The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley - Review

About the Book:

THE INVINCIBLE NINTH ROMAN LEGION MARCHES FROM YORK TO FIGHT THE NORTHERN TRIBES. AND THEN VANISHES FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY.

Archaeologist Verity Grey has been drawn to the dark legends of the Scottish Borderlands in search of the truth buried in a rocky field by the sea.

Her eccentric boss has spent his whole life searching for the resting place of the lost Ninth Roman Legion and is convinced he's finally found it—not because of any scientific evidence, but because a local boy has "seen" a Roman soldier walking in the fields, a ghostly sentinel who guards the bodies of his long-dead comrades.

Here on the windswept shores, Verity may find the answer to one of the great unsolved mysteries of our time. Or she may uncover secrets someone buried for a reason.

About the Author:

Hailed as "the Daphne du Maurier of her generation", Susanna Kearsley is the author of several novels of suspense, including the internationally bestselling MARIANA, winner of Britain's Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize. A former museum curator, she brings her own passion for research and travel to bear in her books, weaving history with modern-day intrigue in a way that, in the words of one reviewer, "tells the story of the past and illuminates the present."

My Opinion:

I will start by writing that I have loved everything I've read so far from Ms. Kearsley and I've now added another book from her to that list. While the others I've read were time travel novels - which I unabashedly adore - this one takes place all in present time. But that doesn't mean that the past doesn't play a significant role in the novel.

Our heroine, Verity (I love that name!) is hired on to a rather mysterious archaeological dig in Scotland. There she will be working with an old lover and the owner of the site who insists that the famed lost Ninth Legion of Rome is buried on his land. He feels this because a local boy with "the sight" has been seeing a legionary wandering the fields at night. Also on the dig is a very handsome local man who finds himself very interested in Verity.

This was just a wonderful read full of great characters, a romance that grows slowly and a ghost that does not dominate the tale. That was my only disappointment - there was not enough of the spectral Sentinel. Since he was so integral to the plot I was left wanting more of him and his story. That being said, though I did enjoy the book overall and the depiction of small town Scotland was truly interesting. The characters were well defined and I didn't see the secrets coming; I like a good mystery like that. Ms. Kearsley writes in a very easy to read style that brings her places very much to life.   

You can purchase The Shadowy Horses from Sourcebooks

Disclosure:  I received a copy of The Shadowy Horses gratis from Sourcebooks. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.