I have to admit I was a bit unsure of this book at first after seeing the absolute slating some of the reviews gave it. However I figured as I like Shakespeare and I like the idea of the play Macbeth being linked to a curse, I’d give it a go.

A sequel to the novel ‘Interred With Their Bones’ although that was named ‘The Shakespeare Secret’ here in England. This novel was originally called ‘Haunt Me Still’ but released as ‘The Shakespeare Curse’ here to maybe capitalise on the English connection, it starts at a full pelt going in to grisly detail about the murder itself.

While the characters don’t exactly come across as fully fleshed, the speed of the novel is such a rate that there’s hardly any time for it to bother the reader. While some of the links to Paganism and to the Macbeth curse may seem a little tenuous in places, in others it really adds to the story. It’s just that sometimes it feels like the writer tried to fit too many ideas in to the story.

All in all, while it may not exactly set the literary world on fire, this novel is still a cracking crime thriller with a slight supernatural tint. I found it quite enjoyable despite the feeling of having read some of the ideas somewhere before.