More of a 3.5. Not quite as good as the other Goddard I've read, but I feel it's still a notch or two above contemporary mysteries. The story begins with the cold-blooded murder of the sister, Beatrix, of a famous poet, Tristram Abberley. At first it is thought Beatrix has been killed for robbery but there's a darker motive. The antique dealer Colin Fairfax, is framed for the crime. The locales stretch from Wales to southern England to France to Spain. Letters from Tristram to Beatrix during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and memories of some of the former combatants connect with the action decades later. A mystery surrounds the authorship of the poems, especially the posthumous poems in a collection: Spanish Lines. What big secret is hidden in the letters besides Tristram's possible motive for writing them? The brother of the accused, Derek, tries desperately to prove Colin's innocence. Derek joins forces with Charlotte, goddaughter of the murder victim. Bequeathed Beatrix's cottage, Charlotte begins to discover secrets and lies of her extended family. Derek and Charlotte are drawn into a maelstrom of lies upon lies, duplicity, terror, and a kidnapping.This novel was very well plotted and written. Just when you think you know what's coming, something completely unexpected happens. This occurs over and over. The novel was exciting all through; I felt nothing was boring. The showdown with the kidnappers of Charlotte's niece in Spain was chilling. The novel was as much a thriller as a mystery. It was absolutely gripping reading.
Do You like book Hand In Glove (2006)?
This was the second Goddard book I've read and I enjoyed it much better than his first novel. What I like: all of his books are present day, but centered around a mystery from a recognizable event from the past. In the case of Hand in Glove, a mystery from the Spanish Civil War reaches out from the past to embroil modern day characters in a mystery that threatens their lives. So we end up with a story that in order to save people's lives, the characters have to try to sort out events from the past with little clues to go off of. The mystery serves up the standard lot of suspects and while the endings are never too much of a surprise, the process of getting there is satisfying for history buffs. I'll certainly read more of his novels, but suggest them as a library read.
—Michele
