As much as I enjoy Ishmael Jones, I think Simon R. Green’s Haunted by the Past will be the last book I read in the series. The last couple books both felt as if Green was reaching for ideas that just didn’t come.

In 1963, a spaceship crashed in England, killing everyone on board except one. Before the ship itself lost power, it transformed the survivor, Ishmael Jones, into a human. He does have acute senses, but he hasn’t aged since 1963. He works for a secret group called the Organization where his identity is protected, and he and his girlfriend, Penny Belcourt, take on assignments that seem to have paranormal elements in order to uncover the truth.

Lucas Carr, a minor functionary of the Organization, checked into Glenbury Hall, and disappeared between the lobby and his room, so Ishmael’s liaison, the Colonel, sends the couple to the Hall to discover what happened to Carr. Before they even get to the Hall, they spend some time at a local tavern where they learn Glenbury Hall and the Glenbury family have had scary reputations for centuries. It’s said the family can trace its roots to Hell, and the house itself devours people. It’s “A house heavy with sin, home to a family steeped in corruption.” That just makes Ishmael more curious.

The owners of the Hall are the last family survivors, Arthur Glenbury, his wife and daughter. They’re the only ones in the Hall until a family friend, a local historian, shows up to spin ghost stories and legends. Then, a woman, one of Lucas Carr’s fellow historians shows up. This small group hears noises in the Hall, and supposedly sees ghosts. Because Ishmael doesn’t believe in ghosts, he continues to look for the truth. And, then he and Penny are threatened, and one of the people at the Hall disappears.

I’m going to be honest. For over one hundred pages, readers are told there are horrible things, and horrid stories about the Hall and the family, but nothing is ever revealed. Most of the book is spent detailing Ishmael and Penny’s time spent wandering the lawn and the Hall itself. The crimes and history of the Glenbury family are just boring until the last couple chapters. Then, Ishmael reveals everything because it’s a mystery in an old manor house.

Haunted by the Past is just slow-moving and boring. I could have skipped to the end, but I was afraid I would have missed an important clue. I wouldn’t have missed anything.

Haunted by the Past by Simon R. Green. Baen, 2022. ISBN 9781982192280 (hardcover), 283p.

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