be cursed, and Ruby finds it unsettling at best. When Sir Edward is found dead in the orchard, there are whispers that the curse that lurks over Penryth Hall has claimed it’s next victim.

The origins of the curse center around one of the Chenowyth ancestors who left his beloved to marry a barmaid. The jilted woman went to a local witch, who placed a curse on the Chenowyth line and Penryth Hall that has plagued the family lineage. Ruan the Peller is the only one the townspeople believe can break the curse.

Though Edward wasn’t the best husband, I felt for Tamsyn because she worried her son would become the next victim of the curse one day. She didn’t particularly care that it had taken Edward, though. Ruby describes herself as a “feral, fatalistic thing, living from chance to chance.” She’s a strong character and she is scrappy. She’s not really the focus of the book, but more of a conduit to tell the story.

I found Ruby to be smart and courageous, which may come from her upbringing. She mentions that death hasn’t wanted anything to do with her, probably because she hasn’t been worth it’s notice. We learn that her parents and sister died during the war. Ruby herself served during the war caring for injured soldiers. Before that, Ruby was shunned from high society after a scandal at the young age of 16.

Owen has taken Ruby in and acts as a father figure. He’s a fascinating character on his own—he’s caring and humorous. He always has a bit of a twinkle or smirk which makes him and Ruby well-suited to one another. Ruby is a brazen woman (especially for the time period), and she’s a bit wild which makes her so fun to read about. Her friend Tamsyn (the mistress of Penryth Hall) we learn was actually a former lover of Ruby’s who broke her heart. Ruby still has feelings for Tamsyn, though their former relationship is not a focus on the book.

Though I liked Ruby as a bold woman narrator, I did find her character to lack some depth. I suspect this may turn into a series and if it does, I expect that we will continue to learn more about Ruby’s life and story. It is easy to see how the events we do know about her life may have hardened her, and that perhaps explains why even the reader isn’t fully privy to Ruby’s feelings. Also, as the title implies, this is really a book about the curse that plagues Penryth Hall. As with many gothic novels, the setting itself is really the main character, with all of the people acting in supporting roles.

A little bit of romance, a little bit of spookiness, and atmospheric gothic vibes. I loved the folklore and mystery surrounding Penryth Hall and the small countryside community. This is an enchanting gothic mystery with interesting characters and a great setting!

Thank you to Minotaur Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Book | The Curse of Penryth Hall

An atmospheric gothic mystery that beautifully brings the ancient Cornish countryside to life, Armstrong introduces heroine Ruby Vaughn in her Minotaur Books & Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut, The Curse of Penryth Hall.

After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. She’s always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she’d never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall.

A foreboding fortress, Penryth Hall is home to Ruby’s once dearest friend, Tamsyn, and her husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. It’s an unsettling place, and after a more unsettling evening, Ruby is eager to depart. But her plans change when Penryth’s bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchard, and with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivell, the person whose books brought her to Cornwall, the one the locals call a Pellar, the man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesn’t believe in curses—or Pellars—but this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but lore, and they believe it will soon claim its next victim: Tamsyn.

To protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night.

About the Author | Jess Armstrong

Jess Armstrong’s debut novel The Curse of Penryth Hall won the Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur First Crime Novel Competition. She has a masters degree in American History but prefers writing about imaginary people to the real thing. Jess lives in New Orleans with her historian husband, two sons, yellow cat, speckled dog, and the world’s most pampered school-fair goldfish. And when she’s not working on her next project, she’s probably thinking about cheese, baking, tweeting or some combination of the above. You can find her on Twitter at @JessL_Armstrong or see what’s new on her website at www.writingjess.com.