Jeanne G. (IlliniAlum83) - , reviewed on 10/28/2020 + 181 more book reviews

Being a fan of the Ruth Galloway series, I was looking forward to a standalone novel by Griffiths. The book kept me on edge, wanting to race through the pages and read late into the night to discover 'who done it'.
Loved the connections to English lit....The Tempest, and Woman in White as well as the gothic short story 'The Stranger' by fictional author R. M. Holland who Clare, the main character, is researching in order to write his autobiography and investigate mysteries surrounding his wife and daughter Mariana.
Clare's best friend, fellow English teacher, Ella, who also teaches where Clare's daughter attends high school, becomes the first victim. Relationships within the English Dept staff and administrators become a focus for the police investigation.
"Holland House", where the 'author' and his family had lived, remains an active building for the high school; now housing the school library, a few classrooms, offices and the museum for Holland on the uppermost floor which was his library and writing studio.
Through much of the book I thought I would be giving this novel 5 stars which is rare for me, but the solution to the murders at the end was a bit too obvious as I had guessed it early on while thinking I was wrong about the perpetrator......

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