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by Christopher Best
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The
Moor Inn Fire (first novel)
A
roadside burial site, a circle of ancient stones and the remnants
of derelict mine workings are just a foretaste of what awaits young
couple Mark Sheppard and Stephanie Latimer as they find themselves
lost on Dartmoor on a cold late September evening. With time and
the weather against them, they finally stumble upon a quaint Moorland
Inn, a sanctuary of rough oak beams, flagstones and fine ales. The
pub’s claim to fame proves to be its magnificent fire, which
has been kept alight continuously for well over a century. But this
ritual hides a dark secret, one that is hauntingly narrated by an
eccentric old-timer sat at their table. He draws them into a bygone
world, telling of a former tenant’s family torn apart by passion,
infidelity, prejudice and tragedy. At the heart of his tale lies
the inn-keeper’s daughter Martha, driven by unsanctioned love
to a terrible act of betrayal.
But
what of Martha’s fate? And what was her deadly secret? As
they become embroiled ever deeper into Dartmoor’s ghostly
past, Mark and Stephanie are forced to confront their deepest fears,
their darker sides, their relationship and their true values.
The
Moor Inn Fire is a ghost story, a love story, a murder mystery,
a rite of passage and, above all, a celebration of the romance and
wild beauty of Dartmoor. |