Skulkmoor

No-one knows which one of the Fox twins Clementine or Rosie was born first as their aunt Carmelia was supposed to have noticed as she put the babies into their cot but she could not remember which was which. But an heir must be chosen and so year after year the twins are pitted against each other to see who can make the most outlandish invention and outfox the other. The sisters begin to hate each other and build a great wall dividing the house in two which sets off a family feud that magnifies down the generations.

Years later, the twins are found dead sparking an unresolved mystery as to who is murderer and who victim.  Fifty years further on it is 1919 and their grandchildren are still feuding as to who is the rightful heir of the huge gothic mansion, Skulkmoor Manor.  On the one side of the wall is Iris, lover of crows and ravens and grieving over the death of her father who was killed in action and on the other side of the wall, her cousin Ted, maker of scarecrows, whose father has returned from war but is profoundly damaged.

When a visitor arrives suggesting that the estate will pass to another possible living relative if no heir can be declared this sets off renewed efforts between the cousins to fight for their own family inheritance.  But as the cousins pit their wits against each other they begin to uncover all sort of secrets and lies.  They realise that to uncover the truth they must work together.

Full of twists and turns this is a clever, richly imagined and vivid novel of skullduggery and intrigue.  There is nothing especially new here but the brooding, atmospheric setting and the sensitively wrought and blossoming friendship between the cousins in Hana Tooke’s hands lifts this story way beyond the ordinary and turns it into something special.