164/111 - Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe

I downloaded this book onto my iPad to read on holiday in Cornwall. I was hoping for a nice scary read while in a cottage somewhere so I could sort of snuggle up under a blanket while being creeped out. I think I first read about it online somewhere.

The story is told from the point of view of Charles, who is an old man I think, who is writing down an account of the haunting of his house by his daughter Naomi. He describes his perfect life with his wife Laura and their adorable daughter Naomi, and how one day on a shopping trip in London, Naomi is abducted. Several days later, her mutilated body turns up and Charles and Laura are totally grief-stricken. There are no leads in the murder, however after several weeks, they start to experience some ghostly happenings in the house, and it becomes clear that Naomi is haunting the house.

Then there are some twists - the police detective who is investigating the murder also turns up dead at the site where Naomi's body was found, and then Charles starts getting involved with a journalist who claims to have photos of the house with the ghost of Naomi in them. They start to investigate and sort of start to get to the route of things. Turns out, there is an evil presence in the house from the previous occupant, who was a doctor who went mad and killed his family. He is also haunting the house along with the ghosts of his dead wife and daughters. Then the journalist turns up dead. Then, for some reason, Charles becomes possessed by the ghost of the dead doctor and rapes his wife and sister and murders his niece and then buries their bodies behind a wall in the attic.

Lame!

I was really enjoying the book up until this weird plot twist, which to me seemed totally bizarre and came out of nowhere. It was really creepy and atmospheric. I don't know what I was expecting - maybe for them to put their daughter to rest, or get rid of the evil spirit or something, but to just end up casually becoming possessed by him seemed really silly.

Good first half, lame second half.