Helpful Score: 2
While all the descriptive text in the book is lyrical and absorbing, I found the plot somewhat dull and plodding. The writing is gorgeous but it did not take me anywhere. There is a good story here but you rather have to plough through it. Disappointing ending. From reviews I had read, I was expecting so much more.
Helpful Score: 1
If you miss the kind of romantic suspense plied by Phyllis A. Whitney etc., then you'll want to at least give this book a go. Lawrenson has a gift for rich language that engages all the five senses and creates a sense of place - so important to this genre. Ultimately, though, I felt the story did not justify a book of this length (almost 400 pages) and it lacked a big "reveal." If you don't need it to be a true whodunit, you should be fine.
