The Secret of Cold Hill

Product Information

Perhaps the worst thing is that the whole plot just seemed to be lifted from The House on Cold Hill, with exactly the same sort of thing happening throughout, right down to the plot "twists". It's not scary in the slightest. It's about as terrifying as Thomas the Tank Engine, and to be frank, he creates main protagonists so appallingly middle-class that you sort of wish the ghosts would hurry up and kill them. Jason is an up and coming artist looking forward to the studio and quiet surroundings of the new home. Emily, with her friend Louise, is a caterer, and will manage the business out of the adapted garage. Everything looks wonderful as they work at settling in shortly before Christmas. They meet their across-the-street neighbors, Maurice and Claudette Penze-Weedell soon and learn they have little in common. The Penze-Weedells, especially Claudette, do seem close to caricature. But it’s not fair to compare James to Herbert, because while there are passing similarities, they both hold up on their own. It’s pretty exciting to see James taking on more traditional horror like this because he’s mostly thought of as a crime author because of his Roy Grace books. The Secret of Cold Hill shows that he’s far more versatile than that. Classic haunted house characteristics appear during the course of the novel, from ghostly apparitions that disappear as soon as they appear, to sudden temperature drops, stomping feet, cursed voices and unexplained potent aromas add to the issues faced by the new residents of Cold Hill Park. I appreciated the insertion of newspaper reports and even gravestone inscriptions included within the narrative. These extra flourishes add further conjecture to the unfolding tale.

I am a big fan of Peter James novels and especially enjoy the Roy Grace series but he does write exceptionally good ghost stories. The Secret of Cold Hill isn’t drastically different from the first book in many ways, and it’s not James at his best by any means. I could never quite make my mind up about the ending of The House on Cold Hill. This time out, the resolution is rather a cop-out and not much of a surprise in the scheme of things. There are a handful of genuinely spooky moments where I was glad I had the lights on, but they’re a bit thin on the ground and rely on a fair bit of repetition. Now to the story. Slowly odd things begin to happen. Footsteps heard where no one should be walking. Voices talking out of empty space. Disturbing. But not yet scary. Then there are shadows. What is in this house? Jason and Emily learn a little about the area from locals, enough to increase their curiosity. Meanwhile he is working on important art work due before Christmas.

Summary

The Secret of Cold Hill is actually the follow-up to James’ earlier book, The House On Cold Hill, which I was sent an ARC copy of by the publishers. James is a bestselling author who’s pretty approachable on social media. He’s shared a photo of my cat with some of his books, he’s replied to a few of my comments on his YouTube channel, and he even let me send him a copy of my first cosy mystery novel, Driven. And suddenly, strange things start happening in Jason and Emily’s house, and it feels like they’re not alone. Then they discover that no one has ever lived beyond the age of 40 in Cold Hill This is the second book in the series, but I didn't feel I was missing anything by not having read the first book before I read this one. There is one thing that never appears in the estate agent brochures: nobody has ever survived beyond forty in Cold Hill House and no one has ever truly left . . .

Even so, I was a little surprised when he cheerfully entered the atrium, stood still for a couple of minutes, and then loudly and very firmly enunciated, into thin air, ‘You may go now!’ The Secret of Cold Hill is now the third book I have read recently that fuses old world gothic history with the contemporary. There is also a strong slant towards technology in this book, as the houses populated by the families of this novel all contain highly modernised home systems that are automated and work on voice recognition. Of course we know that technology is not immune to malfunctions, which occurs in The Secret of Cold Hill, but we do question if something more malevolent is at work. Peter James, author of the Det. Roy Grace police procedural series, has turned his deft hand to a new genre with this series, with mixed results. The story is very readable, because James is so skilled at writing narrative and dialogue. But the plot felt repetitive, consisting of a series of odd things happening, Jason and Emily talking themselves into believing that nothing strange is happening, and then more odd things happening. I did enjoy how James resolved the storyline. There is long-winded focus on things like which flavour chocolate choices are being consumed from a tin or a coffee machine. So much inserted boring and irrelevant detail.How are you getting on with your grey lady?’ he said, with a strange, quizzical look that immediately unsettled me.

And so what else is there to say? It was just a satisfying read, a decent little ghost story that hit the sweet spot and left me longing for more, although I don’t know if James can continue the series. It’s not that he didn’t leave himself any leeway, it’s just that it would stretch the suspension of disbelief to have more people moving into a place that’s quite clearly haunted.

I think it also made me reconsider my rating of the first book, and makes me want to put that down from a 5* to a 3.5*. This book was far stronger. The characters were much better (the snobby, horrible neighbours were awful people but so funny, I kind of warmed to them!) and in terms of the haunting, it was less of a movie-cliche, and far more realistic of true hauntings. The book is set around Christmas, so if you want lightweight festive fare, laced with James’ dark humour, that won’t give you indigestion, then The Secret of Cold Hill might be worth a punt. But if you’re only familiar with James’ main series, then you might find you’re disappointed with this offering. Cold Hill House, the huge, crumbling mansion, has been demolished. It’s now being replaced by trendy modern homes with every electrical gizmo there is, including voice-operated gadgets. Cold Hill House has been razed to the ground by fire, replaced with a development of ultra-modern homes. Gone with the flames are the violent memories of the house’s history and a new era has begun.

You cannot bury evil’ states the spine tingling front cover tagline of bestselling British author Peter James’ brand new novel, The Secret of Cold Hill. Following on from his 2015 release, The House on Cold Hill, which was recently made into a theatre production, the second book in the Cold Hill series is creepy, intense, unpredictable and consuming. It was very cliche, and in many ways was repetitive of the first instalment, but I just wanted a classic "haunted house" book for the lead up to Halloween, and this fit the bill. It did what I wanted it to do; it entertained me. The looming presence of Cold Hill House is now a distant memory. In its place stands a new development of modern homes, built after the devastating fire that burnt the house to the ground. From the number one bestselling author, Peter James, comes T he Secret of Cold Hill. T he spine-chilling follow-up to The House on Cold Hill. Now a smash-hit stage play. This seems like a negative review, but it's not entirely. I did enjoy this book. Peter James is a great writer and this book is just as well written. It's easy to read and it is enjoyable. The ghosty bits are suitably chilling. I think I was just a little disappointed, and I expected it to be different. I don't really understand the author's motivation to write this.

For the first two families to move into their new houses at Cold Hill Park, this is a fresh start. Jason and Emily Danes are thrilled to finally settle in to their family home, and for Maurice and Claudette Penze-Weedell, it’s a long-awaited retirement dream. Cold Hill Park appears to be the perfect place to live. I felt a tad cynical about her response – but at the same time, I was now feeling deeply uncomfortable in what should have been the sanctuary of my own home. But there was a vicar I knew who I thought would be able to help, and with whom I had become good friends.