This would have got 2 stars, except in the last couple of chapters I re-imagined it as a love story with supernatural elements, rather than a ghost story, which added an extra star. It wasn't haunting or spooky in the slightest - once I gave up on reading a ghost story, I enjoyed it a lot more.
An interesting if predictable (and sometimes forced) plot, characters that had potential that wasn't realised, but an altogether engaging read.
The set-up took about two thirds of the book; more once I'd realised the sheer amount of reading group notes at the back. The book was very descriptive, but still seemed to fall short; I knew everything there was to know about the scenery, and the weather, and Freddie (the main character's) past; and yet I feel like I never knew how he felt, or what he was thinking beyond the superficial, which is the kind of stuff that is vital to know in a ghost story. Although it was made clear early on that he has struggled with depression and suicide, I felt like this had no influence on the character at all. All of the actual plot felt rushed, which is odd, as you only need to look at Kate Mosse's other books to know that she's not afraid to write massive, long tomes. I do wonder why this is so short, because the love story itself is just about believable, but could have done with a lot more substance. The photographs interspersed throughout added nothing to the story; one of them was utterly unrelated to the text around it, and another interrupted the story mid-sentence, halfway down a page.
I felt like this book had so much potential, but just failed to deliver with any subtlety.