ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Coffin Path by Katherine Clements

The Coffin Path by Katherine Clements was published by Headline Review in 2018, which was when I bought it. I came across it when I was looking for something for spooky season. Every book has its day.

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Maybe you’ve heard tales about Scarcross Hall, the house on the old coffin path that winds from village to moor top.

They say there’s something up here, something evil.

Mercy Booth isn’t afraid. The moors are her home and lifeblood. But, beneath her certainty, small things are beginning to trouble her. Three ancient coins missing from her father’s study, the shadowy figure out by the gatepost, an unshakeable sense that someone is watching.

When a stranger appears seeking work, Mercy reluctantly takes him in. As their stories entwine, this man will change everything. She just can’t see it yet.

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The Coffin Path leads from Scarcross Hall, a remote and now rundown house, to the nearest village, connecting the two when a death occurs and a coffin has to be carried away for burial. Mercy Booth lives at Scarcross with her father and Agnes, the cook/housekeeper, making a living by tending their flock of sheep on the Yorkshire Moors. A malevolent presence is where the book begins, a sense that Mercy is not alone (well, that and the detailed birth of a stuck lamb, showcasing Mercy’s inner strength and skill from the start). It’s at this time that a man named Ellis turns up looking for work. Mercy takes him on and from there supernatural episodes begin to change everything for the Booths.

I thought The Coffin Path was an excellent read. It’s eerie and well-plotted, the sense of foreboding never far away. Mercy is a determined woman; unusually for the time (1674) she’s willing to go it alone, trusting herself and knowing her flock. However, things then start to unravel quite spectacularly and through it all I was rooting for Mercy.

The Coffin Path is a gothic ghost story with an atmospheric setting in Scarcross Hall and the bleak landscape of the moors. Whilst I guessed some of what eventually occurred, I thought the ending was incredibly clever, if a little rushed, and I allowed myself a wry smile at the outcome which felt strangely satisfactory. An enjoyable and absorbing story that makes a perfect addition to the spooky season/historical genre.

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Katherine Clements is a critically acclaimed novelist, self-confessed costume drama addict and current Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Manchester. She is editor of Historia, the online magazine of the Historical Writers’ Association, and is a member of the HWA committee.