Nothing to Fear, By Matthew D'Ancona

The Bluebeard myth taps into one of the deepest elements of a love affair: the need to learn about the lover's past. Warnings may strew the path. Still, that last door into the secret heart is irresistible.

Matthew d'Ancona's new twist on an old "woman-in-peril" story cleverly and convincingly exploits the Bluebeard story. The heroine, divorced Ginny, is no shrinking violet like "The Girl" in Rebecca, but still very vulnerable when she moves into a ramshackle old house. And she's suffering emotionally from a failure to get pregnant after intensive fertility treatment.

Getting to know the new neighbours is a destabilising process anyway. Has the elderly chap next door really wreaked a horrible revenge for his damaged rose bushes? And as for Sean (the Celtic touch has a nice mythic resonance), the handsome young man on the other side, he is withdrawn, secretive, tremendously good in bed – just as the anti-hero of a modern fairy story should be.

He defends Ginny against assault from the ex-husband, one of a convincing cast of characters who include a cynical girlfriend, Julie, and a trustworthy Platonic pal, Pete. But Ginny should be wary: her project is not only to renovate the house. She is turning her doctoral dissertation on fairy tales into a book. No one should know better the perils of a forbidden room next door, where Sean evidently guards a profound secret.

I did find Ginny's academic occupation a bit out of date. A couple of decades ago, when magical realism was still with us, everyone and her dog were writing about fairy stories or re-telling them. Still, her studies make a strong decorative background for a tale of suspense when she opens the door and finds the room ... it's a rotten reviewer who spoils the story.

I can tell you that the discovery sends Ginny fleeing to stay with Pete, who may not be as safe as he seems. And Julie, ever susceptible to a handsome face, may be at risk from the dangerous charms of Sean. There are more emotional ups-and-downs than the Big Dipper at Blackpool as we follow our heroine through her researches and share her growing fear of trust.

Underlying the strong narrative are interesting questions about the nature of our reactions to multiple murder and the power of the press. Ginny is a mirror for our times: horrified, frightened, yet as fascinated by the notion of a serial killer as a rabbit by a snake. As for Perrault's warning, "Ladies, you should never pry, You'll repent it by and by", the moral is that we just have to open that door.

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