Fleeing from a traumatic break-in, Londoners Paul and Tricia Feenan sell up to escape to the isolated Holiwell village where Tricia has inherited a property. Scattered throughout the settlement are centuries-old stones used during the Great Plague as boundary markers. No plague-sufferer was permitted to pass them and enter the village. The plague diminished, and the village survived unscathed, but since then each year the village trustees have insisted on an ancient ceremony to renew the village boundaries, until a misguided act by the Feenans' son then reminds the village that there is a reason traditions have been rigidly stuck to, and that all acts of betrayal, even those committed centuries ago, have consequences.
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[HE OLD WOMAN WAS NEAR DEATH, AND THE TRUSTEES had gathered about her bed to pay their respects]***
(Titan Books, 14 May 2019, ebook, 496 pages, ARC from @TitanBooks, #BlogTour 27 May)
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I'm becoming quite a fan of Brodgen's work. This is the third novel of his that I've read and they've all been given 5/5 ratings. The Plague Stones completely blew me away, an absorbing blend of mystery, thriller and horror. I sort of loved the Feenan's. They felt so real to me like I'd known them in a past life. The mystery and indeed horror the family find themselves stuck in the middle of builds gradually until my poor heart couldn't take much more. The chapters set in the present with the Feenan family settling into their new life are interwoven with chapters recounting the horrific events during the Great Plague which haunt the residents of the village still, some 600 years later. The ending of the book completely floored me. The Plague Stones is terrific.
