The Winter Guest: The perfect gripping, atmospheric mystery to escape into

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The drive leads past the gate house and through the trees towards the big house, visible through the winter-bared branches. Its windows stare down at Harkin and the sea beyond . . .

January 1921. Though the Great War is over, in Ireland a new, civil war is raging. The once-grand Kilcolgan House, a crumbling bastion shrouded in sea-mist, lies half empty and filled with ghosts - both real and imagined - the Prendevilles, the noble family within, co-existing only as the balance of their secrets is kept.

Then, when an IRA ambush goes terribly wrong, Maud Prendeville, eldest daughter of Lord Kilcolgan, is killed, leaving the family reeling. Yet the IRA column insist they left her alive, that someone else must have been responsible for her terrible fate. Captain Tom Harkin, an IRA intelligence officer and Maud's former fiance, is sent to investigate, becoming an unwelcome guest in this strange, gloomy household.

Working undercover, Harkin must delve into the house's secrets - and discover where, in this fractured, embattled town, each family member's allegiances truly lie. But Harkin too is haunted by the ghosts of the past and by his terrible experiences on the battlefields. Can he find out the truth about Maud's death before the past - and his strange, unnerving surroundings - overwhelm him
A haunting, atmospheric mystery set against the raw Irish landscape in a country divided, The Winter Guest is the perfect chilling read.

'A snowflake of a novel: intricate, exquisite, and unlike any other ... If Sebastian Faulks and Laura Purcell were to join forces, they might produce a novel like this ... yet I can't imagine anyone but WC Ryan shaping it with such imagination, or charging it with such intelligence, or gracing it with such heart' - AJ Finn, international bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

'A stunning book, beautifully written. I felt the chill of the house and the sadness of the situation. And cheered at the end. I'm haunted by it' - Ann Cleeves

Reviews

'A snowflake of a novel: intricate, exquisite, and unlike any other. Here, as in his every book, Ryan once again recalls Graham Greene - the command of plot, the precision of language - but The Winter Guest also finds him summoning the dark-rose spectres of haunted-house classics like The Woman in Black. If Sebastian Faulks and Laura Purcell were to join forces, they might produce a novel like this... yet I can't imagine anyone but WC Ryan shaping it with such imagination, or charging it with such intelligence, or gracing it with such heart' AJ Finn, international bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

'Ryan evokes this moody, gothic atmosphere with convincing skill. Harkin is a sensitive, complex character and his quest to solve the mystery is deftly plotted. A treat' The Times

'The Winter Guest works superbly on several levels. As a mystery it unfolds in well-constructed, satisfyingly dramatised scenes, with sharp dialogue and an especially nice line in flirtatious banter. Ryan deftly sketches the contours of a society where friends and mortal enemies live at close quarters, and explores those shifting, volatile allegiances with subtlety and nuance. This is a most welcome winter guest indeed, to be greeted by the fire with drink in hand' Irish Times

'In 2018, WC Ryan published A House Of Ghosts, a superb period mystery with spooky overtones, and now he returns with an equally engrossing read. A clever whodunnit with a bracing whiff of the supernatural' Daily Express

'Ryan adroitly marshals a dense plot in a thriller that bears comparison with both le Carr and Buchan. William Ryan - writing here as WC Ryan - has a le Carr-like facility with genre. Like le Carr, Ryan's novels converge at the point where crime fiction, the historical novel and the spy thriller intersect. His Russian crime series, featuring Captain Alexei Korolev of the Moscow Militia, established his reputation as a compelling storyteller. Ryan's story commands your undivided attention . . . his marshalling of his extremely dense plot is deft and assured . . . and the tension builds to a crescendo that keeps the reader guessing until the final pages. His prose is richly evocative of the historical period. Seriously impressive . . . a ripping yarn' Sunday Times (Ireland)

'A stunning book, beautifully written. I felt the chill of the house and the sadness of the situation. And cheered at the end. I'm haunted by it' Ann Cleeves

'A perfectly crafted mystery that evokes the precise chilly atmosphere of Ireland after the Great War, limping towards independence through blood sacrifice and brutality. Vivid, compelling and deeply moving, it is a triumph both as a crime novel and a work of historical fiction' Jane Casey

'Haunting and exquisitely written. Part intricate mystery and part ghost story. This book will stay with me for a long time' Anna Mazzola

'A haunting, gripping novel . . . hugely evocative, with some absolutely beautiful writing which captures the profound unease of the times and the bleak nature of the landscape. I really loved this book' Elodie Harper, The Wolf Den

'Works superbly on several levels. This is a most welcome winter guest indeed, to be greeted by the fire with drink in hand' Irish Times

'A beautifully taut and evocative thriller' Sarah Hilary

'Atmospheric and genuinely eerie, this is an ideal winter read' Sinead Crowley

'Beautifully written, haunting and unmissable' Cass Green

'Excellent murder mystery/ghost story set during the Irish war of independence and as usual with W.C. Ryan, beautifully written' Liz Nugent

'Intriguing, haunting, romantic and beautifully written, I cared as much about the fate of the characters as about the gripping mystery' Laura Marshall

'Atmospheric and genuinely eerie, this is an ideal winter read' Sinead Crowley

'Superb . . . an old war and new sectarianism, family division and decay, a love story, murder, layered in with such finesse and skill. I could not put it down' Elizabeth Buchan

'The horrors of the First World War spill into an Irish countryside aflame with revolution in this superb tale of treachery, murder and divided loyalties. Excellent' Michael Ridpath, author of The Diplomat's Wife

Author Bio

W. C. Ryan is also known as William Ryan, author of The Constant Soldier and the Korolev series of historical crime novels. His books have been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the CWA's Steel, Historical and New Blood Daggers, the Irish Fiction Award and the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year, as well as being published in 18 countries. William lives in London and teaches creative writing at City University.