Shadow of a Witch - an Ace Gothic

Not gonna lie - I picked this book up mainly for the cover art.  Sure, it's a gothic mystery, so that, in and of itself, is appealing to me.  But for this particular book, it was the cover that that attracted me to it.  Yes, it has the standard gothic trope - a woman running in the foreground, looking back at a dark, foreboding castle/mansion with just one light in an upper window, shining out against the darkened sky.  But it is the young woman that caught my eye - her facial expression, her hand coming up to her mouth, her eyes ... quite frankly, I would swear the art is done by Hector Garrido, who provided very similar art on the cover to the 75th Nancy Drew Mystery, The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery.  But, more on that later...

Shadow of a Witch is the first gothic novel I've ready by author Dorothy Eden.  And if the rest of her books are anything like this, it definitely won't be the last.  While the story was a bit slow in getting started, once it did, it had me hook, line, and sinker!  The protagonist is a young woman - Julia French - who is determined to land an interview with the elusive architect, Mark Winterton, who has completed work on the restoration of an old church.  Winterton is known for his aloofness and his unwillingness to discuss his private life after the death of his wife in a plane crash some time ago.  Julia has no intention of falling for the man, particularly after seeing him with his daughter and a woman she wrongfully assumes to be his wife (but who turns out to only be taking care of the daughter). But, in true gothic fashion, fall for him she does, and soon enough, he falls for her, and the two are married - and that's when all the problems begin.

Eden writes a tale with a number of twists and turns (and, surprisingly, several different points of view).  While Julia is the main focus of the story, Eden also provides moments from the point of view of Estelle, the woman taking care of Winterton's young daughter, Flora, and who also happens to be vying for Winterton's attentions.  But her motives are less than pure, as Julia soon discovers when she overhears a conversation between Estelle and a woman named Beryl.  We also get a few brief moments from Beryl's point of view, as well as that of Estelle's aunt, Gertrude.  Yet, despite the differing points-of-view, the story flows smoothly, and the tension builds as the mystery presents itself.  Young Flora is nearly run down by a car when she thinks she sees her mother alive and well across the street, beckoning for her.  Winterton is upset by his daughter's actions, and Winterton's older sister, Kate, who lives with them, believes Flora is merely still trying to process her mother being gone and her father taking a new wife.  All too soon, though, there is real concern that Eugenie Winterton is still alive, in which case, Julia's marriage would be a legal nullity!

The only drawback to the story is that Eden reveals too much early on.  Any astute reader (and perhaps even some not-so-astute readers) will be able to spot the devious plot that is being hatched as soon as it begins.  I think if Eden had avoided giving readers the scenes from Estelle's, Beryl's, and Gertrude's points-of-view, it might have made the revelation at the end a lot more exciting than what it was.  Yes, it was fun to read along with Julia as she slowly pieces together the parts of the puzzle, and I found myself rooting for her to realize who the real villain was before she walked into his trap.  Thus, even though the scheme was obvious way too soon, I still enjoyed the read.  Eden made Julia French into not only a very likable character, but also an almost Nancy Drew-like protagonist.  Which brings me to the cover art for this edition of the book (yes, there are other editions that have different cover art).

Sadly, the publisher does not identify the artist, and nothing I could find online revealed the name of the artist; however, the face, the post, the positioning of the hand, the opened mouth, all of these things combined, particularly when compared to Hector Garrido's other art (especially on The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery) leads me to believe Garrido may very well have provided the painted art for the book.  At the very least, it is evident the same modeling photo was used for both books, albeit in mirrored images.  But I definitely prefer the art on Shadow of a Witch better - it has a darker mood to it, the castle/mansion in the background reflects a much more gothic architecture, and for some reason, those tree branches right behind Julia as she runs from the castle really strike a frightening chord.  It is funny, though, that this scene depicted on the cover never actually takes place anywhere in the story.  For that matter, there is no "witch" in the story at all - about the closest we get to any reference is when Kate refers to her brother's deceased wife as a witch, in a figurative sense, not in the literal sense.  I can only assume the title stems from the fact that poor Julia is living in the shadow of her new husband's deceased wife, who was not a very nice person at all.

Overall, I enjoyed this read, and I look forward to reading more of Eden's works.  Hopefully they stand up as well as this one does!

RATING:  8 delicious chocolate eclairs out of 10 for tension-filled tale with a number of twists and turns that, while not totally unexpected, do make for a great read!