BLASTS FROM THE PAST; BOOK OF THE WEEK.

Byline: HENRY SUTTON 

THE WINTER GHOSTS by KATE MOSSE (Orion pounds 14.99) ***

If, by any chance, you haven't read Kate Mosse before, then The Winter Ghosts is the perfect introduction. Mosse, of course, made her name with the No 1 bestseller Labyrinth - a sprawling tale of heresy and belief in Medieval France, with a present day angle.

Her follow up, Sepulchre, although set a little later, was also a romp through occult and ecclesiastical secrets and lies.

Like Sepulchre, The Winter Ghosts is set in rural south-west France and also deals with issues of belief and heresy, notably with links to the medieval Christian sect the Cathars.

Mosse has made much of her identification with the Cathars, who were brutally hunted down because they were believed to be heretics. In other words, the gist of her tales is to restore some dignity and humanity to a people persecuted simply because of their beliefs.

The reason why The Winter Ghosts makes relatively light work of some complex historical issues - albeit with contemporary resonances - is that the novel is really an expanded version of a tale she wrote for the Quick Reads initiative aimed at emergent adult readers.

However, while the prose is by and large simple, it's also very effective, adding plenty of narrative drive.

The initial story here concerns Freddie Watson, who has never got over the death of his older brother in the First World War. After a spell in a psychiatric ward, Freddie finds himself motoring around rural Languedoc.

After an accident, he takes refuge in an isolated village, having been drawn there by a beautiful young woman called Fabrissa.

Through one long and stormy night, both Freddie and Fabrissa find much mutual territory, while putting many ghosts to rest. Freddie, meanwhile, is left with the key to a longrumoured mystery.

Now armed with a priceless Cathar text, Freddie is finally able to make some sense of his troubled world, while having his belief in humanity restored.