Chilling

His Fatal Legacy by Heather Atkinson is an historical novel that gripped me from the start. It is the third book in the Alardyce House series but can be read as a stand-alone.

The tale is set in Edinburgh in the late nineteenth century. It has elements of the Gothic tradition with large houses, dark nights, deserted alleyways and sinister characters. The tone is chilling as an air of menace appears.

Family is important. A mother’s love is fiercely protective, needing to uphold appearances no matter the cost. Dreadful secrets and suspicions arise but lips are sealed.

We witness nature versus nurture – are monsters made by their genes or a product of their environment? A character wrestles with the darkness within as he tries to focus on the light.