Okay so this is beautifully written, and I loved the Welsh setting and the inclusion of Welsh language.

The mystery was gripping

although anyone who has seen Sweeney Todd could work out one of the mysteries in a heartbeat

.

Unfortunately, the brilliantly tense and realistic atmosphere that is established in the beginning comes undone by the end.

First off, the long lecture on feminism that Beth gives her father in the middle of the police station totally broke my suspension of disbelief. While I believe it in her character to bring up these topics to her father once she has been pushed to, the way it was written, and it happening in the police station without him forcibly stopping her and dragging her out, was unbelievable. Also, the fact she didn’t back up anything she was saying by bringing up the handsy doctor or the violent headmaster seemed strange. (And while Bryn Thomas was jailed at the end, nothing was said about those two being dethroned leaves a bitter taste in one’s mouth.) The ending of the book seemed too happy, in a fairytale, fantastical way, at odds with the majority of the book. I’m glad that Sophie, Beth and Elin ended up in a thrupple, but the fact they were apparently living very openly as a lesbian polycule in the Manor House just seemed unbelievable. And while Gieriet garnered some sympathy for living under his father’s thumb and the threat of violence (and possibly being slightly developmentally challenged in some way?) the fact is that he repeatedly sexually harassed Beth, and literally buried Elin alive, and helped conceal the murder of Alwyn, Sophie’s cousin, for two decades, so why the three of them were happy to hire him as their gardener and have him constantly hanging around is beyond me.

Overall a great book, but with some tonal issues towards the end.