Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I loved the creepy setting of this book, great atmosphere. This was a great thriller to read and I really enjoyed it.

This book was a page-turning thriller. I enjoyed reading this book. This book is full of twists and turns that will keep you engaged.

I found this book to be very slow and also triggering. I did not enjoy this book. Thank you NetGalley, Susan and matador for the ARC!

Susan Sachon is a bit of a Shakespeare devotee. Her vast knowledge of the Bard, his world and his writing, informs and illuminates this ambitious debut novel.
This is a richly descriptive, beautifully written story, with a vast and well-drawn cast. The characterisation throughout is Shakespearian in depth and bursting with empathy. The plot is complex and enriched substantially with parallels within Shakespeare's tragedies and historic plays.
Reading this mystery thriller was an emotional roller-coaster; tears were shed; at times it was subtle and subdued, and then violent, vivid and visceral. I absolutely loved Jenny's back story and her journey of self-discovery. I look forward to the next novel in the series.

As a fan of Shakespeare i found this a real gem to read. The story was skillfully woven against Shakespeare. I did feel a knowlesge or like of Shakespeare would increase your enjoyment.
Jenny is a multilayered character and we get to see her history revealed throughly and skillfully always relevant to the story. All the characters she meets are well written. This is more than a atory about a women given a job to fo a Shakespeare festival in a rundown pub. Its about finding yourself in the darkest of times, coming to terms with your past and dearing to go for your dreams and all the time helping others.
Thank you netgallery ,publisher and author for a solid four star read

A story which will appeal to many readers, the book offers a sense of cozy mystery which also captures the tension of a dark thriller. I loved the setting of the Shakespeare festival, which added an extra layer of interest.

This was a unique read that I would have enjoyed more if I cared about Shakespeare; I didn’t realize that it was so central to the story. The book centers on Jenny, who takes a role managing a remote pub with the opportunity to also revive some sort of Shakespearean festival. Creepy things happen when she arrives and it becomes clear that someone has bad intentions towards her.

Jenny was a fairly likable character, though I found it shocking that she has made it all the way to 40 without seeking any sort of help for the abuse she endured as a child. There were a ton of tertiary characters that were sometimes hard to keep straight but a few main characters that were written well. I really had no interest in the Shakespeare piece or even the 400 year old mystery she was trying to solve. The ending ties everything up well in a feel-good kind of way.

Overall, a unique read that I liked ok but not sure I would’ve picked it up if I knew just how much Shakespeare was happening. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Full disclosure - I can't act or lie and I know absolutely nothing about Shakespeare, despite have a masters degree in Library and Information Science.
My brain plays elevator music whenever he comes up. I know, awful.
Anyway, our girl wakes up from fainting and she's in the hospital. The doctor is like "oh you panicked from stress and have a head injury and now you're blind but only for a minute." Which is like "wtf?" but maybe healthcare is THAT much better in the UK.
She recovers and she gets a job offer to run a little historic pub in another city. And she's like "sure why not?" So she goes. Her friend is like "are you insane?!" And the bar is like old and musty and cold and gross. But it beats being homeless so she stays.
And there is literally an old skull in the basement and people are like "oh yeah he's cool."
Basically even though this involves an ancient dead white guy I never care about before - This girl is living me dream. She is working in and preserving an old building, planning community programs, and dealing with documents 500 years old, or so. And she is getting paid to do it. Sign me up. I will take the creepy bits.

Susan Sachon does a great job in creating a great mystery going on. I enjoyed that this had a Shakespeare festival and that’s where our story takes place. The characters were what I was hoping for and enjoyed getting to know them.

Jenny Watson, at 40, is offered her dream job running a Shakespeare festival at a 400 year old Tudor pub. The pub is remote and her mysterious boss is permanently away. Her boss decides on the play that will be performed but, local amateur actors aren't happy.
Things begin to get a little weird and strange things begin to happen to her.
Will the play be staged? Will the local community rally round and help? What will the outcome be for her new life?

This was a really unique book. Part mystery, part history, part literature, I really liked the idea that the author had here. Jenny's story, woven in with elements of Shakespeare and the history of the pub/residents of a town was really interesting. I also learned a lot more about a piece from Shakespeare I knew little about before ("Titus Andronicus"). It was a super quick read too...I blew through this one. That being said, I didn't love the author's style of writing, personally. I felt that some of the elements jumped or I had a hard time understanding the connections (I feel like I missed something).

This book lost me a few times. First I struggled to get into the story because of the writing style--I enjoy Agatha Christie but only on the TV. This was so slow and too tame, missing opportunities for suspense and twists. Shakespeare is a central theme in this story and I hated it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Matador Publishers for a copy of this book.

Jenny is at a turning point in her life. She is recently divorced, has health issues, was laid off from her job, and has other overall past trauma. She gets the opportunity to work at a tudor pub, and put on a Shakespeare festival. However, this dream job it’s not as it may seem. Mysterious things are happening, there is an ancient skull in the house, and Jenny thinks someone may be out to hurt her.

Trigger warning for rape.

Overall, this is a solid first book for a debut author. I thought some of the characters could’ve been a little bit more flushed out and the thriller aspect could’ve been ramped up. The part that was the most interesting was Jenny’s background.

This was cleverly written and has a really unique premise that stood out to me! There was a lot of focus on Shakespeare which I wasn't expecting and amnt sure added much ti the story but I liked the characters and the twists and turns in the story. I literally read it in an emafternoon and it felt like a really refreshing change ti the majority of thrillers ive read because its so original. I'd definitely recommend

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. It didn't disappoint! Must read!!

Jenny is searching for a new job at forty when she is offered a job managing a pub. They are looking for someone who is a Shakespeare expert, which Jenny is, so while it's not her dream, she accepts since it seems to come with a few perks. However, this job is not what it seemed, especially as the play she directs seems to mirror her past.

This one felt like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be more cozy mystery or more page-turning thriller. The vibes I got from the beginning felt more cozy. I was even feeling like this was almost Agatha Raisin-esque with the writing style. However, that is not the direction the plot went.

I enjoyed this novel which is the story of a woman who takes on an unusual job to bring back a failing old village pub and revive a Shakespeare festival that had taken place there in the past
It’s a complex multilayered story, which comes out slowly during the book as we learn more about the narrator’s life and why she suffers from intermittent stress related neurological symptoms .There is a tense story of her feeling harassed and stalked by a male stranger and near death episode by drowning .
I review, a lot of novels every year for my book and I’m always a bit apprehensive when I read a book by somebody who I know personally. I have met Sue and her husband part of our local Amateur dramatics group and knew of her love and knowledge of Shakespeare, having watched two of her two of the productions that she is directed for the group. I didn’t know that she was a novelist as well. It was therefore with some trepidation that I picked up the novel and I was delighted when I find myself enjoying it considerably.
This first novel is an accomplished piece of writing ,the book is perfectly crafted and has multiple layers to it. I read it in one sitting having been caught by the story right from the start The book did take a while to get going, but once it was flowing, and the Shakespeare auditions were in process the story progressed at a fast rate and had me wanting to know more.
The scenes that I will remember most after reading the novel and that resonated most with me were those are the lead character, Jenny is directing performances of a scene from Hamlet during the audition process. The necessity of actors understanding that their performance is more than just the words in written on the page as each character has an internal monologue continuously going on in their heads was described as being a vital process, the actor needs to go through to develop their performance .It was beautifully described.
As well as the background story of the pub in the Shakespeare festival, there were other elements covered in the story as part of the main character’s d ifficult past, some of which were quite traumatic. The author manages to do this with subtlety and skill The scene with the young child in the mother with the bedwetting for example is very traumatic, but felt very real. The historical rape scene is also covered very sensitively.

The author’s characters are well developed, and I definitely recognised character traits of people that I know within the characters of the novel.

The novel is set in and around Northampton and descriptions, particularly of the old pub where most of the action is set were highly visual, and I could imagine the novel being brought to life as a TV series in the future

I enjoyed the Shakespeare element to the story,the Shakespeare quotes at the beginning of each chapter were some I’ve not seen before ,it was not always easy to see how they were linked to the chapter. I know that the author has a special interest and knowledge of Shakespeare’s writings. However, I wondered how much the general readership would understand.
The author has a clear and easily read prose style, making the book an enjoyable experience to read, There are several lines in the novel that I personally resonated with, including “Theatre fed, and washed my soul as nothing else ever had” which the narrator Jenny use describe how theatre enriches her life and and another quote regarding Shakespeare’s writing, ““an extraordinary playwright, whose iridescent words had bought a roar to my heart that would never be silenced” was rather beautiful.

I do hope that there will be more books about the characters in this novel as it seems to me, it would make a brilliant series of books I also think it would make a great TV series it would be lovely if the TV rights were taken up I for one would also like to see the play that Jenny writes in the novel produced on the stage.

I would recommend this novel for those who enjoy domestic thrillers or mysteries which are both character and story lead .Of the novels, I’ve read recently I think the one that her is most similar is Janice Hallett, The Appeal a who done it set in the background of an Amateur dramatics society
This review will appear on Goodreads, Amazon, UK, and on my book blog bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com

Jenny Watson is a bit lost as she has recently been made redundant and divorced when she goes to a job agency and this perfect job just appears for her or what appears to be the perfect job. It turns out to be a look back into her past which she would prefer remain quiet but she has no choice but what it does show us is that sometimes we are stronger than we think and if you have good people around you that no matter happens when you need help they will be there for you.

I have received this book in order for an honest review and I would definitely recommend this book, as I read this book in one sitting as I couldn’t put it down once I started reading it. I would also like for people to remember that where there is dark the light can’t be far behind and as long as you have inner strength and good people around you, there will always be people willing to help you.

I enjoyed this book but the pacing was slow for the most part. It wasn't until past the halfway point that the story started moving at a good pace. Once the pace picks up, this book is great! Each chapter has a Shakespeare quote which was a wonderful touch to the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would reccomend it. 9/10 and a reccomendation. Special 'Thank You' to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
*This review will also be posted on Goodreads *

This was my first ARC that I was approved for through NetGalley! I saw the cover and read the description and knew I wanted to read it.

40 year old recent divorcée Jenny Watson is going through hell and trying to find employment. While in the hospital after having a panic attack, Jenny is offered a mysterious, once in a lifetime opportunity that she jumps on.

As somewhat of a Shakespearean buff, in her new position she must put on some plays with the festival at her new pub. Directing this super dark play brings back some secrets from her past that she never thought she would speak of again.

This is book to me was a lot about Shakespeare and I just couldn’t get fully invested in it and it took me awhile to finish. The thriller part of this book was great but it took awhile to get to it.

It may not have been the book for me, but i still enjoyed parts of it and urge Shakespeare and thriller loves to grab this one!