The Cellar

Walters hasn't published a book for a while. This was gripping and sinister, but I didn't understand what happened on the last two pages, which prevents me from giving it four stars.......more

(2.5, rounded up to 3.) Minette Walters' entry in the Hammer Horror novella series is a tale of domestic horror rather than the supernatural sort - although a pinch of the latter is added in to spice it up. It tells the story of Muna, an orphaned girl brought to the UK illegally and forced to work a......more

This was a seriously creepy book and an ideal introduction as a first read from this well wrote author. The narrative is told in an interesting way as the dialogue had no punctuation to highlight the main protagonist Muna, an illegal immigrant held as a slave in a dingy cellar by the Songoli family. T......more

What a very sinister exploration of the banality of evil. When Mrs Songoli forges the papers to adopt little Muna from an orphanage, she has no sadistic intentions. She just wants someone to boss around so that she can feel more important and better about herself. In the same vein, when Mr Songoli ra......more

On a positive note, Walters’ novella offers something very different. The Songoli family migrated from western Africa to the UK (six or so years before, we gather) bringing orphaned Muna along for the ride. We never really know Yetunde Songoli’s motivations for ‘rescuing’ (then) eight-year old Muna......more