The Winter Ghosts

By Kate Mosse.

Kate Mosse is best known as the writer of Labyrinth and Sepulchre, weighty books that cross over between historic fiction and modern day, with an element of the supernatural, and both of which I loved.

The Winter Ghosts is a much shorter and quicker read, and is also very satisfying.

Freddie Watson is traveling through an isolated and mountainous region of Southern France in the middle of winter in 1928. His car spins off the road and he has to trudge through the forests in the midst of a storm to find a village to summon help. But all is not as it seems in the village of Nulle, and there is something mysterious about Fabrissa, the young woman he meets and shares stories of his past with.

As always Kate Mosse's descriptions of both people, and France are evocative and enticing. Whenever I read her books, I have an urge to hop on a plane and go see it for myself. Pity about my lack of resources.

I'd initially given this book a three out of five, as although it was a lovely read, it wasn't as meaty or as in depth as Kate's other titles. But I have decided I need to upgrade this to a four out of five. The reason for this? A week after reading the book, and while distracted by reading other books, I find my mind drifting back to the story, pondering some of the atrocities committed in the name of war and religion, and thinking about the characters. The book is hanging around in my head, and considering how fast some things fall out of my head, any book that can hang on in there, in the presence of my next brilliant read, deserves the accolade.