Russian History. Ghosts. Murder Mystery. This book checked some of the main boxes for my must haves in a book and it didn't disappoint. In fact it offered more. Russian Folklore and strong female characters.

This dark murder mystery will keep you guessing to the end with well written suspects and Gothic folklore abound for the reasoning.
Away from the murder and folklore are the well written characters and especially Irina and Lily who for former Royals are a lot stronger than I was expecting. It's always great to find a good story with strong female leads.

The story was amazingly dark and offered enough shivers to keep the light on.

Grab this book for a weekend read because you wont want to put it down and the ghosts may keep you up.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and publisher.

I had read this author’s previous book and absolutely loved it so I was excited to see what she’d come up with next.

Though the title makes it sound like a horror novel, this is a historical novel with supernatural elements. This did feel more like a historical novel though it does embrace some gothic and folkloric elements. This book was heavily informed by the historic context in which it was written. It takes place in Russia in the years following the Russian Revolution and sees the experience of a previously noble family whose house has been taken over by soldiers. They are forced up to live in the attic where damp and mould makes them sick. A simmering resentment grows as the soldiers treat their home and heritage with disrespect, and treating the women left in the family with cruelty. However people start dying in the house and frightening things occur. The soldiers believe the women are the murderers treating them with suspicion and derision, but things soon start to get far worse.

This book did feel like it took a while to get going but once it did it was really good! I struggled at first with all the different characters in the family and the soldiers and beyond. Once I established a clear, distinct voice between the two sisters who are the main characters it was easier.

This book explores the corrupting power of grief and rage and the extent people will go to when overcome by these emotions. The exploration of the folkloric elements I really enjoyed. I also found the culmination of the supernatural elements in the final scenes of the book so evocative and engrossing. I’ll be looking out for more from this author as that’s two books from them I’ve enjoyed.

A gothic novel brimming with Russian historical fiction, romance, specters, and a struggle for survival. It diverged from my usual reading choices, yet I believe it merits a recommendation. The characters and their dynamics were particularly engaging.

Eerie and based on an interesting premise, I liked the idea of this book however I felt that at points the pacing could have benefitted from being a little tighter. Although a number of elements worked well on their own, unfortunately I felt that they could have perhaps been integrated a little better.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review

Sadly every time I thought this story is finally grabbing my attention I was let down while reading it. I was very excited about this russian folklore - gothic - atmospheric story and liked the spooky elements and the sister's relationship but the pacing was horrible for me and I was a bit disappointed by the "historical" elements. The writing style was ok for me.

Sadly "The Haunting of Moscow House" by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore didn't live up to my expectations of a historical novel with gothic elements. If the author had kept out the ghost story then I think it would have been a stronger story as the historical facts are quite horrific and the way the sisters had to pull together to survive was really gripping. It wasn't really a gothic story more of a ghost story. The Russian folklore elements could have been interwoven a bit more effectively too.

Unfortunately I could not get into this story at all and this was a DNF for me

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc

This is an eerie and atmospheric read. A mix of Historical / Folksy/ Supernatural elements to it.
The book itself was well written, unfortunately the pacing of it was a bit up and down. At certain times I couldn’t wait to get back to it, yet at others I found myself wondering “How much longer?”.
The authors writing style flowed well but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to really make the book enjoyable.

The plot to this story appealed to me straight away history, and a mixture of the supernatural blended into one. I started to zoom my way through this book, but then, for some reason, I had trouble getting the need to finish it. I'm not sure why maybe it was the way it had downloaded onto my Kindle it didn't form as a book should... which is not the author's fault. I would say maybe it was just a bit too slow paced for me as I felt it dragged in places where it didn't need to

The characters were amazing, and you felt like you connected with them and the fall of the Upper Class during the Revolution. It was well written, but I would have liked a bit more depth on Russian mythology/folklore. This is more of a three and half stars book for me.

Rounding up to 3 🌟

Just an OK from me I'm afraid.
It was never a book that fully caught my attention, or made me race back to it.

At times though, I'd be completely pulled into the story, but they just didn't happen enough.
Too slow at times, with too many names to remember.

A gothic read filled with Russian folklore and a sprinkling of romance and the need to survive. This is eerie and captivating. A little different to what I usually read but I’d recommend it!