“Slade House” by David Mitchell (2015)

“Whatever Mum’s saying’s drowned out by the grimy roar of the bus pulling away, revealing a pub called The Fox and Hounds.”

Which idiot decided to read a book about a haunted house while living alone in a very quiet block of flats? Oh, looks like it was me. Fortunately, it’s David Mitchell, and he writes too well for me to stay mad at for long.

In 1979, precocious child Nathan Bishop and his mother Rita are invited to a musical soiree at Slade House, home of Lady Norah Grayer. While Nathan would...