House Of Glass

Susan Fletcher Virago €21.60 The titular glasshouse is built by a reclusive businessman in the grounds of Shadowbrook, his newly acquired Cotswolds pile. Sent to install its tropical greenery is Clara, a fearless young woman made fragile by brittle bone disease and the recent loss of her mother. As a heatwave takes hold, Shadowbrook is beset by nocturnal disturbances that leave the maids whispering of ghosts. Its ingredients may sound familiar but there is nothing predictable about the way this puzzle of a novel unfolds. Hephzibah Anderson