A lottery jackpot changes Claire Bennett’s life.She buys an ancient stone ruin on the island of her dreams: Fuerteventura. Her mystic aunt Clarissa warns her of danger, but Claire pays no heed.Soon after moving to the idyllic island, Claire is confronted by a mystery. As the sinister story of her home slowly uncovers, Claire enters a world of inexplicable events and ordeals. Someone or something … Someone or something doesn’t want her there.
But is it really a curse, or is there something else behind the events?
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Claire Bennett, newly wealthy after winning a sweepstake, leaves her humble job as a bank teller and ventures a new path. She buys a ruin on the Isle of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, a place she’d visited often on vacations. Despite the ominous warning from her mystic Aunt Clarissa, Claire forges on with her plan.
“…YOU’LL ENDURE MUCH ISOLATION, ALONENESS, AND YOU WILL BE EXPOSED TO MUCH FEAR. BEWARE OF HIDDEN ENEMIES.”
Stubbornly, Claire ignores her aunt’s warning and leaps heart first into restoring the ruin back into the beautiful home it once was. Despite many hurdles, tenaciously, Claire undertakes a dangerous project fraught with setbacks and local rumors of a sinister history—unknowable, preternatural enemies rumored to remain in her new home. Claire’s idyllic picture starts to look rather dim. But undeterred, Claire continues with her plans, once again, ignoring other’s warnings until a chilling ghostly encounter.
“IT WAS HARD TO PROCESS, THE HEINOUS CRIME WAS ANCIENT BUT THAT DIDN’T CHANGE THE KNOWLEDGE THAT IT HAD HAPPENED… I FOUND IT HARD TO ASSIMILATE. .. DEATHS HAD OCCURRED INSIDE THOSE WALLS…”
Amid her daily trials, Claire gains a love interest, a local photographer, though love is the last thought on her mind. She also comes to grip with her past, the gruesome death of her mother as her home’s sinister history unfolds.
Clarissa’s Warning is a gothic style mystery told in the first person POV. The pace is a slow burn, kindled with each timber and stone, building toward a chilling conclusion. Mrs. Blackthorn’s writing is descriptive and detailed, painting a beautiful picture of the Canary Islands, and the ruin that unfolds into a beautiful home. If you love a good mystery, especially one that takes place in a haunted house and exotic locale, check out Clarissa’s Warning.
„Clarissa’s Warning“ by Isobel Blackthorn is a part paranormal suspense, part adventure, part character development around a MC whose life dramatically changes for the (apparently) better and her tribulations in pursuing her dreams in a hostile environment.
Claire Bennett is a woman pushing 40 that has been working for twenty years as a bank teller and seeing her life slowly banishing into a very boring job, the only highlight has been her yearly holidays in the Canary Island when she came around a house, more a ruin really, that hold her in awe. Due to a change of luck, she is able to buy the dream house/ruin with her recent lottery win. Unfortunately, the dream enterprise turns into an almost nightmare from the very beginning, as the former owner refuses to sell, preferring to demolish the propriety to sell it to Claire, who wants to preserve the house and make it her own home. Even her own esoteric aunt tries to discourage her. Claire would not have it, she is invested in this dream of hers, and delighted with the possibility of finally being rich enough to pursue it. And so, she relocates to Fuerteventura where the real adventure begins, a half-year of adaptation and pursue the renovations on the house.
The book is well written, Claire is presented as a credible MC and the fantastic aspect of the plot and well interwoven in a solid and credible narrative, with very good descriptions of the renovation process, that plays a paramount role in the story. Claire’s counterparts are well crafted, and even if we majorly see them through Claire eyes, they have an independent personality. An interesting paranormal mystery.
renovation, ghosts, paranormal, mystery
The perfect read for a lazy summer afternoon. The pace of the novel and the narration is slow with an even flow. No startling melodrama despite the renovation being unpopular with the local residents and the past residents of the building. Beautiful descriptions of the island, detailed and expressive imagery for everything and everyone. I really enjoyed it!
This was my chance to visit the islands where the Norwegian cousins spent many a holiday.
Virginia Ferguson is very well suited as narrator with her pleasant voice and clear delivery.
I won this audiobook in a giveaway! I really win!
Can a dream become a nightmare?
Claire Bennett was a career bank teller until her a lottery ticket made her a retired millionaire. She had fallen in love with a dilapidated historical property in the Canary Islands on previous visits there and her new-found wealth allowed her to purchase it. It was not a rundown house that needed repair but a long-abandoned site that needed a major restoration.
Claire was unaware that the locals considered the property cursed, until after she bought it, and refused to accept this notion even after strange occurrences began to take place during the restoration.
Clarissa’s Warning is a delightful mystery novel that readers should thoroughly enjoy. Well done, Isobel.
A slow-paced and pleasant read.
We spend a few months with Claire after she wins the lottery and buys an ancient ruin on Fuerteventura. Her intention is to restore the house to its former glory and live on the idyllic island.
At first, Claire doesn’t believe her occultist Aunt Clarissa’s warning of danger but starts to rethink that, when she discovers the locals won’t work on the building, and strange things start to happen at the site.
Her interest in the history of her future home is piqued by Paco, a local photographer, who has his own reasons for being interested in the building.
With spooky happenings, mystery, and a budding romance, alongside interesting characters, I enjoyed the overall story, but I found myself pulled out of the tale, occasionally, by the overly descriptive details of the renovation and the island. The book, at times, seemed as much a travel guide as a supernatural mystery.
Clarissa’s Warning
Claire Bennett, a bank teller for twenty years wins the lottery and buys the home of her dreams. She quits her job, sells her modest home, and prepares to move to the Canary Islands when her mystic Aunt Clarissa warns her about the relocation. Unfortunately, the warning comes after the deal is closed and so Claire is on her way. I mean, who wouldn’t love a view of a volcano!
Although she is newly and incredibly rich, readers can relate to Claire who continues to be “frugal,” in her choice of apartment while her newly-purchased home is renovated. Her aunt’s warning begins to have some bite when Claire overhears a conversation that, “No local will work on it,” (the house).
Odd things that begin to happen, a flat rock falling off a shelf and a ghostly image of her mother, have Claire second guessing the warning and her decision to buy and renovate the old ruin.
Blackthorn’s writing is best described as graceful and thoughtful. Beautiful details draw the reader into the story and soon you feel as if you are on the island with Claire. Blackthorn is meticulous in the way she unfolds the story, careful not to give things away, but always leaving the reader wanting more.
When I read a book I try to pick one that will fully immerse me. I love getting lost in a book that lets me feel like I’m a part of the journey. Clarissa’s Warning does just that. It’s one of those stories that make you think about the character long after you read the last page.
Well done!