Susanna Kearsley's THE SHADOWY HORSES has all the right elements for a great story: paranormal, history, mystery Scotland, and none of them overpowers the other. Budding archaeologist Verity Grey had no idea of the mystery that awaited her when she agreed to interview for a job on Peter Quinnell's dig in Eyemouth, a small Scottish village. But she takes a liking to Peter even though the archaeology world sees him as a joke and decides to help him find the missing ninth Roman Legion to which he has dedicated his life.

While Peter doesn't have any real evidence that his field holds a roman campsite, he has founded his belief on Robbie, a boy with "the sight", who sees a Roman sentinel on watch over Peter's land.

Kearsley has a talent for prose, making one feel at home in her worlds, and she also introduces an array of interesting characters. There is Fabia, Peter's grand-daughter who serves as the dig's photographer; Adrian Sutton-Clark, a jealous ex-boyfriend of Verity's; Brian, Robbie's father; and David Fortune, Verity's love interest. They all have their roles to play, and the question is who has a role in some of the weird things that start happening on the site. Computers act up, things go missing, and late at night, Verity heard hundreds of hoofbeats with no visible sign of horses in the morning.

Kearsley puts together a decent plot. Neither quite a romance or a suspense novel, THE SHADOWY HORSES is more a combination, so the fact that you have an idea of who did what before it happens, doesn't really take away from the joy of a good story. She left some questions unanswered and some strings dangling, but the characters she explored and her poetic style make it worthwhile for an afternoon of relaxation. I look forward to reading more of Kearsley's books.

Book Summary

THE INVINCIBLE NINTH ROMAN LEGION MARCHES FROM YORK TO FIGHT THE NORTHERN TRIBES. AND THEN VANISHES FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY.

Archaeologist Verity Grey has been drawn to the dark legends of the Scottish Borderlands in search of the truth buried in a rocky field by the sea.

Her eccentric boss has spent his whole life searching for the resting place of the lost Ninth Roman Legion and is convinced he's finally found it—not because of any scientific evidence, but because a local boy has "seen" a Roman soldier walking in the fields, a ghostly sentinel who guards the bodies of his long-dead comrades.

Here on the windswept shores, Verity may find the answer to one of the great unsolved mysteries of our time. Or she may uncover secrets someone buried for a reason.

As she becomes entangled in a subtle web of treachery and danger, Verity begins to believe that there is a Roman sentinel haunting the site. And he's there to do more than guard the bodies of his fallen comrades...