The Girl on the Landing - Paul Torday.

This is Torday's third book since the successful 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'. This is a good read if you like part suspense, part psychological thriller and part ghost story but unfortunately it takes a while to reach the suspense, the thrill and the ghost. It starts with a rather dreary passionless marriage between Michael and Elizabeth and their story is told in alternative chapters by the couple. After a trip to Ireland with friends from Michael's gentlemen's club, Michael sees a painting in the house (on the landing) that has an impact on him. There is a girl in the background of the painting that seems to have disappeared the following morning. From here the story gets more interesting, it becomes a ghost story with mental illness, murder and suspense all set in London and the wilds of Michael's childhood home in Perthshire.