Holy Terror — Josephine Boyle

Newlyweds John and Emily Wakelin can't believe their luck when they discover the quaint cottage of their dreams in Essex. Emily, a talented embroideress, and John, a rising accountant, settle into a peaceful life. But they get their first inkling of something amiss when Emily befriends the eccentric, autocratic Currans, who live in a centuries-old mansion next door. She can't shake the feeling that there is a strange presence lurking in the Curran house.
When the formidable Mrs. Witherley-Bashe, a self-righteous pillar of the community, discovers that the newest resident of Little Hocking is a talented artist, she insists that Emily accept a commission to create a wall hanging of the sixteenth-century martyr, Walter Tappett, for the local church. Emily, unable to say no, begins the task of constructing the embroidery. Battling local critics resistant to change, she gradually discovers a strange secret next door and finds herself racing against an unknown force to complete the embroidery before something horrible happens to herself or the people she loves.