Whispers in the Sand - Barbara Erskine

Recently divorced, Anna Fox decides to cheer herself up by retracing a journey her great grandmother, Louisa, made in the mid-nineteenth century - a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan. Anna carries with her two of Louisa's possessions - an ancient Egyptian scent bottle and an illustrated diary of the original cruise that has lain unread for over a hundred years.

As she follows in Louisa's footsteps, Anna discovers in the diary a wonderful love story from the Victorian past - and the chilling, more distant secret of the little glass bottle. Meanwhile two men from the tour party are developing an unfriendly rivalry for her attention. And why are they showing such a disturbing interest in Louisa's mementoes? Most frightening of all, Anna finds herself the victim of a spectral presence that grows in strength and threat as the dramatic stories from three different eras intertwine in a terrifying climax...

It's mostly based in Egypt so it's a given that I would love this book for the mental imagery of the ancient sites it conjures up alone. :0) It was also good to see how the three separate stories were interwoven through the book in such a way that I didn't once lose any of the plots (makes a nice change, as I often feel I lost the plot a long time ago! LOL)

There were a couple of things in the book that made me think of Lady of Hay - anyone else pick up any similarities with certain character traits in both books? (Such as: a bullying guy, inconsistent heroine who takes her time to stand up to him, alcohol regularly consumed - though there was a little more fruit juice and water thrown in this time LOL). The twist for one of the characters was unexpected (I even felt sorry for him, even though he was a right royal pain in the derriere for much of the book), as was the somewhat open ending which has me hoping for a sequel........ but that's me, always wanting every lose end tied up.

All told, it was a good read that kept my interest throughout the book, containing all the spooky elements I've come to expect from the author. Although, for me, for a real spooky/scarey story none of her other books I've read (so far) have yet beaten Midnight is a Lonely Place! :0)

Now registered with Book Crossing and released. :0)