The House by the Sea by Louise Douglas

"When Edie’s mother-in-law, Anna DeLuca, dies, she is relieved. 

Edie blames Anna for the accident that destroyed her family. So, when her will lures Edie to Sicily and the long-abandoned Villa della Madonna del Mare, she sees through Anna’s games.

Suspecting Anna is meddling from beyond the grave to try to reunite her and her ex-husband Joe, Edie is determined to leave Italy as soon as possible. But before she can, the villa starts to shed its mysterious secrets.

Who are the girls beside Anna in her childhood photos, and why has one of them been scratched out? Why does someone, or something, want them to leave the past untouched? The villa is a place where old ghosts feel at home, but does their legacy need to be laid to rest before Edie and Joe can move on…"

At times I found Edie slightly annoying with her need to constantly refer to her little boy who died in an accident when he was young, however, I imagine that a mother's loss is all consuming so who can blame her really?

I got past this and generally I really enjoyed the story which I got into such that I needed to keep turning the pages.  The location and the characters really came to life for me and I found it all very easy to visualise.

The ultimate trajectory of Edie and Joe was fairly obvious from the beginning but it was a nice journey to watch them go on and there were other twists and turns, together with interesting characters, along the way to hold my interest.

It is a story of loss, love, secrets, abusive relationships, and learning to share with one another.

The House by the Sea is out now and can be purchased here on Kindle or in Paperback (prices correct at time of writing):