The Curse of Penryth Hall

July 1, 2023

A U.S. heiress starting a new life in the Cornish countryside, where she purveys rare books with her octogenarian housemate, Ruby Vaughn finds herself at the home of former best friend Tasmyn following a book delivery. She ends up staying at gloomy Penryth Hall when Tasmyn's husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth, is murdered amid rumors of a family curse. Winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition; with a 50,000-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 25, 2023
Armstrong’s engrossing debut begins in Devon, England, shortly after WWI, as American expat and bookseller Ruby Vaughn is sent by her employer to deliver a trunkful of rare volumes to a folk healer in a small Cornish village. While there, Ruby visits her estranged friend and former lover Tamsyn Chenowith, who left Ruby to marry Edward, the wealthy lord of Penryth Hall. Trapped in an unhappy marriage with Edward, Tamsyn wants to reconnect with Ruby, but their reunion takes a dark turn when Edward is found murdered in Penryth’s orchard, his face gruesomely disfigured. Locals are sure Edward’s death is the work of a mysterious curse that has plagued Penryth Hall for years, and Tamsyn fears she’ll be the next victim. Ruby teams up with Ruan Kivell, the town “pellar,” or witch, whose books she was supposed to deliver, to solve the mystery before anyone else dies; in the process, she sheds her skepticism of all things supernatural. Ruby is a wonderful concoction, world-weary and reckless, and Armstrong outfits her with a moody, gripping mystery that keeps the pages turning. If, in the end, she leaves one too many plot threads dangling, it’s a small quibble. Fans of Gothic-flavored suspense will devour this.

Starred review from October 1, 2023

DEBUT Winner of the Mystery Writers of America First Novel Crime Award, Armstrong's entrancing historical debut delivers an elegantly crafted, supernatural-tinged plot that evokes the best of Barbara Michaels, with nods to Conan Doyle's The Hound of Baskervilles. Superbly rendered characters include a plucky protagonist whom Maisie Dobbs would be proud to claim as a friend and an evocative sense of place reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier at her best. Ostensibly in Cornwall to deliver some antiquarian books, Ruby Vaughn has a real motive, to check in on her old friend Tamsyn. But Tamsyn, now the wife of Sir Edward Chenowyth and mistress of Penryth Hall, is no longer the vibrant girl Ruby knew during the Great War. Tempted to chalk up the changes in Tamsyn to Edward (who is a bully if not worse), Ruby thinks it's a blessing in disguise when Edward is found dead. But then everyone in the village claims that his death is the result of the Penryth Curse, and Tamsyn insists that she and her young son will be the next targets. VERDICT Readers who like their historical mysteries embellished with plenty of gothic ambience and enhanced with an abundance of dry wit will adore this splendid debut.--John Charles

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November 1, 2023
Armstrong's debut, set in 1922 in the Cornish countryside, channels The Hound of the Baskervilles as her heroine wonders if a curse is actually to blame for a real-life murder. Ruby Vaughn, who works for a seller of old and rare books in Exeter, walks into a scandal when she goes to a village called Lothlel Green to deliver a box of books to Ruan Kivell, who's known to the locals as the Pellar. As far as Ruby can tell, that means he's "more or less some type of arcane Cornish exorcist....[A] cross between a physician, a witch, and a priest," but that's not to say she isn't intrigued. Ruan is a mystery within a mystery; the second time Ruby meets him, she thinks: "This wasn't the charming man I'd seen only yesterday...No. He had thunder on his face, and there was something different about him. Something untamed, uncivilized, and entirely terrifying." While in Lothlel Green, Ruby reunites with Tamsyn, her old love, who's been living there in Penryth Hall since she married Sir Edward Chenowyth and had a son. When Edward dies mysteriously and Ruby is nearly killed herself, she learns about the Curse of Penryth Hall, where the Chenowyth family lives. Years ago, a jilted woman foolishly asked a local witch for help winning back the heart of her lover, a Chenowyth ancestor who'd married a barmaid, and "the witch set a curse upon the Chenowyth line vowing revenge. She killed the faithless heir and his young bride, removing his inconstant heart and delivering it to his betrothed in a silver box." Ruby is not sure she believes in curses, but she knows that Edward was not a faithful husband and likely has many enemies. Tamsyn isn't too broken up about Edward's death, but she'll do anything to protect her son from becoming the next victim of the curse, and she needs Ruby's help. Romance and danger lurk in every corner of this spooky estate. The folklore in the story is charming, and the characters treat it with reverence even while searching for a human killer. An intriguing and altogether enchanting mystery.

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November 1, 2023
Ruby Vaughn, an American heiress with a scandalous past, has found a new, quiet life in England after having worked as an ambulance driver in WWI. When her employer, a rare-books dealer, asks her to deliver a box of books to a friend who lives in Cornwall, she finds herself revisiting an area that she swore she would never see again. She brings the books to Ruan Kivell, a folk healer the locals call the Pellar. Then she decides to visit an old friend, Tamsyn, whom she lost touch with when Tamsyn married Edward Chenowyth, the lord of Penryth Hall. Ruby soon learns Edward is abusive. When the bells of Penryth Hall ring after years of silence, they announce the discovery of Edward's body, and everyone assumes that the curse of Penryth Hall has struck. They call the Pellar to break the curse. Ruby does not believe in curses, but she works with Ruan to investigate the gruesome death. They soon discover a sinister web of broken relationships and corruption. Readers who enjoy historical fiction with a touch of gothic and noir will find this tale compelling.

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