Book Review: Mosaic by Catherine McCarthy

 

This post features affiliate links, which means that we’ll earn
a small commission if you make a purchase through these links.

“Something sinister stirs within these walls. Something ancient.”

📚

Mosaic follows 23-year-old glazier (stained-glass window artist) Robin Griffiths as she accepts a restoration job at St. Sannan’s Church in Bilbury Parish. Situated in a woodland area, the 13th-century church has been abandoned for 25 years, and the local parishioners and committee intend to restore the derelict locale to its former splendor.

As she embarks on the job — the focal point of which is a 12-foot tall, shattered stained-glass window — Robin’s fraught family history and personal demons come to light. These troubles leech into her daily life, making basic interactions and daily function a constant struggle and relegating Robin to a lonely existence consumed with work and disturbing thoughts of the past.

As a result of her damaged psyche, Robin doubts herself when the people, circumstances, and forces surrounding her arouse suspicion, fear, and discomfort. These ominous aspects couple perfectly with the deliciously dark gothic horror and historical/research elements employed by the author, infusing the story with a wonderfully sinister sense of tension, mystery, and foreboding from the beginning through to the dramatic conclusion. The prose throughout the window restoration process is also richly textured with descriptions concerning both the individual glass pieces and the fully assembled image, leaving the reader longing to see the profane final product (not to mention get a peek inside the church’s creepy, subterranean crypt!).

This was a wonderfully eerie and atmospheric horror novella, and I enjoyed it from start to finish! Thank you to Sadie Hartmann and Dark Hart Books for allowing me to read and review a digital ARC.

🖤Amanda

Disclaimer

Many books featured on this blog were purchased by us; however, we do accept publisher-, author-, and other source-provided copies (both advanced reader copies (ARCs) and finished copies) from publishers, authors, and other sources we deem to be a good fit for our reading preferences and blog. Posts and reviews that feature such copies are disclosed. For more information, refer to the Disclaimer & Disclosures section.

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links, which means that when you click one of those links and make a purchase, we earn a small commission paid by the retailers, at no additional cost to you. These links will take you to books and other products that we like, trust, and believe will be beneficial to our readers. Affiliate programs use cookies to track visits in order to assign sale-related commissions; funds earned keep the Site up and running and allow us to continue to share reviews and other content. Thank you for your support!