Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Description:
This is a treasure hunt in the ‘history and mystery’ genre. Cas is
sidekick to charismatic, beautiful Lacey. Lacey goes missing, leaving behind a
trail of destruction and a set of enigmatic clues to an Elizabethan treasure.
Cas will have to find a courage and resourcefulness she's never known before if
she's going to find the treasure and, with it, save her friend.
Cas races across Brighton, London and some stunning English landscape
(you could follow her progress on a map) searching for and solving Lacey’s
clues. The clues include appearances from Mary Shelley, Ada Lovelace, Queen
Elizabeth I and other strong women from British history with whom you may be
less familiar.
The end of the journey is more personal than Cas could have imagined
as she finally unearths the British Government’s most well-kept secret, and
faces the organisation sworn to protect it.
Author:
Megan Goodenough is a British author, a graduate of York University
with a degree in archaeology. She’s been short-listed for the Crime Writers’
Association Debut Dagger Award, long-listed for the TS Eliot Award and won
competitions with BBC Writers Room. This is her first novel.
Appraisal:
I enjoyed this a lot – to the point where I couldn’t put it down. If
you like historical mysteries this will appeal to you. If you enjoy Dan Brown’s
clever clues (especially if you find the violent deaths and severed body parts
in his books a tad superfluous) you will enjoy this. As you can see above,
Goodenough’s expertise is in areas which feed the creation of this sort of
novel. Readers familiar with the British Tudor dynasty will be aware that Tudor
works of art were chockful of symbols. Her research (even – or perhaps particularly
– if it has led to imaginary artefacts) is first class yet her learning is
placed lightly on the page. Goodenough draws strong, engaging female
characters. She leavens the book’s action with wit and humour, and even permits
her characters some introspection when time serves. The result is a real
page-turner.
The book is set in the present. The two female protagonists are young,
talented artists. Cas is drifting through her life, intending to get a grip on
it soon. Or maybe not. Then suddenly she has to shape up much more quickly than
she intended. So, the book is as much a rite of passage as it is a thriller.
Cas and Lacey are delightfully believable. I have had a relationship
like that. I have had that revelation about it. Cas’s vacillation about Reuben
(the single major male character) also rings true. How Cas handles a gun made
me think the author picked one up for the first time as research for this book
and put the experience accurately on the page. Cas’s dead gran is beautifully
drawn: a character from beyond the grave, but none the less potent for that.
Up until the end I thought that the prologue was an unnecessary give
away. It isn’t, it’s a clue. The motivation for finding that which is lost
changes two-thirds of the way through. At first I thought it was wobbly
plotting. It isn’t, it’s a change of motivation which shows the heroine (for
she is more than a protagonist) becoming a finer human being.
For readers in the US (which is most of you, I think) brace yourself
for British spellings. But as a quid pro quo you get descriptions of British
places that only a Briton in love with them could provide. The Great Court at
the British Museum is the standout example (it is stunning and she does it
justice: trust me, I’ve been many times) and there are a number of others.
If the book has a flaw, it is that some of the information fed to the
reader at the beginning of the book isn’t very helpful until one reaches the
end.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Original review published April 19, 2017
Format/Typo
Issues:
There was a susurration of little typos in the file I read. Hopefully
these have been hunted down and eradicated in the published versions.
Rating: *****
Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Judi Moore
Approximate word count: 90-95,000 words
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