Needs more ghost

Book #12 is Bellman and Black: A Ghost Story by Diane Setterfield.

I really loved Setterfield's previous book The Thirteenth Tale. It was a wonderful book so when I saw that she had another one out, awesome.

The main character is one William Bellman, the son of the black sheep of the well Bellman family (William's father had married below his station, and then ran out on William and his mother) who own the town's mill. As a boy, William and his friends are out playing one day, and, in a fit of boyish cruelty, kill a rook. This sets things in motion.

Or does it? The problem with this book is that it calls itself a ghost story, but there's really not much 'ghost' to it. You keep waiting for it to kick in somewhat. Oh there's lots of death, and death even becomes William's obsession as he goes into the mourning business, but... the ghost of the story, Mr. Black, really isn't there.

It's a beautifully written book, and it's testament to Setterfield's skill that she can make Victorian-era milling and commerce actually kind of interesting... But beyond that, the characters don't leap off the page, and William is so focused on his work, or I guess what he sees as his atonement, that he drives all personality out of himself. Which I guess is the point, since other characters even remark as much about it.

I didn't hate this book, I didn't even dislike it, but I definitely expected... more.