The Forgotten House on the Moor by Jane Lovering - Book Review

The Forgotten House on the Moor by Jane Lovering

Publication Date: 22nd June 2022

Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction with a sort of Cozy Mystery 

3 Stars

One Liner: Lighthearted, but overdoing a joke a ruined it 

*****

Alice Donaldson wakes up to the news of her ex-husband Grant’s death. The police tell her that he was killed in an accident somewhere on the North York Moors. 

Alice has no idea what she’s supposed to do. But curiosity leads her to the place of his death. Imagine her surprise to see a woman, Jenna, cry for Grant. She was his girlfriend and distraught about his death. Alice also meets the handsome Max, Jenna’s bother, and a book-writing research scholar. 

When Jenna wants to play Sherlock about Grant’s death, and Max asks for help, Alice decides to help them come to terms with the developments. However, shocking news arrives at Alice’s doorstep, followed by another incident at the crime scene. 

It doesn’t help that The Fortune House has been haunted for a long, long time. Who is this ghost? What happened in the past? How can Alice and Max uncover the mystery? And what about their growing attraction for each other? Will the story have a happy ending? 

The story comes in the first person POV from Alice. 

What I Like: 

The book is lighthearted and easy to read. Alice rambles (obviously) but not so much that I lose track of the plot. Painful topics are dealt with with the right amount of seriousness. 

Jenna is a person of contrasts, delightful yet annoying. I love that she rides motorbikes and bakes scones with the same ease. I just can’t see what she finds so alluring in Grant. 

Max is actually a good guy. A bit prone to get into his lecturer mode, but I’d rather read about psychological aspects than laments about the body size (more on this next). 

The paranormal part is pretty light. No scary stuff here, so readers wary of ghosts can read the book without worry. 

The ending works well for the story. It’s not too sweet or a picture of happy-ever-after but has enough to tie up the loose ends. 

What Didn’t Work for Me: 

The pacing is slower than I like for women’s fiction/ cozy mystery. It also feels more like a historical mystery due to the setting. 

I wanted to knock sense into Alice for half the most. Yeah, she is sensible when it comes to everything except her size. For God's sake, woman, it’s not a crime to be ‘plump’ or whatever she calls herself to be. 

A couple of self-deprecating jokes about being curvy are fine. But to have one on every page (or more) is annoying. She is an easy person to be with and a likable character. Yet, she had to ruin it by obsessing about her weight throughout.

It never occurs to Alice that she can lose the weight she gained. She laments about the extra stone (6.3kgs) she gained after she stopped taking care of herself. She can lose it once she begins to pay more attention to her health and diet. There’s no need to starve or get to size zero. She only needs to feel fit enough to stop obsessing about her weight every time. 

You can see that my major problem with the book was only one issue. The rest is good (meaning romcom good and eye-rolls are mandatory). For those curious, Alice would size XXL (converted based on the size provided by another reviewer). 

To sum up, The Forgotten House on the Moor could have been a delightfully funny and sweet read if not for the heroine’s obsession with weight.

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for the eARC.  

#NetGalley #TheForgottenHouseontheMoor