Blog Tour: Crow’s Cottage (Where The Dead Walk # 2) by John Bowen #bookreview @johnybwrites @Tr4cyF3nt0n

A dead man. A missing woman. A haunted cottage. A secret hidden for thirty years…
In 1988 a famous record producer took his own life and a woman vanished after attending a party at Crow’s Cottage.
When the cottage’s owner passes away decades later, the property falls into the hands of his nephew, who finds a strange box hidden there. It is a replica of an infamous occult device called the Mephisto Arcane. In the wake of its discovery come sightings of an apparition. The crew of the paranormal TV show Where the Dead Walk are invited to investigate the haunting.
They are about to find the past guards its secrets jealously, and that unlocking them has consequences.

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Hello and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Crow’s Cottage, the second instalment in the Where The Dead Walk series! Massive thanks to Tracy Fenton for the invite, and to John Bowen for the eARC!

The Where The Dead Walk books focus on a paranormal TV show and its crew. If you’re new to this series, note that you needn’t have read the first novel to enjoy the second. At first, I was even a little disappointed that the two main characters from the first instalment didn’t return in Crow’s Cottage: I had been looking forward to finding out more about Kate and Henry, but they are only mentioned in passing, and Kate as the face of the TV show has been replaced by Chloe. While I did miss Kate at first, I soon loved feisty Chloe every bit as much. With a sister who’s been missing for years, Chloe has her issues, but being asked to co-host the Where The Dead Walk episodes could be just the thing she needs. The rest of the crew is still there, including my favourite paranormal investigator, Charles.

This second instalment is even more atmospheric than the first, whether you believe in ghosts or not. For the record, I don’t, but apparently I’m very susceptible and this is one of those stories that made me jump at shadows and see all kinds of creepy things go bump in the night as soon as it got dark. This is also one of those books that has you googling stuff. Sure you’re sure the Mephisto Arcane is not real! But let’s look it up anyway just to be really REALLY sure, that’s just how realistic John Bowen’s writing is.

Apart from the paranormal aspect, the mystery surrounding Crow’s Cottage is the most prominent part of the story: as always, the WTDW crew attempt to find out all they can about the history of the cottage and that’s chequered to say the least. Allegedly, the Mephisto Arcane was used at a party in the cottage years ago to summon a daemon, after which one attendee went to commit suicide and another just plain disappeared. Unravelling the secrets of Crow’s Cottage comes at a price for the crew, but for the reader it just makes for very entertaining reading!

A thrilling mystery with a large helping of the supernatural and a sprinkling of humour, highly recommended!