My Cousin Rachel (VMC) [Kindle Edition]

The dark, mysterious atmosphere in My Cousin Rachel is very similar to that of Rebecca. The reader is held in anxious anticipation until the very last page and yet again du Maurier delivers a surprising twist that still leaves you wondering...

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a great page-turner.

The book is told in the first person by the rather priggish (to start with anyway) Philip Ashley who has been brought up as a member of the Cornish gentry by his elder cousin Ambrose. His devotion to Ambrose and complete disinterest in women allows for a subtle gay undercurrent to run through the books earlier chapters.

However, Ambrose travels to Florence (for health reasons) and there he marries the mysterious Rachel. When he dies unexpextedly Philip blames this woman for his death.

As Ambrose never revised his will Philip is left everything and Rachel soon comes to Cornwall to visit him. Philip does not want to meet her but when he does finds himself warming to her. The reader can see that he is falling in love with her, but Philip does not realise this until he is completely under her spell. Rachel has her detractors but Philip will not listen to them.

With the two of them living alone under the same room their relationship is slow burning but intense. Through Philip we gradually learn more about Rachel but he is unwilling to question any of her actions.

To say anymore would be to ruin the surprise of whether or not she is a black widow or not - or even if it is that simple.

I won't ruin the story for you but you will find yourself reading this book over the cooker, in the bath and during Emmerdale in order to get to the last page.