A review by ravensandlace
What Happened at the Abbey by Isobel Blackthorn, Isobel Blackthorn

4.0

Title: What Happened at the Abbey
Author: Isobel Blackthorn
Genre: Adult Fiction
Format: ebook from Coffee and Thorn
Series: The Strathbairn Trilogy (#1)
Star Rating: 4 stars

tw: domestic violence, animal abuse, guns, death, grief, child abuse, rape, child death, blood, alcoholism, violence

A special thank you goes to Coffee and Thorn for providing me with an early copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.

It’s been a while since I read a spooky and creepy house book so I knew I was long overdue for one. So I was pretty excited to see that Coffee and Torn offered this book up. I am a spooky girl so I knew I would like this book. Because in my world, it’s spooky season all year around.  

Spoiler alert: I did like this book! Every character was incredibly unlikable and they were so messy. I was living for it. This is funny because normally I don’t like unlikable characters. I find it hard to relate to them and understand why they are being the way they are. But with this book, it felt like I was watching a reality show, which is a good thing because I’m obsessed with reality TV. The MC, Ingrid, was unlikable in the beginning but I grew to like her. Once we got more of her past, her actions made sense. I was rooting for her in the end and was hoping she would grow more as a person, in the short time we spent with her. I truly was hoping she would get her happy ending. 

I know there was a plot but honestly, the plot, to me, was a bunch of rich people behaving very poorly with a side of haunted house. They were all super unlikable but I was enjoying every minute of their ridiculous behavior. I did feel a little bit bad for them since they were just the product of their environment and upbringing but it still doesn’t excuse their behavior. But I still felt bad for them. 

Overall, this was a good book and highly enjoyable. I’m curious to see what the next tobok is about. I hope we get more of Ingrid. She’s a pretty good detective and I wouldn’t mind seeing her solve more mysteries or even just relaxing with her daughter because she truly deserves a break. Overall, I highly recommend this book.