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Welcome to Meredith Island, where death, betrayal, and passion for art reside, along with home baked treats and the possibility of sweets. I was smooth sailing into the mystery immediately, life jacket at the ready thankfully as I found, at times, I was drowning in characters and keeping them all straight.
While I quite enjoyed this story, I wanted to absolutely love this story, and maybe my style of reading was to blame, but I didn’t get attached to a single character fully and then another was introduced. I felt the plot and layers of deception deceived me while I was waiting for more character depth. I appreciated the foreshadowing, the setting, and the diversity of characters — I simply found it hard to keep them straight and really connect with them.
The premise is delicious. Kate returns to her home with her adult daughter after the death of her beloved grandmother which prompted more questions about her aunt’s suicide fifty years before. The ages and times for me were unclear while I tried to solve the cold case and the present-day mysteries and revenge plots on what was said to be a quiet and serene island of Queen Victoria themed parties and other delightful tourist draws.
Like any community appearing to be close knit and lovely, the secrets of the loyal and the rich lurked. Writer Kate is on a deadline for her next book yet is distracted by her grandmother’s own investigation into the shocking suicide of Emma. To learn of the troubled past, the layers of deception, and then the perfectly timed dropping of a key, this story is riddled with twists that should be devoured slowly. I am impressed with Alice’s ability to weave her way through characters, connections, and fifty-odd years of threats and lies. This is an author I would love to read again as the book is well written with lots of approachable characters, I just would have preferred to know more about less characters than know more characters and less of their purpose.
Alice Fitzpatrick has contributed various short stories to literary magazines and anthologies and has recently retired from teaching in order to devote herself to writing full-time. She is a fearless champion of singing, cats, all things Welsh, and the Oxford comma. Her summers spent with her Welsh family in Pembrokeshire inspired the creation of Meredith Island. The traditional mystery appeals to her keen interest in psychology as she is intrigued by what makes seemingly ordinary people commit murder. Alice lives in Toronto but dreams of a cottage on the Welsh coast. To learn more about Alice and her writing, please visit her website at www.alicefitzpatrick.com.
Publisher: Stonehouse Publishing (June 1, 2024)
Paperback 8″ x 5″ | 340 pages
ISBN: 9781988754604
I am a struggling artist, a challenging and challenged mother who always thinks she is failing, an emerging freelance writer and reporter, an author with my name on several books crossing genres and always hoping to find more readers who enjoy them.
I am also a successful artist, a wonderful and thriving mother of one, a reacher towards both people and dreams despite all of the turned backs and obstacles in my way. I am a thriving freelance writer and reporter, an author loved by enough readers to make it worthwhile and a discombobulated conundrum who loves to hear new music, tell new tales and meet new authors. And I’m doing something I always dreamed of doing – reviewing books to support others as well as myself and my family.