The Shadow Hour

A detailed, textured mystery

Books Life and Everything

A perfect gothic, big-house mystery that kept me turning the pages. Very well written - I really enjoyed it

Katherine Webb

A wonderful novel. I loved the atmospheric setting and the way the mystery is built up, switching back and forth through time

The Owl on the Bookshelf

An absorbing and atmospheric read. I enjoyed his one so much that I have already started reading her previous novel

Little Miss Vix Reads

An atmospheric and tense tale of two families bound by the secrets held within Fenix House, a stately home where the past seems to collide with the present

Candis

Another beautifully told story form Kate Riordan *****

David Reviews, Goodreads

Beautifully written and utterly compelling, I loved this

Katie Fforde

Crumbling country houses stuffed full of secrets and a story that veers between the present and the past, so it was a delight to curl up with The Shadow Hour over the course of a rainy weekend

Red Online

Full of dark intrigue, rich description and haunting secrets, this kept me reading and reading! Beautifully written and compelling until the end. I adored it

Sasha Wagstaff, author of, Recipe For Love

Gorgeously written - I was instantly drawn in to the mysteries of Fenix House and Kate's evocative storytelling held me rapt until the very end.

Lucy Diamond

Headily atmospheric Victorian gothic detail brings to life the house which holds secrets and memories in its dim rooms, and conjures up a world of hot house flowers and stifled passions. Certain images stay with you - Riordan richly juxtaposes a measured, scientific world of steam trains, comets and clocks with the wild: flooded quarries, ice storms, and the irresistible desire for love and revenge which defies rationality. It's all in the detail - jewelled Indian daggers, sunlight on red gold hair, claustrophobic mazes and ice houses, and mysterious sounds in the night. From the utterly gripping prologue, The Shadow Hour transports you back in time, and shows how a few minutes here or there can catastrophically change a life

Kate Lord Brown, author of, The Christmas We Met

I loved The Girl in the Photograph but I adore The Shadow Hour more, it has the perfect balance of tragedy and intrigue and all the story lines are woven together expertly. You don't want to miss this

Belle About Town

I was immediately drawn in by this beautifully written tale. I loved the sense of intrigue and the air of mystery at Fenix House, and was itching for answers as the two narratives unfolded

Dinah Jefferies, author of The Tea Planter's Wife

I would recommend it to anyone who wants an intriguing mystery that will keep them reading all night!

YA Under My Skin

It's wonderful - the dark suspense and evocative descriptions are perfect

Liz Fenwick, author of, Under a Cornish Sky

Rich and atmospheric, like Rebecca this novel casts an enduring spell

Rachel Hore, Sunday Times bestselling author

The author has such a wonderful way with words...beautifully written and very atmospheric

The Welsh Librarian

The delight for the reader is many, not least spotting the cross-over between the two stories, and the changes in those characters that feature in both. The language is lyrical and yet accessible, the plot intricate but satisfying. There is romance, period detail, and dark secrets. This book has TV adaptation written all over it! A great book-club read with loads to discuss

The Cheltonian

The language is lyrical and yet accessible, the plot intricate but satisfying. There is romance, period detail, and dark secrets. This book has TV adaptation written all over it! A great book-club read with loads to discuss

The Cheltonian

The language is lyrical and yet accessible, the plot intricate but satisfying. There is romance, period detail, and dark secrets. This book has TV adaptation written all over it! A great book-club read with loads to discuss

The Cheltonian

The parallel stories of Fenix House governess Harriet Jenner and her granddaughter Grace had me absolutely gripped. Intelligent, poignant, unexpected: highly recommended

Louise Candlish

The parallel stories of Fenix House governess Harriet Jenner and her granddaughter Grace had me absolutely gripped. Intelligent, poignant, unexpected: highly recommended

Louise Candlish, author of, The Swimming Pool

There is no doubt that Kate Riordan is a marvellous storyteller with a fantastically plotted book

Cleopatra Loves Books

We loved last year's The Girl in the Photograph and this latest atmospheric sage is just as thrilling

Essentials

What a beautiful and evocative writer she is! I adored the richness of her descriptions, the faint sense of menace just below the surface, and the huge skill with which she wove in clues, questions and little fragments of information. It was a thoroughly absorbing

Iona Grey

What a beautiful and evocative writer she is! I adored the richness of her descriptions, the faint sense of menace just below the surface, and the huge skill with which she wove in clues, questions and little fragments of information. It was a thoroughly absorbing

Iona Grey

You are drawn in and held there, as the story unfolds, a beautiful literary touch within a novel that is quite the page turner

Liz Loves Books