Waters's style has in here changed into a more straightforward one than for example in Fingersmith, which had nice plot twists and excellent descriptions of the time period. In this even the most mundane things are described with a simple style, and sometimes the story seems to get stuck.

When the spookiest part came, it sent shivers down my spine. Although after the scene the mood kind of collapsed into the same monotonic atmosphere it was before that and never recovered. Waters just squeezes all the juice from the story, and so isn't able to maintain the same eerie feeling throughout.

However, I do understand that this isn't supposed to be just a traditional ghost story. The decline of Ayres' social class and the changing of the post-war world are nicely dealt with in small scenes and in the deterioration of the mansion.

Romance was also there, but all these themes made the book only halfway there, like the author couldn't decide which way to go, and the effect of the mystery itself severely diluted. I did appreciate the references to classic literature, all of which I didn't even realize before I read from Wikipedia. I also liked Roderick a lot, and wished there was more of him.

Somewhere after three hundred pages giving up crossed my mind, but in the end I was glad I didn't. During the final pages threads were tied together, even though nothing was fortunately forced to the reader by explaining too much. The story was left ambiguous, and that always gets more points from me.

I myself believe that there was only one solution to the mystery. This solution is actually suggested at several points from start to finish, but only the passage right at the end made me realize what had happened. The meaning of even the smallest events and something certain characters had said started to become clear. The last few sentences were actually quite creepy, and so the ending was perfect for the story.