ABOUT THE BOOK:
A missing child.
June 1933, and the Edevane family's country house, Loeanneth, is polished and gleaming, ready for the much-anticipated Midsummer Eve party. Alice Edevane, sixteen years old and a budding writer, is especially excited. Not only has she worked out the perfect twist for her novel, she's also fallen helplessly in love with someone she shouldn't have. But by the time midnight strikes and fireworks light up the night skies, the Edevane family will have suffered a loss so great that they leave Loeanneth forever.
An abandoned house.
Seventy years later, after a particularly troubling case, Sadie Sparrow is sent on an enforced break from her job with the Metropolitan Police. She retreats to her beloved grandfather's cottage in Cornwall but soon finds herself at a loose end. Until one day, Sadie stumbles upon an abandoned house surrounded by overgrown gardens and dense woods, and learns the story of a baby boy who disappeared without a trace.
An unsolved mystery.
Meanwhile, in the attic writing room of her elegant Hampstead home, the formidable Alice Edevane, now an old lady, leads a life as neatly plotted as the bestselling detective novels she writes. Until a young police detective starts asking questions about her family's past, seeking to resurrect the complex tangle of secrets Alice has spent her life trying to escape.
LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT:
MY REVIEW:
The Lake House by Kate MortonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Lake House by Kate Morton is a 2015 Atria publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
While Kate Morton has written several highly praised novels, I’m embarrassed to admit this is the first of her books I have read. So, I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this one, but I had a feeling I was going to like it.
Alice, a successful mystery writer and Sadie Sparrow, a detective visiting her grandfather while on leave, have their lives intersect in the most unlikely of ways, but it almost feels like fate is working overtime because the odd circumstances that place them together will unravel years of secrets, lies, guilt, and will ultimately lead to the truth about a seventy year old cold case.
Seventy years ago, Alice’s youngest sibling, Theo, disappeared, and has been presumed dead. But, his body was never found, and no one was ever charged with a crime. The lake house was abandoned just as it was, nothing moved or packed away, and has stood empty for decades, when Sadie happens upon it.
Sadie is in some hot water at work and her partner is trying to keep her from being fired. So, he suggested she lay low for a while. But, what caused her to make such a huge career blunder, is a distraction from her past.
With nothing to keep her mind busy, Sophie begins to delve into Theo’s disappearance. What she uncovers is absolutely astounding….
I love it when a mystery novel is written in a literary prose, and this story certainly has that advantage, but in the beginning the story was sort of disjointed and moved very slowly. The truth is, nothing all that exciting comes to pass until the half way mark, when all that came before begins to take shape. From that point on, the story became so absorbing, I couldn’t stop reading and found myself still awake at one a.m., totally spellbound.
This is such a compelling story, which goes far beyond the initial mystery that brings Alice and Sadie together. They don’t write enough of these types of stories anymore, which is sad. Although there are heartbreaking elements to the tale, the ending is simply perfect.
I highly recommend this story to those who love historical mysteries, contemporary fiction, and great story telling.
GRAB A COPY HERE:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lake-house-kate-morton/1121147518
https://www.amazon.com/The-Lake-House/dp/B011874MXO/
https://www.amazon.com/Lake-House-Novel-Kate-Morton-ebook/dp/B00LD1S3PY/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
KATE MORTON is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author. Her novels - The House at Riverton (The Shifting Fog), The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper and The Lake House - are published in over 40 countries, in 34 languages, and have all been number one bestsellers around the world.
