Book Title: The Unquiet House (Regency Paranormal, Book 2)
Author: Ellie Thomas
Publisher: JMS Books
Cover Artist: in-house with publisher
Release Date: October 26, 2024
Tense/POV: Third person, past tense, single POV
Genres: MM Historical Paranormal
Tropes: Hurt/Comfort, Opposites Attract, Friends to Lovers
Themes: Haunting, ghosts, romantic suspense, peril
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 17 520 words
It is not a standalone story.
It is book 2 in my Regency Paranormal series. It does not end on a cliffhanger.
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In Regency England, Sam and Christian come across a ghostly disturbance at a country house.
Can their combined skills resolve the problem before someone, including themselves, gets seriously hurt?
Blurb
After barely surviving their terrifying encounter with the spectre of the hooded monk during the previous autumn, Christian Maxwell and Sam Gillespie have consolidated their romantic relationship and are starting to gain a reputation for dealing with the unknown.
For this reason, they receive an invitation to Haverford House in Wiltshire during the spring of 1817. The owners of the historic haunted manor house, Mr. and Mrs. Huxley, are being afflicted by a series of inexplicable incidents.
With his sensitivity to atmosphere, Christian is immediately alerted to danger. Yet, despite their best efforts, neither he nor Sam can discern the cause, although their search brings them closer as a couple and as a team. As sinister events develop, can our devoted duo unmask the culprit without putting themselves in danger?
When the inevitable happened, it was swift and potentially serious. Christian and Sam were on hand by pure chance rather than design. Having changed for dinner, they were approaching the Red Staircase when they were joined by Julia Margeson. She mentioned that her husband was already downstairs taking part a pre-prandial game of billiards to while away half an hour before dinner.
Just as her foot hovered over the first step, Sam barked, “Stop.” He grasped her arm roughly.
Mrs. Margeson was more startled than offended by Sam’s sharpness. Sam recovered quickly and smiled at her with his usual charm.
“I do believe there’s some liquid spilt on the top step. Lamp oil by the looks of it. Christian, why don’t you escort Mrs. Margeson downstairs by another route? I’ll remain here on guard to prevent anyone else from slipping.”
“A very good idea,” Christian said.
He offered the lady his arm. Fortunately, Mrs. Margeson didn’t need much distraction from her lucky escape. The voluble lady seemed to have dismissed the incident already, given her ready flow of chatter.
They reached the ground floor at the back of the house by way of the Jerusalem Staircase. They were met by Simon the footman. He swiftly hid his surprise at finding guests in the nether regions of the building.
“I’m glad we came across you,” Christian said, trying to emulate Sam’s easy manner. “There’s an oil spill at the top of the Red Staircase. A minor matter until someone loses their footing. Mr. Gillespie is waiting there to warn the other guests.”
By his keen expression, Simon seemed alert to the potential danger, despite Christian’s deliberate understatement. Like the last occasion, Christian was grateful for Simon’s quick grasp of facts.
“I’ll wipe that away at once,” Simon said. True to his word, he hurried off.
Christian and Mrs. Margeson continued in his wake at a more leisurely pace. Christian paused momentarily near the open door to the Great Hall, without his companion noticing. They approached the drawing room, passing the Red Staircase.
Christian glanced up to see Simon and Sam in conference together on the upper landing. Another crisis averted, he thought thankfully.
Rather than following Mrs. Margeson into the drawing room, Christian immediately retraced his steps.
He came across Sam at the foot of the staircase.
“Well done for finding Simon so swiftly,” Sam said with a smile. “Between us, we cleared up the oil and Simon even sprinkled a little sand on the step as a precaution. No one will be taking a tumble down the stairs today.” Then he glanced at Christian in puzzlement. “I thought I’d find you in the drawing room.”
“That was my intention, but as we were passing through the house I could have sworn I smelled smoke. I came to investigate.”
“You are quite correct. Simon told me that an overturned candelabra on the table in the Great Hall set fire to a linen napkin. Fortunately, it was discovered and extinguished before the flames had a chance to spread.”
“That’s quite a coincidence,” Christian said slowly, “that a burning candle should topple over at the same time as oil spillage.”
“Or no coincidence whatsoever.” Sam’s usually mobile mouth was set in a firm line. “The fire sent the servants in the opposite direction when people were coming downstairs before dinner.”
“So that no one was available to notice the oil.”
“Indeed.”
Christian looked at the vast expanse of wooden staircase and the flagstones at its foot. He shuddered to think of the impact on Mrs. Margeson or any other of the guests. Dangerous or even potentially fatal. Thank heavens for Sam’s quick thinking.
It was pure good fortune that no one was hurt or worse.
The manipulation of events showed the actions of a cunning mind, capable of forward planning and keenly aware of the household routine. The servants habitually lit the candles in the Great Hall before serving drinks in the drawing room, which fact had been exploited to the full.
It was now apparent that they were dealing with a human rather than ghostly culprit. Christian’s suspicion that there were other secret passageways within the house seemed justifiable. Such routes would enable the malefactor to sneak around without being seen. Undead spirits would have no need for such a disguise, being able to appear and disappear at will.
Sam’s next words indicated he was equally concerned.
“We need to get to the bottom of this mystery,” he said grimly. “Before someone is seriously injured.”
Ellie Thomas lives by the sea. She comes from a teaching background and goes for long seaside walks where she daydreams about history. She is a voracious reader, especially about anything historical. She mainly writes historical gay romance.
Ellie also writes historical erotic romance as L. E. Thomas.
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