#Spooktober-‘Naomi’s Room’ by Jonathan Aycliffe

About the book…

‘A chilling story’ — Independent

Charles and Laura live a sheltered, gilded life in the the privileged world of Cambridge academia: young and in love, their marriage is blessed by a wonderful child – Naomi.

On Christmas Eve morning, Charles sets off with Naomi on a shopping trip to London. By the end of the day, all Charles and his wife have left are cups of tea and police sympathy…

Their beautiful, angelic only child, has disappeared. Days later her murdered body is discovered… but is she dead?

‘Naomi’s Room’ by Jonathan Aycliffe is published in paperback and ebook by Corsair.

Oh but this book is absolutely terrifying before there is even the merest whiff if the supernatural.

The horror is in the knowing that this novel deals with the death of a child. And that her father is still haunted decades later…

There are lots of subtle mentions mentions and foreshadowing that something terrible has happened to Dr Hillenbrand and his wife, Laura.

Their idyllic life is laid bare, the scene set for a dad and daughter trip to London to see the Christmas displays.

Until, that is, in a toyshop he looks away for the briefest minute and finds his daughter,Naomi,has gone.

The grief and despair as his relationship with his wife splinters and is rent asunder is a fresh hell all so easily imaginable.

The world weary Detective Ruthven,investigating the murder of this small child is a stand out creation, both as a bereaved father himself a a pursuer of justice.

But even worse than the murder is where Naomi ends up after her death…

A Welsh journalist approaches the Doctor with pictures he has taken whilst surveillance surveillance grief struck parents.

And what stands out is nothing less than impossible.

For there are figures in the photographs which simply could not have been there.

A wonderful and terrifying novel, wonderful for the skill inherent in creating this and terrible for the central conceit, this is one I read full pelt at fever pitch until I turned the very last page.

You see, I couldn’t sleep until I finished it, and when I did, I was too scared to….

About the author..

Jonathan Aycliffe (Denis M. MacEoin) was born in Belfast in 1949. He studied English, Persian, Arabic and Islamic studies at the universities of Dublin, Edinburgh and Cambridge, and lectured at the universities of Fez in Morocco and Newcastle upon Tyne.

The author of several successful full-length ghost stories, he lives in the north of England with his wife, homeopath and health writer, Beth MacEoin. He also writes as Daniel Easterman, under which name he has penned nine bestselling novels