The Golden Key – Marian Womack

Oh how I love gothic novels. Gothic novels featuring lady detectives, spiritualists, fairy tales and mysteries are even more my cup of tea. Which means I raced through The Golden Key – I read about two thirds of this one on a plane ride to Switzerland and was quite upset that I had to stop reading! Many thanks to Lydia Gittins and Titan Books for sending me a review copy of this wonderful story (and look how beautiful the cover is!).

RELEASE DATE: 18/02/2019

STAR RATING: 4.5/5 ✶

SYNOPSIS: After the death of Queen Victoria, England heaves with the uncanny. Séances are held and the dead are called upon from darker realms.

Helena Walton-Cisneros, known for her ability to find the lost and the displaced, is hired by the elusive Lady Matthews to solve a twenty-year-old mystery: the disappearance of her three stepdaughters who vanished without a trace on the Norfolk Fens.

But the Fens are an age-old land, where folk tales and dark magic still linger. The locals speak of devilmen and catatonic children are found on the Broads. Here, Helena finds what she was sent for, as the Fenland always gives up its secrets, in the end… (from Titan Books)

OPINIONS: I’ve noticed a theme when it comes to reading Victorian and very early twentieth century settings: I pick them up with abandon, hesitate to start them and then completely immerse myself as soon as I do. The same happened with The Golden Key. I pushed out reading it for about a week, although I knew I needed to get the review out by the release date, only to fall in love as soon as I actually started.

Helena Walton-Cisneros is a fantastic character to base a series on, playing into stereotypes associated with the spiritualists the age was so obsessed with while employing psychology and detective skills more reminiscent of the great detectives of the ilk of Sherlock Holmes, albeit with more charm and less arrogance. She is a fantastically complex character, and there is much to discover about her still, giving Marian Womack plenty of fodder for future books. Her partner in the investigation, Eliza Waltraud, sapphic scientific mind, is equally complex, and it begs to wonder how her life will develop after the end of the narrative.

Together they solve the mystery of the missing children in the Fens, which has an unexpected answer threading through to their present day. Part fairy tale, part detective story, Marion Womack writes a gripping debut novel that will capture you from beginning to end. I can’t wait to read what else she comes up with.

Add The Golden Key on Goodreads here and order it here or from your dealer of choice!