This is an interesting one for me.
The reader will find there’s a substantial amount of characters for such a relatively slim novel, but that didn’t bother me whatsoever, as I found, pretty much without exception, that each character was well-written and clearly delineated.
Compton knows this world inside and out and is fastidious with each character’s history with the house, as well as the central mystery with Eric’s family. None of it seems to fit together…until it all does.
The titular Spite House was both more and, weirdly, less interesting than I’d expected. It’s history, and by that I mean both it’s origin and early history, as well as even the history with the previous tenants, was really well done, and I enjoyed that. I enjoyed the mystery around Eric and his daughters. I enjoyed each of the characters’ pasts, to be honest.
But, while there were absolutely horrific moments in this house, it felt like Eric and his daughters were barely in there long enough for the reader to feel the full weight of what the house had in store for them. Personally, I would have enjoyed this more (and given more stars) had we been privy to more suffering by the house’s three newest tenants before the story took its left turn.
As I said, there’s all these disparate storylines, some way off in the past, some more recent, some in between, and none of them really seem to connect up aside from being related to the house. But Compton joins it all together perfectly.
This was not a bad novel by any means. I just wish it’d brought a bit more heat.
But, holy hell, this was a well-written book. It doesn’t feel like a first novel. Compton’s writing is assured and a pleasure to read. I’ll absolutely read more from him.
