Jude Deveraux

I originally gave this two stars when I thought it was written in the 90s. Imagine my surprise to find its much more recent. Too recent for the female leads to be this obsessed with thinness and calories. I don't mind the occasional comment, but this was every. single. time food was mentioned.

But, I could probably have overlooked it if the mystery itself was good, but there were several "twists" that just made absolutely no sense. The murderer was obvious from the beginning and there really weren't any red herrings to throw a reader off the scent. I guess this was the author's first foray into mystery so I might read the second in this series to see if it improves.… (mais)

This story begins when Kate is given the listing for Lachlan House. When she, Sara, and Jack go to look at it, Kate is overwhelmed with memories of having spent time there as a child. Trauma had erased many of Kate's childhood memories so this ease in Lachlan House rings alarm bells for Sara and Jack.

Things escalate when they find a skeleton sealed up in a closet in the playroom and escalate more when they find one of Kate's toys stuffed with jewels in the skeleton's skull. Things become interesting when the Medlar Three, along with Kate's father Randal, decide to try to recreate the weekend party that ended with the death of the man who is now the skeleton in the closet.

The story is filled with interesting characters, many of whom have connections with Sara, Randal, Kate and Jack, who all have their reasons to come back to a place they left twenty-five years earlier because there are secrets there.

I enjoyed this twisty plot filled with suspicious characters. I also enjoyed a resolution to the romance between Kate and Jack which has been brewing since the first book. And we finally learn the secrets hidden in Sara's romance with Jack's grandfather.… (mais)

The fourth book in the Medlar Mysteries reveals a lot of secrets many of them centering around Kate. First of all, the father her mother told her was dead is released from prison early and has come to Lachlan to get to know his daughter. Kate's world is shaken. Her beloved Aunt Sara has been keeping secrets from her for years.

And Sara is suffering from guilt of her own as she feels that she was instrumental in her brother Randal's incarceration. Kate also doesn't know that Aunt Sara is the one who provided all the money for her and her mother ever since her father went to prison.

Then Kate's mother Ava, who has been insisting that Kate return to Chicago to take care of her, decides to show up in Lachlan too. She wants her daughter and her husband back and is keeping quite a few secrets of her own too.

There is some element of slapstick to this episode with both Sara and Randal both doing everything they can to keep out of Ava's sight. And the sheriff who has his own reasons for staying away from Randal convinces Jack to become deputy sheriff and take over the department saying that he's going on a cruise with his wife but stays almost hidden in his home.

This was an excellent episode in the series. I enjoyed learning some of the secrets and liked that the Medlar Three came through it all still a tight trio.… (mais)