The "ambiance" of Death at Thorburn Hall - if a story can have ambiance - is important, but hard to explain. So, I'll give an example. Have you ever heard a song (think It's a Small, Small World), and then could not get the song out of your head? What does it say about a book when a reader starts talking to family and friends using the same accent as the dialogue in the story? Well, it's like that!