House of Shadows by Nicola Cornick

When Holly gets a desperate phone call her from her niece it is the beginning of a long search for her missing brother Ben and the unravelling of a love story that stretches over many centuries.

Holly doesn't want to see the other side to Ben. He is beyond reproach and everyone else must be to blame for his disappearance.

None of that changes the fact he has not only vanished without a trace, but he has also left his very young daughter to fend for herself in the middle of the night.

Holly discovers that Ben was researching the history of specific items owned by the Winter Queen. They are rumoured to be very valuable and possess magical powers. Destructive magical powers.

The story wanders in and out of three timelines, the past with the Winter Queen, the past with the close descendants and the present with Holly. The link between all of them being the dangerous heirlooms and the mysterious Ashdown House.

Inevitably it comes down to a choice between power or peace, war or sanity and money or being able to just say no. You know what they say, power corrupts, especially when you have a never ending source.

Kornick mixes historical fiction and a wee bit of the unexplained supernatural.

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