Boyne's This House is Haunted delivers on the premise of a "Dickensian ghost story," leaning heavily on predecessors like Henry James's [b:The Turn of the Screw|12948|The Turn of the Screw|Henry James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567172392l/12948._SY75_.jpg|990886] and the use of straightforward metaphors. Those familiar with the genre, setting, and character tropes will find this novel predictable. I found myself guessing what was happening well before the protagonist, almost to a detrimental degree, with me waiting for the story to get on with it, and the underutilization of characters in certain places made the story more predictable.

From a technical standpoint, the book is well-written, and I still enjoyed it. Will I recommend it to friends, or remember it later in life? Probably not--but it kept me busy during a particularly stressful work day, and I have to thank it for that.

I'm not going to lie, though--the opening line made me wish for some strange murder mystery with a ghost dashed in. Charles Dickens as a potential murderer and the impending investigation is something someone should capitalize on.