I write this review as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team, and I freely chose to review an ARC copy of this novel.

This is the first of Tully’s books I’ve read, although it is the third novel she has published, and in the ‘About the author’ section of her page and her books she describes her stories as ‘feel good’ stories, and she states that she hopes ‘readers will smile after turning the last page’. Well, hope accomplished, as far as I’m concerned.

The book description provides enough clues as to the general plot of the story. This is the story of a summer that changed the lives of the young characters at the centre of the story. Two of them, Zoe and Parker, live in a trailer park at the shore of a lake, just a stone’s throw from a posh resort ‘Crystal Waters’. They both have unconventional families (Parker lost his mother in tragic circumstances, never met his father, and lives with his grandmother, who is the strict but fair and wonderful Shirley; while Zoe lives with her single Mom, Debbie, who refuses to take responsibility for anybody, even herself, and acts much younger than her years). Zoe’s best friend, Meredith, the daughter of the local sheriff, can be pushy and harsh at times, but she is also funny and amusing, and always has Zoe’s back. Ethan, a young boy from the posh side of the divide who has come for the summer, somewhat stumbles into their group dragging his own problems with him. Although his life and circumstances might seem charmed from the outside, his parents’ relationship is a sham, and he suffered a traumatic event one year ago that he has not fully recovered from. It has changed him and turned him into somebody quite different. As the novel advances, we come to realise that Ethan’s change might have been for the better, even if that is not so evident for him at the beginning of the story. The novel fits well into the YA genre, and although the characters are put to the test and have to confront some harsh truths about themselves and others, these are not extreme, brutal or too challenging, and I think the book would be suited to fairly young teens as well, although I’d recommend parents to check it out because there are mentions of drugs, mental health difficulties, a suspicious death, a suggestion of sexual harassment, as well as divorce and drinking.

I liked the way the story is told. It starts with a hook, as we follow Parker on the 5th of July when he makes a shocking discovery, and then we go back a few weeks, to learn more about the characters and how they came to this point. The story is told in the third person, but from the points of view of the three main protagonists, Zoe, Parker, and Ethan, and their emotions and thoughts feel suitable to their ages (Parker is only 11, and he behaves appropriately to his age) and to their circumstances. I also liked the way we get and insight into Ethan’s disturbing thoughts and the way he tries to deal with them. We don’t learn what happened to him until quite late in the story, but by that time we’ve got to know him as he is now, and we can empathise with him even more. The way he and Zoe behave with Parker, as if he were their younger brother, is heart-warming.

I liked Zoe, because she is strong and determined, and I liked the way Meredith can be annoying but also amusing and supportive, and she usually helps lighten up the atmosphere. Shirley is a great character, although like all the adult characters, she does not play as big a part in the story as the young people.

The element of mystery is well resolved and integrated into the story, and I particularly enjoyed the fact that this is not a story of amateur detectives that can find answers and clues the police have missed, pushing the suspension of disbelief, but one where the characters are involved in the story because this is a small community and people’s lives become easily entangled. I also enjoyed the red herrings, twists, and revelations, and the resolution of the plot is very satisfying and hopeful.

The writing is simple and straight forward, without unnecessarily lengthy descriptions, but the author still manages to create a good sense of place and, especially, of the feeling of friendship and affection between the protagonists.

I cannot highlight any major negatives for me. Readers who are looking for diverse characters might not find them here (there are major differences in social class, and this is something the book focuses on, and one of the characters suffers from mental health issues, but no issues of genre, or race are discussed), and although I enjoyed the ending, the fact that the author decides to share the same scene from the point of view of the three main characters in succession results in some minor unavoidable repetitions. This slows down the ending a bit, but it wasn’t something that bothered me in particular. Each chapter is told from a single point of view (apart from the final one), and it is clearly labelled, so that does not cause confusion. I also missed some more interaction between Ethan and his twin sister, who hardly makes an appearance during the book. Ethan thinks about her at times, but she does not have a presence, and she is the only one of the younger characters I didn’t feel I had got to know. Even Heather, one of the cabana girls working with Zoe, has a bigger part than her. Other than that, the book flows well and is fairly cohesive, although the action speeds up towards the end, as is usually the case with mysteries.

I recommend this book to people who enjoy YA fiction, especially, as the author says, ‘feel-good’ fiction, where some important subjects are discussed but in a sensitive rather than a challenging manner. It is an ode to friendship and hope, and it feels particularly suited to the times we’re living. And it will leave readers with a smile. 

Thanks to Honno Welsh Women’s Press for sending me a paperback copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I do like Jane Austen’s novels. Some more than others (Pride and Prejudice is my favourite at the moment, although there are some that I can’t even remember if and when I read them, so this could change), but I am not an expert on the subject or her number one fan. Still, when I was offered a copy of this book, I was intrigued. I had written a post about Jane Austen for my series of guest classical authors and it proved one of the most popular in my blog, and I remembered from checking her biography that she’d died quite young after a somewhat unclear illness. So a book exploring her death, and backed up with research into the archives at Chawton House, in other libraries, and also by careful perusal of some of her best known biographies was intriguing. (I’m also a doctor, but not in internal Medicine, and no Dr House either).

The book is narrated in the first person by Miss Anne Sharp, a governess who goes to work for one of Jane’s brothers, Edward, and his wife, Elizabeth, at Godmersham. Her personal circumstances are difficult, and not that different from those of Jane herself, a single woman, educated but of no independent means. In Miss Sharp’s case, she does not have a family to rely on and she considers herself lucky obtaining a position with a wealthy family, even if her standing is unclear (she is neither a servant to share the world of downstairs, nor a member of the family who can participate in all their social gatherings). She meets Jane when she visits and they are kindred spirits, well-read and less interested in fashion and finding a husband than in cultivating their minds and observing the world and the society around them. They soon become friends, and correspond and see each other often over the years, despite changes in circumstances, until Jane’s death.

The novel mixes well-researched data with some flights of fancy (the intricacies and complexities of the Austen’s family relationships are rendered much more interesting by suggestions of illicit affairs involving several family members, which then become one of the backbones of the hypothesis that Jane was poisoned with arsenic, providing a possible motivation). I’ve read reviews stating that if this novel had been published within 50 years of Jane’s death it could have been considered slander. This is probably true (I won’t go into detail, as I don’t want to give the plot away) but hardly the point. Yes, there are suppositions that would be virtually impossible to prove, but they help move the story along and serve to highlight the nature of the society of the time.

I liked the portrayal of Jane, indirect as it is and from the point of view of a fairly unreliable narrator. She is presented as a bright, humorous and fiercely intelligent woman, devout of her family but fully aware of their shortcomings. She is a keen observer of human nature and a good amateur psychologist, producing wonderful portrays of the people and the types they come across. There isn’t much detail about the process of getting her novels into publication, other than what the narrator conjectures, as she is no longer in the Austen’s circle at that point.

In the novel, Anne Sharp has feelings for Jane that go beyond friendship, but she never reveals them to Jane, and three is no suggestion that Jane reciprocates her feelings. One of the keys to the novel is the narrator. Although I thought the observational part of the novel was well achieved (I’m not an expert on the literature of the period, though, but I felt there was enough detail without getting to the point of overburdening the story), I was not so sure about how rounded Miss Sharp’s character was. She can be self-restrained one minute (in her relationship with Jane) and then throw all caution to the wind and risk her position with no solid basis for her accusations. And some of the theories she works with and then rejects felt a bit forced (yes, I had worked out who the guilty party was going to be well before she gets there). I didn’t dislike her, but wasn’t fully convinced either.

I enjoyed the book. The story moves along at good pace and it made me want to read more about Jane Austen’s life, and, especially, revisit some of her novels. As a murder mystery of the period, it is perhaps closer to a cosy mystery than to a police procedural (for evident reasons), with the beauty that the background and the period are well researched and fascinating in their own right. I would recommend it to readers in general, particularly to people who enjoy or are curious about Austen’s work, although I suspect that to real scholars of the subject it might appear too little and too fanciful. But if you want a good read, go for it.

Oh my word, I hated this book. I got maybe 30% through and had to send it back before I took out my issues on my defenseless Nook. Nothing about this book and I clicked. The characters were flat, the structure mildly decent but in no way great, and the only part of the whole thing that remotely interested me - the mystery - was not only obvious but ludicrous. I agree with one reader (who did finish it apparently) that everyone knew anyway, so why kill her?

A great idea but I don't plan to pursue it further with this book.

Now I can put this book completely out of mind; on to better books!

Note: I might have read this as early as February of this year but I can't remember and my library records can't tell me. Oh well, sometime in March it is.

I'm torn on my rating for this. I'll agree that compared to The Phantom of Pemberley, this is the better mystery. (Don't ask about the rating on that; I think I was suffering some brain thing because I would not rate it that now.) I like it better then Vampire Darcy's Desire (which on the the other hand is infinitely better then Mr. Darcy, Vampyre - both of which I've read but not reviewed yet). The writing is not bad and over all the characters both known and new were good...yet...Well, here goes.

First off, the title is a misnomer if not a lie, this is not the Darcy you are looking for. Rather this is Mr. Darcy's cousin, Samuel Darcy who is dead and Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth travel to start setting his affairs in order while the other heir is unable to travel as she's in the family way. The Darcys hope to be able to have a honeymoon (which I'm unsure even existed at the time in the form we know it and it appears here) by the sea while taking care of this business, but soon find themselves caught in a quagmire of deceit, distress, and death. The body is missing, his house seems to be run by thieves - or worse, and no one seems to give them a straight answer. Soon bodies are piling up (though none are their cousin's) and Darcy sends for Colonel Fitzwillaim. But even with people around them they can finally trust, our two favorite characters are in danger both from enemies without and tensions arising between themselves.

Before I get into the issues of the story and mystery, let me address the characters. By and large, I found Darcy and Elizabeth to be in character. LIzzy is six month into her role as wife and mistress of Pemberley and she walks a great line between being herself and comporting herself as her role requires. Some of this comes from Darcy; he clearly trusts her and also wants her to remain the woman he fell in love with. We get to see them truly work together in this book and those times were some of the best in the whole text. Darcy too is both the man we knew and different, changed as he's learned to be part of a couple. He clearly still keeps control of all in his purview (those things that are possible anyway), but he also trusts Lizzy's opinions. I do have one problem that other reviewers apparently had; Darcy does seem to be a bit...off when Elizabeth is out of his site. While one could argue, largely successfully I think, that this is due to the dangerous situation they find themselves in, it does get a bet excessive at times.

Colonel Fitzwilliam was exceptional here. Everything we knew before was built on, not in crazy ways but in a logical manner. He plays a very important role and both Elizabeth and Darcy rely on him heavily. As for the characters the author created, none gave a bad showing. I found all of them believable, well fit into the story, However, literally every single character was suspicious at one point or another in the narrative and there were simply so many that the author had to put in a list of characters at the front (more on that later).

The story structure was not bad. It flowed steadily and the author gave a capable rendition of period writing. It was not perfect, but not the worst I've ever seen by far. She likewise made it quite a page turner. However, there were some issues with the vocabulary. Certain words chosen did not ring precisely true to the time; looking back, I can't point to any specific part but there were at least half a dozen instances that I remember thinking a word didn't seem to fit the time period.

*Sigh* I really don't want to touch this: the mystery. I will try to say what I need to without spoilers, but there might be a couple hidden sections.

I've read two her previous books - The Phantom of Pemberley and Vampire Darcy's Desire - and I've always been impressed by how much research she does. Particularly Vampire, where she weaves English myth and superstitions into an...almost believable story. Here was no different; she clearly researched crimes, society, beach bathing of the time, superstitions surrounding witchcraft and so much more. One of the reasons I really liked this book was how much this work showed...except that i knew enough about some of the subjects to guess what was going on. The moment witchcraft/superstitions were mentioned, I knew they would play a part because of the previous books. However, it was in the multitude of bodies and other elements where she showed her crime research. I had the most likely sources pegged early on.

My main issue is, however, the same as Phantom; the author does not give us a true mystery because in the end she cheats. She cheats twice over in this one and I was less then thrilled for most of the conclusion.

This book is over all...not bad. The research is quite good, as is her characterizations. However, both mysteries she's written I've not only guessed, but they weren't even mysteries in the truest sense. I own the other two books of her's I've read and I play to buy this one as well as try out her Captain Wentworth book. However, I hope to see her efforts continue to improve as I feel she can do so much better.

Also, please look up what it takes to make a mystery an actual mystery!