The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong

THE CURSE OF PENRYTH HALL by Jess Armstrong won the Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur First Crime Novel Competition and was a LibraryReads selection for December 2023. It is an extremely atmospheric mystery involving a gruesome death in the Cornish countryside. Young Ruby Vaughn is an American Heiress finding her way at the end of WWI; she has settled into helping an elderly bookseller and delivers some books to Ruan Kivell, a man her employer calls a folk healer and one whom the locals call the Pellar due to his extraordinary powers. When the Lord of the manor’s mutilated body is found, there is much talk of the return of a curse. Although they don’t believe in curses, Ruby and Ruan gradually uncover sinister secrets and past family relationships as they attempt to puzzle out what is happening. Library Journal praised this debut’s “elegantly crafted, supernatural-tinged plot” and gave THE CURSE OF PENRYTH HALL a starred review.