The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

I loved The Shadowy Horses. It was another great novel that I had a very hard time putting down and I finished it in record speed. Kearsley’s novels remind me of the haunting suspense novels of Mary Stewart or Victoria Holt. I love the genre and Kearsley’s novels are a welcome addition to my reading book shelf.


Archaeologist Verity Grey has moved to the Scottish seaside to work for the mysterious Peter Quinnell on a dig. Quinnell has spent his lifetime looking for the infamous Ninth Legion of Romans that had been ordered North of York, and then were never seen again. He believes he has finally found proof of their existence north in this small Scottish village. And the proof all hinges on the gifts of one small boy, Robbie, who believes that he can see and talk with a lone Roman Sentinel that walks the fields of Rosehill. David Fortune is also an archaeologist that is a lifelong family friend of Quinnell and a local. He is helping out with the dig and Verity finds she is very attracted. Through it all, a mysterious force works against the team and against Quinnell personally. Who is this force? Will they discover the elusive ninth? Will Verity and David find true love?

I really enjoyed this novel. I love suspense and this story was full of it. I find archaeological digs fascinating and it was very interesting to read about the day to day aspects of a dig as well as the mystery behind what was the Ninth Legion of Romans. Overall though, the best element of this novel was the characters. There were many different unique and appealing characters in this novel from Verity herself to Nancy Fortune (David’s Mother), and young Robbie. At the end of the novel, I wanted to read more about the characters. I was more than happy to discover that one of the characters, Robbie, will have more of his story told in Kearsley’ s latest novel, The Firebird. I’m almost finished with that book and it is great!

The only downfall of this book was that I really wanted a more definitive conclusion on the mystery of the Ninth Legion and the Sentinel. Luckily a lot of my questions were answered at the start of The Firebird.

Overall, The Shadowy Horses is a fascinating romantic suspense novel and I highly recommend it!

Source: Review Copy from Sourcebooks. Thank-you!