Ghost of Dark Harbor - the first Dark Harbor Gothic Novel

"Visions of a terrifying phantom sent her to an institution.  Cured, she returns ... only to be tormented again!"  (cover blurb)

 

Having finished the Lucifer Cove series by Virginia Coffman, I decided to try a Gothic series by one of my favorite authors, W.E.D. Ross - this time, writing under his pseudonym Clarissa Ross.  The Dark Harbor series consists of six books, published between 1974 and 1975.  The books are set on "Pirate Island," a fictional island said to be set 30 miles south of Cape Cod (p. 12).  Ross goes on to describe the dimensions of said island as "fourteen miles long and three miles wide at its widest point" (p. 12).  The specific distance from Cape Cod, and the specific dimensions for the size of the island clearly indicate Ross was using Nantucket for his "Pirate Island," as Nantucket is literally 30 miles south of Cape Cod, and it is 14 miles long and approximately 3.5 miles wide.  An online search reveals that Ross's other series, Fog Island, also appears to be based on the island of Nantucket, leaving one to wonder if Ross regularly visited the often fog-shrouded island and found it the perfect setting for his stories.

 

Ghost of Dark Harbor is the first book in the series, and introduces readers to the island community, which was said to have been named Dark Harbor because its original settlers had left the mainland under the suspicion of being in league with the devil (p. 13).  The reader is brought to the island along with the main character for this story, Joyce Mills.  Poor Joyce has just been released from a mental hospital, where she was being treated after a complete breakdown following the death of her young daughter, Lucie.  The doctor has proclaimed she is sufficiently of sound mind to return home, but Joyce is not so sure.  Even her husband, Derek Mills, seems to be unsure, with his attitude towards her somewhat distant.  Without a doubt, her mother-in-law (Regina Mills) and sister-in-law (David's adopted sister, Mona) believe she is still mad, and they make it clear they do not want her back on the island, with their constant quips and smart remarks regarding her mental state.  The only understanding she receives is from the young David Chase, a painter who is staying at Mills Castle while he uses his talent to paint some ships for the Dark Harbor Museum (where Derek works).  While the household staff are nice enough, Joyce can see it in their eyes and in the quiver of their voice that they are wondering about her mental state.

 

Of course, it doesn't help that when she first arrives home, the black cat, Timmy, appears out of nowhere, startling her so that she screams in terror - after all, Lucie had been chasing after Timmy when she fell to her death from atop the high cliff behind the great house.  Then the ghostly apparitions start to appear.  Joyce is sure that she sees the ghost of Captain Peter Mills, that sea-faring man who build the castle for his new wife, then killed her and her lover when he returns home to find him in bed together, after which he took his own life by hanging himself in the basement.  No one believes her, but Joyce knows what she saw.  Only David Chase listens to her without judgment, as he admits that he was once in a mental hospital following a horrific car accident in which a friend of his was killed.   Ross slowly builds the suspense in the story, as Joyce's visions become more frequent, and it is not until she speaks with Zachary Miller, an elderly man who used to be a ship captain many years ago, that she begins to wonder if the apparitions are not ghosts at all, but a real person who is purposefully trying to scare her away.

 

Is it her own husband doing this?  After all, she did find an old captain's uniform hidden in the chapel near Mills Castle, and he was upset that she had discovered it.  Could he be trying to get rid of her so he would be with Faith Patterson, the woman with whom everyone says he is having an affair?  Or is it Regina and Mona, working together to remove a woman they do not see mentally fit to be a member of their prestigious family?  With her gone, Mona would have a chance with her adopted brother (since they are not blood related).  Or, as much she hates to think it, could it be Uncle Henry Mills, her husband's uncle who lives with them at the castle, and who spends most days drinking more alcohol than he should while living off of his relatives' money.  He seems to be in the right place at the right time whenever Joyce has a scare.  Could he have some secret reason for wanting her gone?  And what about David Chase?  She really knows nothing about him, and although he has declared his love for her and wants nothing more than to rescue here from the taunts and terrors of the Mills family, could he be trying to scare her so that he can have her all to himself?

 

Ross certainly provides the readers with plenty of suspects, plenty of motives, and plenty of questions as to whether Joyce is really seeing anything at all, or if it is all in her imagination.  Regina and Mona are downright nasty, and I kept waiting for Joyce to stand up for herself against them (the few times she does, I nearly cheered!).  Even Derek, her own husband, comes across as cold and pretty much heartless, constantly berating her for expressing what she sees, threatening to send her back to the mental hospital if she does not stop.  I found Joyce to be an extremely weak-willed character, and maybe Ross intended her to be that way; but all the while I was reading, I kept waiting for Joyce to grow a backbone and finally stand up to all these people.  She had the support of David Chase, Uncle Henry, and even Captain Miller, who listened to all of her problems every time she visited him and offered her sound advice.  Sadly, although she has a few moments of strength, Joyce remains the helpless victim through most of the story, even reaching the point where she begins to question her own sanity and believe maybe she does need to go back to the hospital. 

 

In true W.E.D. Ross style, the big reveal and climactic revelations and battle all occur within just the last few pages of the story, with no huge fanfare at all.  After spending nearly 175 pages building up the suspense to the point where you think you are going to burst if the story doesn't break, Ross gives readers a quick reveal of the culprit behind everything, with a paragraph, maybe two, that explains why the person did what they did.  Then, it's all over, Joyce is safe, and it turns out she is not crazy after all.  Sadly, Ross does not give the reader any satisfaction when it comes to seeing the people who treated Joyce so poorly eat crow for thinking she was making up everything she saw.  I would have liked to have seen some sort of recompense, but instead, we simply get a closing scene of Joyce realizing that the horrors are all behind her, and everything "is going to be different!" (p. 190).  But, Ross is pretty much consistent in his writing, as every story I've read of his ends in this same manner.

 

One thing Ross does do in the story is give readers a quick look at some of the members of the community in Dark Harbor, which makes me wonder how many of these inhabitants will become the focus of future books in the series.  We get brief glimpses and information about Matthew Kimble, who came home after being in prison to run the local inn and tavern (p. 19).  There is also the unnamed New York playboy who purchased the old monastery up on the hill, which used to be a place where monks cared for lepers and is now rumored to be a secret house of debauchery and partying (p. 20).  Captain Zachary Miller, on the other hands, names off a list of the island's more colorful characters:  Crevecoeur, the French nobleman; Ruben Chase and Long Tom Coffin, who cared for nothing but the sea; Ratliff, the British bluejacket; Billy Clark, he town crier; Mary Starbuck, the queen among women; her ruthless maid, Keziah Coffin; and the rather rotund Deborah Chase, who literally threw suitors up on rooftops!  There was also Maria Mitchell, the astronomer, and Lucretia Mott, the crusader (p. 124).  It leads me to wonder how many of these "legends" will appear and play a role in the remaining five books.

 

The cover art is provided by the Italian artist extraordinaire, Lou Marchetti, who was quite well known for his cover art for paperback novels and more than a few Gothic novels.  The cover scene, however, is quite deceptive.  At first glance, once would think this was a period piece, as the clothing and hairstyle, and quite frankly, the whole scene, appears to be something of the 18th or19th century.  Yet, the story takes place in modern times (well, modern at the time it was written).  The woman in red is meant to be Joyce Mills, and the dress is one that she is given by her sister-in-law to wear from a grand ball; but the dress is ripped to shreds before she ever has a chance to wear it.  Thus (as with so many Gothic paperback covers), the scene never actually appears anywhere in the story.

 

Overall, I'd say this was a fairly decent start to this series, and I look forward to seeing what's up next in Dark Harbor!

 

RATING:  8 slashed up crimson gowns out of 10 for a ghostly story of mental madness, sinister spirits, and terrifying torments that create a true Gothic tale of suspense and mystery!