The Haunting is a 2011 novel by Alan Titchmarsh. It's much more a mystery novel than a ghost story. It has two plots, set two hundred years apart: the mysterious disappearance of a servant in the early 1800s, and a man researching his ancestors in 2010.
Like most of the books I read at work, I picked this one up mainly because it was there and I had nothing else to read. I expected a spooky mystery with plenty of ghosts. Well, there is a mystery. And there is a ghost -- though it appears so rarely that it might as well not be there at all. But "spooky" is the last word I'd use to describe it.
The most interesting part of the novel is the historical plot. The modern-day plot is frankly dull. I lost interest and skipped most of it. I cared much more about learning what happened to Anne than about reading yet more of Harry's angst. But even the historical plot becomes predictable and maudlin towards the end. As for the twist at the end, I saw it coming as soon as I realised Harry would inevitably make some discovery about Merrily Flint's parents. The least believable part was how almost everyone in the modern-day plot was somehow related to the people in the historical part. It was like reading a Dickens novel without any of the things that make Dickens novels so good.
Honestly I would have liked this book better if it had a different title. A rose by any other name may smell sweet, but a book with a misleading title is always going to be disappointing. If the title hadn't implied this was a ghost story I wouldn't have expected one.
There are worse books. There are also better ones. I didn't hate this book, but I won't reread it.
Is it available online?: No.
Rating: 4/10.
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