Five Stars!
UK author Katie Marie studied law at Aberystwyth University in Wales, and has gained notoriety for her ghost stories and horror stories. Her books to date include FIREFLY, GREY WINGS, and now A MAN IN WINTER, in addition to multiple anthologies. The author demonstrates her ability to create the dark atmospheres of her novel as she opens the gate to her story: ‘We pulled up outside the cottage and even from the road you could see it was a hollow shell. The windows were curtainless and dirty, the faded paint was peeling on the frames. It wasn’t the home it had been. Sophie helped me out of the car and let me walk up the garden path alone. The garden was still neat; it had been my domain…The front door creaked as it opened directly into the living room. It was bare…’ And so Arthur revisits his home after his wife Molly was murdered and the tale begins.
Though brief this book is a sound presentation of a horror story that deals with response to tragic death, advancing dementia, and ghosts of the past in a sensitive, refreshingly unique manner. The plot: ‘Arthur, whose life was devastated by the brutal murder of his wife, must come to terms with his diagnosis of dementia. He moves into a new home at a retirement community, and shortly after, has his life turned upside down again when his wife’s ghost visits him and sends him on a quest to find her killer so her spirit can move on. With his family and his doctor concerned that his dementia is advancing, will he be able to solve the murder before his independence is permanently restricted?’
Katie Marie makes the horror real, but in creating a man dealing with loss of his beloved wife while attempting to cope with the equal horror of advancing dementia, she takes horror stories to a new level. This is an important, sensitive author to watch. Very highly recommended I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book
Letters from a Horror Writer 