One to read - Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

Title: Haunting Violet
Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 4th July 2011
ISBN: 978 1408811313


Author's website




Rating 5/5 with merits (only the second book this year to join my Top 5 books!)


I love the cover on this!  This is the UK cover version - and it is released today!!!  I think the cover visually shows you just how haunting you can expect this book to be, with wisps of mist and dark shadows.  I've got my copy of this to giveaway - see the end of this post (UK entrants).


For me, this book had everything.  A fantastic historical background, where chaperones, ladies and classes fitted in.  Violet is one of her mother's unofficial servants.  Her mother is an overbearing woman, who is self obsessed.  She loves being the centre of attention and at the heart of social gatherings....most of all she is a fraud.  She is a renowned clairvoyant....however it soon becomes a apparent that Colin and Violet have to set the scenes for all her work to take place.  I found the way in which Violet's mother acted towards her very ruthless - to the point that I wondered if she was in fact a blood relative.


Whilst on one of her Mother's work expeditions, things shift, and Violet is left disorientated, trying to grasp what is happening to her - she doesn't want this gift - she doesn't want to see dead people and be plagued by their experiences as they try to convey what they want from her.  This is in complete contrast to Violet's Mother, who is a charlatan.  The whole story had me with goose bumps and the hair on the back of my neck standing up as Violet shares her experiences and desperately tries to catch a murderer so that she is free from this particular ghost.   The mystery is really well done, and kept me guessing.



There's also romance in the wings of this...so, so sweet!  Violet must eventually choose who she should be with, although part of the decision is made for her.  Xavier comes across as a really dependable bloke up to a point.  I just loved how this book flowed and how Violet's friends were there for her when she needed them.


Without being to gushy....this has without a doubt made it into my Top 5 reads of this year, along with The Mayan Conspiracy.  Haunting Violet is a extraordinary story of a girl's struggle with clairvoyance and her eventual acceptance of her abilities.


Book synopsis:
Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts...but they believe in her.


Violet has spent years taking part in her mother;s elaborately faked seances, putting the rich and powerful in touch with the dead, and their success has brought them a life of luxury they could only have dreamed of and Violet the prospect of a society marriage.


The last thing Violet expected was to start seeing and hearing the dead for real.  But now she is haunted day and night by the ghost of a drowned girl who won't let her rest until her murderer is uncovered.  


Violet must use her talents to unravel the mystery surrounding the girl's death - and quickly before the killer strikes again....


Enter to win my copy of Haunting Violet (Freedom Giveaway Hop)


To celebrate the release of Haunting Violet, Bloomsbury are offering one lucky winner the opportunity to win an incredible iPad 2, along with a signed copy and goody bag for 10 runners up. Head to the Facebook page to find out how to enter:
Haunting Violet Competition