'Chillingly gothic' – The Guardian, Best Crime and Thrillers of the Year
Inspired by the haunting true story of the Winchester Mystery House, Ray Celestin's Palace of Shadows is an outstanding historical thriller set against the awe-inspiring terror of the Yorkshire Moors. From the prize-winning author of the City Blues Quartet.
1899. The desolate Smugglers’ Coast of North Yorkshire is a place that strikes fear into those who live nearby. Unexplained deaths, suicides, young girls gone missing on the nearby moors — the locals say it’s the grand house that drives people mad.
Still, when Samuel Etherstone is contacted by its reclusive owner, Mrs Chesterfield, and commissioned to work on the property, he accepts the offer. For a penniless artist adrift in London, the opportunity is too tempting to ignore.
It is only on arrival at the Chesterfield house that he learns the sinister details of its architect’s disappearance. And yet the widowed Mrs Chesterfield, keeps adding wing upon wing, and no one will tell him the reason behind her chilling obsession. But as Samuel delves deeper into the mysteries that swirl about the house the nature of the project becomes terrifyingly clear . . .
'Darkly entertaining' – Laura Shepherd-Robinson, bestselling author of The Square of Sevens
'Its jaw-dropping finale will leave readers reeling. An absolute triumph' – Sunday Express
'Moves exhilaratingly into Gothic territory' – Financial Times
"A beguiling standalone historical thriller . . . Its jaw-dropping finale will leave readers reeling. An absolute triumph" - Sunday Express
"Palace of Shadows moves exhilaratingly into Gothic territory" - Financial Times
"Beautifully crafted and delightfully creepy" - The Bookseller
"A piercing and wholly captivating historical novel that creates the most sinister and atmospheric of gothic tones . . . The foreboding descent into [the house’s] depths are chilling, and yet oh-so addictive . . . Beautifully atmospheric and absolutely convincing" - LoveReading
"Palace of Shadows is as authentically detailed as Dickens, sophisticatedly horrific as Poe, and is more than enough to give readers the chills on dark autumn nights" - Buzz Magazine
"Welcome the darker months in with this deeply unsettling gothic tale" - Sainsbury's Magazine
