Atmospheric romantic suspense in the tradition of Daphne du Maurier.
The discovery of a secret half sister leads a woman into a web of deception and intrigue in this debut novel.
At 23, Sally Ryder finds herself unmoored following a betrayal by an unfaithful fiance. Then an article in a Montreal paper brings news of a sudden loss. Helena Lane, Sally’s half sister, was killed in a car accident along with her husband, Howard, while returning to Midwinter, their estate in Quebec. Sally had learned her mother was previously married after receiving a letter from Helena explaining the family connection and expressing a desire to meet Sally. Despite her sibling’s death, Sally wants to learn more and travels to Quebec. While staying in the town of Waverley, she befriends Dr. Tom Munro, Howard’s childhood friend. They are shocked to discover that Howard’s secretary, Janine Douglas, will inherit the entire estate, and their surprise turns to suspicion when they meet her friend Carson DeWitt and his sister, Debbie, who have a keen interest in Janine and Midwinter. Sally and Tom’s probe leads them to suspect Helena’s and Howard’s deaths may not have been an accident. As their attraction deepens, they are in a race to uncover the truth before tragedy strikes again. Dowdall’s impressive novel is an entertaining and suspenseful entry in the gothic mystery genre. The setting is a key component of the tale, and Quebec and Midwinter are vividly rendered. The author captures the unique rhythms of life in this picturesque community, from the locals who call Quebec home to the wealthy newcomers seeking a second residence. The strong setting is matched by her well-developed characters. Sally is an earnest and intelligent heroine whose investigation into Helena’s death leads to an unexpected romance with Tom. Their relationship develops slowly in scenes that crackle with amorous tension. The supporting cast includes the mysterious Janine and the precocious Ashley Smeeton, a 9-year-old with a love of Nancy Drew books and dreams of becoming a detective. Dowdall’s fast-paced narrative unfolds like a classic Agatha Christie mystery, with unexpected and satisfying plot twists.
Atmospheric romantic suspense in the tradition of Daphne du Maurier.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5092-1480-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
Britisher Swift's sixth novel (Ever After, 1992 etc.) and fourth to appear here is a slow-to-start but then captivating tale of English working-class families in the four decades following WW II. When Jack Dodds dies suddenly of cancer after years of running a butcher shop in London, he leaves a strange request—namely, that his ashes be scattered off Margate pier into the sea. And who could better be suited to fulfill this wish than his three oldest drinking buddies—insurance man Ray, vegetable seller Lenny, and undertaker Vic, all of whom, like Jack himself, fought also as soldiers or sailors in the long-ago world war. Swift's narrative start, with its potential for the melodramatic, is developed instead with an economy, heart, and eye that release (through the characters' own voices, one after another) the story's humanity and depth instead of its schmaltz. The jokes may be weak and self- conscious when the three old friends meet at their local pub in the company of the urn holding Jack's ashes; but once the group gets on the road, in an expensive car driven by Jack's adoptive son, Vince, the story starts gradually to move forward, cohere, and deepen. The reader learns in time why it is that no wife comes along, why three marriages out of three broke apart, and why Vince always hated his stepfather Jack and still does—or so he thinks. There will be stories of innocent youth, suffering wives, early loves, lost daughters, secret affairs, and old antagonisms—including a fistfight over the dead on an English hilltop, and a strewing of Jack's ashes into roiling seawaves that will draw up feelings perhaps unexpectedly strong. Without affectation, Swift listens closely to the lives that are his subject and creates a songbook of voices part lyric, part epic, part working-class social realism—with, in all, the ring to it of the honest, human, and true.
Pub Date: April 5, 1996
ISBN: 0-679-41224-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1996
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