This novel had so much promise and I was hooked from the first chapter. It is a really interesting premise: a woman experiences a terrible loss and then rebuilds the house as a memorial to that loss. In giving tours of the Property Pera never escapes that awful day.

As Pera leads her last tour of the day the suspense builds and builds as we are led from odd room to odd room. Unfortunately the suspense leads to exactly where you expect it to. As I have said in previous reviews, sometimes I don't mind guessing the end of a novel as long as I enjoy getting there. The problem with this novel was that it was hard to believe in any of the characters. Pera had so much tragedy in her life it was almost comical and the gang of men that terrorised her were so "evil" that they did not come across as believable.

Lots of promise but quite disappointing,

Loved Part 1 which focuses on Pera's story, narrating the history of her life while giving a tour of her legendary haunted house. Alongside the usual paying guests is a group of recently escaped criminals intent on stealing Pera's valuables. The juxtaposition of the timelines, the present tour and the house's past and the civilians versus criminals created brilliant tension. Pera's storytelling while also trying to maintain control of the situation was cleverly evoked as she moved from room to room. Unfortunately the fine balance is lost in Part Two. Once the guests have left the originality wavers, the group of men are no longer balanced by the other characters and they are not particularly interesting. The violent climax left me unsatisfied, lacking any of the subtlety and originality and inventiveness of earlier parts of the novel.

I really struggled with this book- the plot sounded good and exciting but it failed to deliver. The pace was slow and I couldn’t stay engaged.

Nine-year-old Pera Sinclair was the only survivor of a tragedy which claimed the lives of her entire family & everyone else in the house at the time. As she grows up, Pera inherits the house & the family fortune & spends it rebuilding over the top of the burnt remains of the first house. Now in her sixties, Pera gives tours through the labyrinthine house which has a room dedicated to each person who died there & which supposedly houses their spirits. This particular day Pera has one tour left before she is taking a month's break - she has let everyone in the nearby village know that she plans to go away (although she is actually staying put), & the staff are on holiday. The tour starts out as usual but partway through it is gatecrashed by a gang of criminals who have escaped from the local prison & are here to collect whatever valuables they can. Pera may be getting on in years now but she has no intention of letting them walk away with her family's mementoes.

Told by the main character, Pera, both in the present (well, sort of present as it is set in the 1990s) & the past (1940s & 1950s) with the past sections filling in aspects of Pera's life including meeting her husband & their travelling. The present concentrates on the tour of the different rooms, all of which have strange names, hidden compartments, & 'treasures'. Once the escaped prisoners join the tour, it becomes a battle of wits between them & Pera, but I didn't find it realistic as, given their backgrounds, I feel that at least one would have soon grown tired of the prevarication & used violence to get what they wanted. I also found the pacing a little uneven: the first third of the book was riveting but it then slows down & the meandering through the rooms of the house starts to become a little samey, & it's not until near the final third that anything really starts to happens. It is one of the more unusual books I've read though & I was reminded a bit of a mash-up of 'Arsenic & Old Lace' & 'The Ladykillers'. 3.5 stars (rounded up)

TWs: death, animal death, bad language, racial slurs, homophobia, misogyny, ageism.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Serpent's Tail/Viper/Profile Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I’m not sure what to make of The Underhistory. I really liked the writing style and I felt drawn into the plot immediately. I was really intrigued and interested in the accident that shaped Petra’s life. However, my interest waned around a third of the way in. The pace seemed to really slow and just when I got engaged in the plot again, the time period would change. I found it really jarring as a reading experience. I’d pick up another book from this author if it wasn’t a dual timeline.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Serpent's Tail - Viper for this eCopy to review

The Underhistory is a bit of an odd book, I did not find it particularly scary to be a horror story it is more of how Pera overcomes her tragic life to make a new one faking ghost stories for tours round her house. On her final tour, a bunch of prison escapees arrive hoping to hide out there mistakenly believing that the house would be empty. What follows is Pera trying to protect the customers on her tour from the prisoners.

An interesting story, if a little slow in places

Pera is the most perfect storyteller. She knows exactly what it takes to draw people in, and she had my attention from the very beginning. It felt as if I’d joined the tour of her home, listening intently to what she was saying while absorbing all the fascinating rooms. Rooms she recreated after the original house was destroyed and her entire family perished when Pera was only nine years old. Each room has its own story, its own history, maybe even its own ghosts.

During her last tour of the season, an unexpected group of men arrive. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what they want. Pera is good at reading people, and she knows her best bet here is to somehow outwit these men. Because she isn’t at all as helpless as they think.

There is quite an underlying chilling vibe to this story. A looming kind of threat that doesn’t just come from the men with bad intentions. As dangerous as they might be, I found I couldn’t quite take them seriously all the time. They felt a tad over the top to me, and maybe if their apparent evilness had been toned down somewhat, they might have had a bigger impact.

The house, in all its historical glory, almost feels like a character all on its own. So much history, so much tragedy is hiding behind its walls. As Pera guides her guests around, her life’s story is revealed. It is often a sad story, full of grief and guilt.

I’m finding it tough to review ‘The Underhistory’, as it's so different. In a good way, though.. It is wonderfully written, and an entirely unique and refreshing way to tell, what is essentially, a crime tragedy story. Sort of. Pera is a formidable protagonist, definitely someone to root for, yet also flawed and not averse to telling a lie or two. For the longest time, I wasn’t really sure where this tale was heading, and it almost felt as if nothing much was happening. Yet at the same time, the tension could be cut with a knife and there was this constant sense of anticipation. I was so engrossed, absorbed into Pera’s past, and intrigued by the stories behind the various rooms that the waiting for someone to snap didn’t bother me. It was worth it and as it happens, I thought the conclusion was delightfully satisfactory.

This debut by Kaaron Warren is original, full of suspense, dark, haunting and deeply atmospheric. I look forward to seeing what’s next.

Kaaron Warren is a new author to me but I was drawn to "The Underhistory" because of the publisher, Viper. Viper never publish a bad book and I loved this. It is such an odd plot but it really works - Pera shows people around the house where her family and others died, a museum of death. The house was rebuilt but each room has a story to tell as well as the characters that linger there, brought to life with Pera and her story-telling. Really enjoyable.

This book had so many elements to it for me, creepy and haunting coupled with a devastating loss and danger lurking around us.

Possible spoilers

An interesting one.... Full of atmosphere and tension.
Pera is either the luckiest or unluckiest person going, as bodies seem to litter her past... yet I couldn't help but be charmed by her as she took us through a tour of her enormous haunted house.
This is a book where the house feels like a character itself.
I stayed up very late one night to finish it, and I consider it time well spent!

This was interesting, different and creepy. A great read for horror lovers!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the book