Married couple Jack and Ali Gardiner move to a self-sufficient commune in the English Fens, desperate for fresh start. The local village is known for the witches who once resided there and Rosalind House, where the commune has been established, is a former psychiatric home, with a disturbing history.
When Jack and Ali arrive, a chain of unexpected and unexplained events is set off, and it becomes clear that they are not all that they seem. As the residents become twitchy, and the villagers suspicious, events from the past come back to haunt them, and someone is seeking retribution...
At once an unnerving locked-room mystery, a chilling thriller and a dark and superbly wrought ghost story, The Lingering is an exceptionally plotted, terrifying and tantalisingly twisted novel by one of the most exciting authors in the genre.
About the Author
SJI Holliday is a pharmaceutical statistician, novelist, and short story writer. She was shortlisted for the inaugural CWA Margery Allingham prize with her story "Home from Home," which was published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. She is the author of the Banktoun trilogy, which includes Black Wood and Willow Walk.
Industry Reviews
"A compulsive read until the final, breathtaking page." --Elizabeth Haynes, author, Behind Closed Doors
"Deliciously dark and twisted . . . Add it to your wish list now if you like being scared silly!" --Mark Edwards, author, The Retreat
"Brilliantly chilling and perfectly paced. Ghosts, witchcraft, murder and manipulation." --Anna Mazzola, author, The Unseeing
"An outstanding work of modern gothic which perfectly captures the ghosted isolation of the fens and the more tangible terrors of a remote commune, where historical abuses meet contemporary horrors. In the new wave of gothic novels The Lingering is a stand out triumph." --Eva Dolan, author, This Is How It Ends
"An unsettling tale of hauntings, both real and metaphorical, that lingers in the mind long after the reader turns the final page. A top-notch supernatural thriller." --Mason Cross, author, Don't Look for Me
"One of the most original ghost stores I have ever read, The Lingering pays homage to classic spooky tales and completely subverts them at the same time. Highly recommended." --Cass Green, author, In a Cottage in a Wood
"The Lingering is a gripping read, full of creeping menace and insidious dread, perfectly paced and guaranteed to cause you sleepless nights for all the right reasons. Fans of Susan Hill and Andrew Taylor, take note. One of my favourite authors." --David Mark, author, Dead Pretty
"A relentlessly unnerving mystery--like shuffling footsteps from a long-locked attic." --Matt Wesolowski, author, Six Stories
"Readers will find this contemporary gothic take hard to put down." --Publishers Weekly
