At the Stroke of Midnight

Finished September 7

At the Stroke of Midnight by Jenni Keer

This historical mystery is a fun and suspenseful read. It is 1923 and Pearl Glenham lives with her accountant father in a small town in England. He mourns his wife, and is fixated on the time she supposedly died, four minutes past ten, and doesn't seem to be interested in anything but his job. Pearl does all the domestic chores, submitting to his demands, and leads a quiet life. But her best friend Harriet is more adventurous and has always encouraged her to rebel against her father's expectations. Pearl also has a secret, that she also has developed a secret compulsion regarding time, and has a collection of timepieces that she has stolen over many months. She also has an obsession with water, and has taken up swimming, becoming quite competent.

Her father tells her that they have been invited to Highcliffe House, a country house on the Dorset coast for the weekend, and must go. He plans for them to travel there in two days so they arrive fresh, and seems to know how to get to the house, although he claims that it is for business and that he doesn't know the house or the host. The owners of the house, the English woman who grew up there, Lenora, and her husband, an American named Virgil Brockhurst haven't been seen in twenty years. They had spent time traveling when they first married, and had returned with a young child, saying that they intended to stay for some years, but disappeared again shortly after their arrival. 

Pearl had come across the invitation her father received before they left home and suspected that the contents implied blackmail coerced her father to accept the invitation. So she is watching what happens carefully. Once they arrive at the house, it soon becomes apparent that he has met the other two guests, although they all pretend they haven't. Besides the guests, one of them has brought her husband, an Italian man who knows no English, and there are two temporary servants, a young man named Ellery Brown, who is rooming offsite, and an older woman named Mrs. Dawson who is doing the cooking. After lunch, Pearl is able to escape the house and go down to the beach for a swim in the ocean. While there, she sees an unusually dressed man go to a cave she hadn't noticed before and then return to the path to the house. When she enters the cave she notes many odd items, seemingly overflow from the many strange collectables she'd seen in the house itself. As she investigated a curious clock with funnels that seemed to run it, she tripped and fell and a drop of the liquid in one of the funnels spilt and ran into her mouth. She immediately returned to the house and after an uncomfortably tense afternoon and dinner, retired to her room, awakening later to find smoke at her door and unable to escape the fire in the house. But after succumbing to the smoke she finds herself back in the cave in the afternoon, replaying the day she just went through. 

As she goes through this again and again, trying to change the outcome of the day, escape the fire, and make sense of what is happening, she is joined by someone else who gets caught in the same repetitive time period and the two join forces to find answers. 

This is a story of a young woman finding her independence, a story of romance and intrigue, death and second chances. Very enjoyable and I found myself eager to see what each new iterance of the day brought and what the truth of the circumstances was. 

The Christie Affair

Finished August 26

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

This novel takes the real eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie that was never explained to a reimagined version that completely captivated me. Some elements of the disappearance were kept, but most names have changed and some people characterized differently than they were.

This novel is told from the point of view of Agatha's husband Archie's mistress, here named Nan O'Dea. Nan grew up in London, but spent summers at the home of her father's sister in Ireland and grew close to a young man there. The first world war upended her life, and after losing a family member she remained in England until after her young man Finbarr returned home. There was an event following this that determined her actions going forward and had a large effect on her state of mind.

Meanwhile Agatha had become a successful author, earning enough to support herself and it is implied that her husband may have resented her attentions to her craft rather than himself. Agatha was determined to save her marriage after she learned of his betrayal, but he finally made the decision to divorce. They argued and he left to spend the weekend with his mistress. Agatha disappeared late that evening, with her car found in strange circumstances the next day, sitting on the edge of a quarry. 

As the novel progresses, Nan tells the story from a variety of points of view, with explanations of how she knew what happened with these others, from Agatha herself, to Archie, to police officials. The crossing of paths between Nan and Agatha is interesting and well-thought-out. 

A large portion of the novel takes us through Nan's past and what led her to the affair with Archie. This portion of the novel is entirely fictional and takes us through other serious issues, mostly in Ireland. 

I enjoyed the way this novel humanizes Agatha and we see her vulnerability, and how she took the time to understand that she had limited choices going forward and had to accept the end of her marriage. A very engaging read. 

The Prisoner

Finished August 13

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris

The main character, Amelie, lost her mother when she was young and afterwards her father sued the hospital where she died for malpractice, a case which has dragged on, and the pair moved to England. They are very close. As the book opens we see Amelie in the present, where she has been kidnapped from her husband's home and is being held prisoner in a dark room, with minimal contact with her captors, none of which is verbal.

We are also taken to a past timeline, beginning when Amelie is in high school, caring for her father whose health is bad. As we watch her make choices to move to London, to befriend an older woman, and to enter into a problematic marriage, we also see how she has ended up where she is now. 

She is a young woman with an independent spirit who doesn't want pity or sympathy, just wants a chance to be the best she can be. Her circumstances limit her or change the timeline for her dreams, but they don't take the dreams away. She is kind and friendly and somewhat naïve, and thus others take advantage of her. 

In the present we soon learn that her husband is also a prisoner in another room of the building she is in, and that his security guard has been recently killed. We watch Amelie learn about her environment, use any tool that she can find to work for her, and try to figure out what the kidnappers want. She also fears being released with Ned for reasons that become clear. 

This is an interesting psychological suspense novel, as are all the ones I've read by this talented writer. 

A Merry Little Lie

Finished August 7

A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan

I found this a delightful read. There's a lot going on and I found it hard to put down. Set mostly in Northumberland, UK, the novel finds Becky, an IT worker in London, stranded at the airport when a snowstorm downs flights. She is rescued by Will, her brother Jamie's best friend, a doctor in London, who is also going home for Christmas. He has a car and offers her a ride so they can share driving. With weather and road conditions, they have to stay overnight at an inn and must share a room. Becky finds herself thinking about Will in new ways, but isn't sure how to deal with that. 

Rosie, Becky's twin married Becky's former co-worker and friend Declan in the spring after a whirlwind romance. Becky's been less close with both as she gives them space, and they both miss her. Rosie is a costume designer for a ballet company, while Declan works in IT. The two have had a few bumps in their relationship recently and haven't worked it out yet. This will be Declan's first Christmas with Rosie's family and as a married couple and there are things that are new for him, who doesn't have a close family.

Jamie is also bringing someone home for Christmas, Hayley, who he met only a few months ago, and has told the family they have an announcement. The family is worried about how fast this relationship is moving, as Jamie had a previous long term relationship that broke up when the woman left. Jamie is a doctor in Edinburgh, and Hayley is an illustrator who has lived a nomadic life, growing up in care and not having a home base as an adult but travelling a lot. She longs for a real family Christmas, but worries about being accepted.

Add in a nosy grandmother who asks probing questions, a father who has retired recently and finds himself unmoored, and mothers who worry about their grown kids and also have some secret agendas of their own, and this book kept me wanting more. A feel good, cosy, Christmassy, romantic novel.

I loved the varying points of view, the snowy setting, the lovable dog, the thoughtful presents, and the family nature of the situation. 

The Midnight Train

Finished July 25

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig.

This book came out of the responses from his previous book The Midnight Library, compelling him to explore these ideas about life in another way. Since I loved that book, I decided to try this one as well. 

The central character is Wilbur. First we see a vignette from his life, when he is on his honeymoon in Venice. Then we see him in the present, as he is nearing the end of his life, in his 80s, with regrets over his choices. He had a successful life, founding a bookstore chain and making lots of money, but he has sacrificed people and personal life over those choices. Unexpected contact with someone from his past gets him thinking and he finds himself in death, which is nothing like what he expected.

He is by train tracks, waiting for a train, greeted by someone from his past who will guide him on his journey, explaining the rules of travel and helping him understand what is happening. He is a version of himself where he was most himself, on that trip to Venice. The train will take him through time, over the course of his life. It will stop and key moments where he must get off and observe them, feeling the joy or pain or other emotions again and perhaps noticing things he hadn't noticed in the moment. The purpose of the journey is to help him better understand his life. When he hears the train, he must reboard and travel forward in time again. The train is a larger version of a toy train he had as a child.

As Wilbur witnesses his life, seeing things he hadn't noted, feeling the feelings again, he wants himself to have noticed, to choose differently, but that isn't how this journey works. But he can't help wondering whether it is possible to influence his younger self and make different decisions.

This is a fascinating read, that had me as a reader considering my choices, and what I might have done differently. What moments would my train stop for? This is a book that will stay with me.

Two People

Finished June 25

Two People by A. A. Milne

Published in 1931, this understated novel follows a couple, Reginald and Sylvia through some changes to their lives. They live in the country and enjoy the life they have. Reginald is forty and Sylvia is twenty-five and they've been married for six years, which is somewhat more common an age difference in that time period. Reginald admires Sylvia for her beauty and kindness and they are well-suited in their physical relationship. When Reginald writes a book, he finds a publisher and then is a bit astonished when it does very well, becoming a talked about novel and made into a play. This success takes them to a rented house in London for the season, and they find themselves meeting new people and interacting in different worlds than they've been used to. They spend less time together, and while they enjoy themselves, there are moments where they worry about their relationship.

Through a series of incidents, Reginald begins to see that Sylvia is also smart and observant and he finds even more to love about her, but he worries about whether he is still appealing to her. 

I really enjoyed a side story that emerges at a dinner party of a missed opportunity for love for their host and how they seem to be the only ones who notice something about the story.

Wry with a dry humour, this novel was a satisfying and surprising read.

A Legacy of Murder

Finished June 23

A Legacy of Murder by Connie Berry

This is the second book in the Kate Hamilton mystery series, set around American antiques dealer Kate as she visits the United Kingdom. Here, she is visiting her daughter Christine. Christine is starting an internship at the estate of Finchley Hall in Long Barston, where she will be organizing the archives. Kate will also be visiting with Tom Mallory, a policeman she met on her recent visit to Scotland.

Kate begins her visit with a tour of the estate, but the tour begins late, and ends abruptly when one of the tour attendees, a young boy, discovers a body in the lake. The body is one of the other interns and Kate's observant nature and curious mind have her giving tips to Tom, who is in charge of the investigation, and digging deeper herself. 

She gets to know local antique dealer Ivor Tweedy, who proves very helpful, and becomes friendly with the owner of the estate, Lady Barbara. There is an odd collection of items known as the Finchley Hoard, that was buried to protect them from theft and then rediscovered more than a century later. This collection will be on display for the first time during an upcoming ticketed event at the estate. Lady Barbara's butler Mugg is worried about the possibility of theft and security for the event is ramped up due to the recent death. 

There has also been mention of a 'strange foreign gentleman' hanging about nearby and rumours link him to Lady Barbara's missing son. Christine, Kate's daughter, is also having relationship issues, something common for her, but these issues bleed into other happenings at the estate and bring Christine under suspicion in the investigation. Kate is now motivated more strongly to get to the bottom of things.

I like this series, finding the antique aspect interesting and I like Kate's character for the most part. She is relatable and interesting. 

The Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

Finished April 6

The Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

This novel was a 2025 nominee on Goodreads in the Romantasy category. But it is a book with many themes. The main character Sera Swan is one of the most powerful witches in Britain, and she was being supervised by another powerful witch Albert Grey when she broke a rule. She was a teenager living with her great aunt Jasmine who not only looked after her, but also loved and cared for her. Her parents were too much set on their own lives to do so. When Jasmine suddenly died, Sera couldn't bear it, and she used her power impulsively to resurrect her great aunt. The spell was powerful enough it also resurrected the much loved pet rooster that was buried nearby, creating an interesting and absurd member of the household. It also took away much of Sera's powers. Those in charge decided that Sera should be punished beyond this, by getting kicked out of the witch's school. She even lost her best friend. 

Sera and her aunt determined to set up their home as an inn to make ends meet, and Sera's remaining power was put to use making the inn one that only those who needed it found. 

Years have passed and the inn has a couple of long-term tenants: Matilda, a middle-aged woman with her own secrets; and Nicholas, a young man who works as a knight at a local medieval fair, and lives as much as a knight as he can as well, despite his father's expectations. Also living there is Sera's young cousin Theo, who is also a witch, and who, though born in Iceland, has received permission to live in England and whose parents are happy to have Sera and Jasmine look after him. Theo attends the local school and hasn't yet realized that he's a witch, or that Sera is. 

As the story opens Sera is still missing her magic, which represented a star-filled sky for her, and considering ways in which she might be able to get it back to what it had been. 

This is where Luke Larson, historian and assistant to one of the professors at the witches' school comes into the story. Luke has a younger sister Posy, nine years old, who is both autistic and a witch and whose parents found her powers too difficult to explain to their non-magical neighbours. Luke had her at the school with him, but that had its own problems. So the solution has been to have him and Posy stay with Sera and Jasmine and see if they can manage things better there. 

This is a story of power and jealousy, of those who believe they should control the lives of others through their own wishes, and those who really care about the people and other creatures around them, and want them to live their best lives. It is a story of love and how it has its own power, and how love can be strong enough to compel people to make difficult choices. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, from the strong characters, the growth of those characters in the storyline, to the empathy at the heart of it all. 

A Bookshop to Die For

Finished March 15

A Bookshop to Die For by M.P. Black

This is the first book in the series A Wonderland Books Cozy Mystery. As it begins, a woman in a bridal gown runs down the street and into a bookstore. It is Alice Hartford and she's run to a place that represents home and comfort, the bookstore that her mother ran when she was a child. Her mother sold it when she became ill, and later passed away from her illness. Alice has kept her love of bookstores, and currently works in a London store, and was supposed to be marrying the owner of the store, until she ran away.  

In the store she had a special place, and she wonders if it is still there. It was a reading nook, built into an old wardrobe. She finds it, and carefully gets into it. While in there thinking, she hears a loud noise and hears someone running past. When she comes out, she finds a man who'd been doing work on the building dead. Was it an accident, or deliberate.

Alice is convinced it was a deliberate act, and is determined to find out, but the authorities seem quick to rule it an accident and close the shop until it is deemed safe. Alice gets a room at the local hotel and finds herself, and her mother, remembered by the owner and other locals. When she finds out the current owner is determined to sell, and the only likely buyer is a developer, she sets her sights on saving the shop but her suspicions and investigations may lead to a different answer for her and the store. 

I liked the small town atmosphere, and the local community spirit. There are a few quirky little things that are fun, and the love of books is strong in the town. 

To Have and To Hoax

Finished February 15

To Have and To Hoax by Martha Waters

This Regency romance is the first in a series called The Regency Vows. I've read others in the series and enjoyed them: To Marry and To Meddle (#3) and To Swoon and to Spar (#4). The series is set around a group of young upperclass adults in Regency England, many titled. 

Here, we have Lady Violet Grey, who married Lord James Audley five years earlier, and we see how they met and came to marry in the early part of this novel. Their first year together was passionate and tumultuous as they fought and made up multiple times, but when a secret about how they met is exposed, the fight became a rupture, and the two have not been intimate since. 

One of the issues was a gift that James' father made to him upon his marriage of a country estate that is also a centre for horse breeding. James was determined to make a success of it, and he claimed it was for Violet, but she worried constantly about the risks he took riding untrained horses and about the time he spent on paperwork. She sees that he is trying to prove to his father that he runs the estate better than his father did. 

Now, she is having tea with two of her good friends when she gets an urgent message from one of her husband's friends (a man who is also the brother of one of her friends) telling her that James has fallen from a horse and is unconscious and possibly badly injured. Violet immediately takes action, taking her carriage out to the estate, but she meets her husband, much recovered, and his friends on their way back to London and is infuriated that she wasn't sent an updated message. 

James hadn't realized that a message had been sent, and his friend had forgotten, but the damage is done, and Violet is determined to get revenge. She decides to fake an illness, but she must find someone willing to act as a doctor to back her up, and things start to get very messy. 

Violet and James have a mutual attraction that has not gone away, and both have remained loyal to each other despite their emotional distancing. As each realizes what the other knows about Violet's plan, they do interact more and fight more, but the also notice the attraction. Instead of talking to each other about the reasons for their estrangement, they each take further action, until talking becomes very necessary. 

A fun read. 

The Fiercest Joy

Finished February 9

The Fiercest Joy by Shana Abé

This is the third novel in The Sweetest Dark, a historical fantasy series. I also noted that it tied in with the Drákon series by the same author, in an interesting way. 

Eleanore (Lora) Jones is in her final year as a scholarship student at the prestigious Iverson School for girls, and torn between two drákon men she loves, brothers Aubrey and Armand. This year there is also another scholarship girl at the school, and it would appear that she is a drákon as well, going under the name Smith. She cannot apparently turn into a dragon, but she has other skills. The three can't help wonder what she is doing there and whether she is putting them at risk. 

When Lora gives into her intuition one night and engages in a coastal battle, she encounters another dragon, and feels threatened by his presence. 

Soon after that two drakon people, brother and sister, arrive at the school, claiming to have been searching for Eleanore for years. They intend to take her to join her family. But Eleanore is still unsure and since she is now engaged, she insists that her fiancé come as well. 

Meanwhile Aubrey is researching Lora's past with a clue from a memory of hers, by searching for ship passenger lists near the time of her birth. He and Armand have also shared historical letters regarding their family with both her and Miss Smith. 

This tale has lots of dramatic moments and suspense as well as moments of strong emotion. It wraps up this series nicely, while still offering possibilities for future books.  

A December to Remember

Finished December 29

A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss

Augustus Balthazar North, owner of North's Novelties and Curios in the village of Rowan Thorp has set off on his last adventure, dying in his van on an European mountain. He never really settled down, although he had charm enough to attract ladies and he never pretended to be anything he wasn't. Through his many liaisons he had three daughters, and they all spent a month every summer with him together.  

Maggie, the oldest lived in Rowan Thorp, her mother moving there to see if there was any long term relationship possible, and she ran a greengrocer that Maggie has now taken over. Simone's mother is very business-oriented and Simone is now a physiotherapist married to a therapist and the two are going through a rough patch after having several unsuccessful IVF tries. Star is a free spirit, similar to her mother, never settling down, growing up in a series of communes and in other group settings. She's just been evicted due to the actions of an ex-boyfriend. 

Augustus has set some strange conditions in his will, asking that his daughters work together to bring back the Winter Festival that the town used to have on the solstice. The other is that they find the 32 altered monopoly houses that Augustus has hidden in the shop. The shop has been around since the 1740s, with North's passing it down to the next generation, collecting interesting objects from all over.

The women hire Sotheby's to catalogue the items in the shop and possibly sell some of them at auction, and Sotheby's has sent a lovely young man who is very interested in Augustus' reputation as a collector, eager to see what treasures the shop holds. 

As the women look for the houses, research the festival which was held until several decades earlier, and get to know each other again, they also find community in Rowan Thorp, and find other reasons that the town is the place they want to call home. 

I really enjoyed all three sisters, who all have interesting lives that differ widely from each other, but are also good women. Each finds skills that contribute to their situation and that affect their personal lives in other long-term ways. There is humour, good will, and lots of good food as well.

A seasonal read that brings the feeling of joy and friendship out in a big way.

A delightful novel. 

You Belong with Me

Finished December 24

You Belong with Me by Mhairi McFarlane

This romance novel has a romance that we've come into at a critical moment and it deals with some interesting issues around communication, trust, and what happens when one of the pair is a celebrity. Edie is a woman who is good at her publicity job, but not as confident in her personal life. She tried to talk herself out of a relationship with famous actor Elliot Owen, but he shows up on her doorstep determined to make a relationship with her work. 

Edie had a recent experience where someone took advantage of her nature and compromised her, with Edie getting unfairly blamed for the situation. Since it involved co-workers, it spilled into issues at work, specifically bullying and mean girl attitudes. Her boss knew the truth and allowed her leeway to work from home, and recognizes her leadership potential. When she's assigned an employee from head office to report to her as a new satellite location manager, she's wary of what he's been told by her work bullies.

Edie also learns to deal with Elliot's agent and how she should deal with the publicity that news of her relationship will bring. Another interesting thing to deal with is his relationships with other cast, particularly those cast as significant others in an ongoing series. 

As Edie and Elliot learn more about each other and work out the new seriousness of their relationship, dealing with information leaks, crushes, and new opportunities puts strain on their long distance relationship.

A romance with a lot going on and some real issues at the heart of it. 

Enchanted Glass

Finished December 8

Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones

This middle grade fantasy has a great setting, interesting characters, and a plot with interesting elements. 

Andrew Hope's magician grandfather has recently died and left him everything from his house and land to his magical field of care. Andrew, a university professor, moves into the house, but plans to continue his research. The cook/housekeeper and the gardener are vying to see who can get the upper hand in terms of control and both bring in relatives as additional employees as part of this competitiveness. One of them is Stashe, an attractive and efficient secretary and research assistant who also plays a larger role in terms of magic. The other is Shaun, a simple and earnest young man who has mechanical know how and is willing to work hard at whatever job he is given.

When a boy, Aidan, arrives at the house, things begin to get even more interesting. Aidan's grandmother, who raised him, has recently died leaving him in foster care, but she'd given him instructions to seek out Andrew's grandfather should anything happen to her, so he has. Andrew takes Aidan's situation seriously, guarding him from the creatures who seem to be threatening him, and looking for a longer term solution. 

Since one of Andrew's first tasks is to walk the boundaries of the field of care, he asks Aidan to accompany him on this series of outings and they both begin to learn more about their own magical abilities. Andrew also learns of threats to his field of care and the village itself and is determined to keep control. As he learns more about the two stained glass windows on the property, and the way the magic works, he grows into proper adulthood. 

A captivating read. 

Another Time and Place

Finished November 22

Another Time and Place by Samantha Grosser

This novel is set in 1944 and 1945 and has two voices. One of them is Anna Pilgrim, a young Englishwoman, brought up by a disgruntled divorced mother in a poor household. She is now working in the office of a munitions factory, overseen by a man whose family used to live near hers. The second is Tom Blake, a young American bomber pilot from the western United States. 

They meet in a café on Anna's day off and during Tom's leave. They connect in a way that neither of them expects and spend the next week together mostly in a hotel near Tom's base. When he goes on a mission and doesn't return, Anna returns home to her mother's anger, and goes back to work. 

Her mother is pressuring her to marriage, to a man they know, but in whom Anna has no interest. Besides, she is waiting for Tom as they had already made plans to marry. 

Tom, meanwhile, was injured when his plane went down and doesn't know what happened to the rest of his crew. As we see him worry about Anna and try to get messages to her but receives no response, he vacillates between hope and despair. 

This is a romance story of immediate attraction, followed by unplanned separation, that tugs at the emotions. As we see each character and know that the other longs for them, we are drawn in to the worry that they may not reconnect despite their feelings. I found myself caught up in the story. Anna is a strong woman with an independent attitude, and who luckily has a close supportive friend. Her relationship with her mother is antagonistic and has never been a good one. The characters have depth and motivations that make sense. A good read. 

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

Finished November 16

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

This novel adds an element of fantasy to our own world. The time is 1983 and Susan Arkshaw, who has lived in the country with her mother has decided to take the time before she starts at art school to look for her father. She doesn't have much to go on. She has a few names, including one who sent holiday cards to her mom and her regularly. She starts with this, a man named Frank Thringley in London. She senses right off that he isn't her father and that things are quite right and determines to leave after staying the night. But during the night she wakes to find that someone has turned Frank to dust by the prick of a silver hairpin. She surprises the man, Merlin and threatens him with the police, but soon finds herself following him out the window as they both flee something else that threatens. 

As she learns of strange creatures such the Shuck, as the two walk through the night, they share their stories. She learns about the booksellers and the differences between the right-handed and the left-handed in skill set, and how they police the interaction between the mythic levels of the Old World and the reality of the human world. They are soon rescued by the police, and Susan is provided with a room in a safe house and finds herself a job. 

As she renews her acquaintance with Merlin, and meets his twin sister, she gradually gets to learn more about the strange elements of the world she hadn't been aware of before and finds herself involved to an extent she didn't expect. 

I really enjoy Garth Nix and his stories, and this one not only has great fantasy elements, but also lots of humour. There is also an attraction between Susan and Merlin and others also notice. I definitely found this novel hard to put down, and I'm interested in reading more of this series. 

The Midnight Feast

Finished November 8

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

This suspense novel moves between present day and several years earlier in the summer of 2010, with the earlier portion mainly told through diary entries. Set in a coastal English town, the present day is the summer solstice, opening weekend of a luxury resort called The Manor. Besides the main building with its rooms, bar, and restaurant, there are seaside cottages and 'Woodland Hutches' which are small cabins nestled in the surrounding woods. The primary owner is Francesca Meadows who inherited the property from her grandmother. Secondary investors include her two older brothers, Hugo and Oscar. Francesca has also recently married Owen Dacre, the up-and-coming architect she hired for the project. Owen is still working on the newest addition, Treehouse rooms in the woods. 

Most of the staff aren't local, but there are a few. Eddie is one of them. He works as a dishwasher, but has his eye on a bartender position. His parents' nearby farm isn't doing well, and he has plans that don't include it. The locals aren't fans of what Francesca has plans, and talk of the local tales of The Birds that come for those who have done evil or for whom someone has asked for vengeance on has started to grow. Even Francesca's grandfather warned her to be wary of The Birds before his death. 

In the summer of 2010, we see Francesca and her brothers choosing favourites among the summer people and locals, inviting them to the manor, and having select parties. Alison, spending the summer at the local trailer park with her parents and grandparents, is the girl Francesca (known as Frankie back then) has chosen. It is her diary we read. But Alison also meets some locals, at the beach and at the trailer park, and they too become part of the story.

We know something happened back in 2010, something Alison needs closure about, but it is something only revealed later in the story. What we do know, is that the morning after the big Solstice event, the hotel is on fire, and at least one person is dead.

I found the plot compelling and the characters well-drawn. Dark and with lots of surprises. 

Always You and Me

Finished November 2

Always You and Me by Dani Atkins

This romance novel has a lot of surprises as the plot unwinds. The story moves around in time, but the chapter headings clearly indicate this. The story opens as Lily is with her husband Adam in hospice and we learn why he is there and the story of his illness and death.

It then jumps forward a year and we see Lily thinking about one of the promises that she made to Adam that she still hasn't followed up on, tracking down her former best friend Josh, hearing his story, and mending their friendship. Lily was very hurt by Josh's action of ending their friendship on the eve of her wedding with Adam, and we gradually learn details of what happened around that time. Since then he's disappeared from her life, and she hasn't even heard anything about him. She's not even sure where to start.

The book jumps back in time then to the beginning of Josh and Lily's friendship and the way that Lily bridged Josh's walls to become an important person in his life. As we see their history unfold, we see the special relationship that they had. 

We also see how Adam came into Lily's life and into her heart, and how special their relationship was. As the real story of these relationships and the rift in Lily's friendship is explained, we see the choices that these people made and the ones that Lily and Josh face now.

A moving novel. 

The House in the Water

Finished August 9

The House in the Water by Victoria Scott

This novel has two timelines. One is in 2013, where Meredith has fallen in love with a dilapidated estate on an island in the Thames river. The house hasn't been lived in for years and needs a lot of work. She convinces her husband Philip to agree to them buying it. Most of the money will come from Meredith, an inheritance after the recent death of her parents. She and Philip have been through a lot and she has left her job in finance to recover and sees the house as an opportunity to go in a different direction, hosting events and offering rooms to guests. 

The second timeline is in 1942 when Ellen, a skilled nurse, has been transferred from a hospital in Egypt to this house turned hospital for those undergoing what we now refer to as PTSD. The atmosphere is very different from the psychiatrist she worked with in Egypt, and she doesn't always agree with the brutal methods she witnesses and assists with. Arriving just after Ellen is a pilot who has been sent there for help so that he can return to duties. Pilots are badly needed. The two connect and find themselves drawn to each other. 

Philip is also a pilot, and thus is away a lot. Meredith finds herself seeing people in and near the house and hearing them as well. She doesn't know if she is seeing ghosts or if there is really someone there. She also finds that some in town aren't supportive of the changes that she and Philip have put forward for the house and thus finds herself often lonely. 

As the two women adjust to their new home and the work they face, they both undergo changes, learning new skills and becoming more adept and courageous when facing challenges. 

I really enjoyed this read.  There are themes of mental health and isolation, as well as growth. 

The Scarlet Papers

Finished July 16

The Scarlet Papers by Matthew Richardson

This spy thriller is very intriguing. The main character, Max Archer is an intelligence historian at the London School of Economics. He's published a couple of books, but they are in no way bestsellers, and he is barely making a living as an associate professor. His wife has left him for an investment banker and although they struggled with fertility, she is now pregnant with her new partner's child. 

When he gets an invitation to meet with a legendary retired spymaster called Scarlet King, he is very interested, but also very wary. Max had applied to MI6 himself years before, but had not been accepted. So his choice of subject as an historian is personal. There are no known pictures of Scarlet, and her background information is sparse. She was active for decades during the Cold War, and getting information from her would be a ticket to a promotion and would help him write the next book he is contracted for but is facing writer's block on. But it would also be a violation of the Official Secrets Act. 

He has questions about her motive and her reasons for choosing him for this information and the timing of her request to meet. The spycraft connected to their meeting logistics is complex and intriguing, and the information that he is given as teasers is explosive. Before he knows just what he's got himself into, he is already a subject of interest to the authorities and when the situation gets him on the verge of arrest, he finds himself on the run, not knowing who to trust. 

There is an extensive bibliography to this novel, showing the research that Richardson did in terms of coming up with the plot. This attention to detail is part of what makes this a great novel, but the writing style and character development are also key. From Max and Scarlet to the MI5 agent on his trail, we see the thought processes, the choices made, and the way each choice impacted the situation. Highly recommended.