The Upstairs Room

By Kate Murray-browne Picador, £12..99

Billed as “a ghost story for the housing crisis”, Kate Murray-browne’s debut novel follows a couple, Eleanor and Richard, who move their young family into their dream Victorian home in East London. Things quickly unravel as Eleanor becomes crippled by sickness and paranoia, blaming the strange atmosphere in the house as her grip on reality blurs and she becomes obsessed with the spooky upstairs bedroom.

Her husband is too distracted by their young lodger Zoe to notice, while she is also plagued by unsettling dreams. Murray-browne skilfully weaves together scenes of family life with eerie vignettes, but unfortunately the book doesn’t quite deliver on its ambitions as the author seems unable to decide whether it is a ghost story or a sharply observed domestic drama. When she cranks up the tension, it becomes a compelling read, but certain narrative threads fall flat.

A good holiday book, to be gobbled up feverishly over a couple of days, but it may leave some readers feeling unsatisfied. ■