Lake of Sorrows : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Predictable Yet Still Fun Novel
Review: I did not read Hart's first book starring Nora Gavin--Haunted Ground--I just picked Lake of Sorrows up without knowing the characters. Hart does a good job of painting the grim landscape of boggy Ireland to the reader, and it's obvious she has a passion for the history and artistry of her Irish ancestors.

The writing flows smoothly and keeps the reader engaged throughout a series of murders involving garrotting, ancient daggers, and quicksand-like drownings. The plot is somewhat predictable, and Nora's relationship with her lover seems underdeveloped. She clearly is in love with him, yet she still plays high-schoolish games with "why we can't be together now."

There's a bit of soap opera in this book--the beautiful, dark-haired lass who cannot/will not speak because of a witnessed tragedy; mistaken paternity; surprise pregnancy, etc. The villain kills wantonly, but when he/she must get vital information from Nora Gavin, he/she spares her. Doesn't seem too likely!

The climax is a little embarrassing in its theatrical quality, but at least the bad guy/gal gets justice in the end. It's a fun little read; and I believe that with experience, Ms. Hart will be able to form more complex characters and imbue her plots with more pschological depth than is present in Lake of Sorrows.

Rating:
Summary: Light on plot, rich with characters.
Review: The bogs of the Irish midlands reveal their secrets in all due time, more often now that the landscape is being increasingly carved up by the local farmers. As the turf is cut and dried to be burnt as a fuel, there is occasionally a find that excites archaeologists and the scandal lovers alike. When two bodies turn up in the peat bogs in as many days, both showing signs that they were victims of ritualized killings, the community is given something delicious to talk about.

Visiting American pathologist Nora Gavin is called in because of her past experience. The opportunity to examine hands on another peat bog body is an opportunity not to be missed in the name of research. The second recent find is not however that ancient and is quickly identified as belonging to a family that still live and work in the area. In this myth soaked area of Ireland the paganistic rite of a "triple" death is not unusual, but to find a body slain in such a manner with an estimated date of death to be only twenty or so years ago, it takes the find from being considered historically curious, to threatening.

"Lake of Sorrows" is full of characters that really need their own novels to fully explore their murky pasts and how they got to be all together in one secluded little Irish town. Hart needs to either write longer saga length novels or tone down some of the melodrama to keep the focus on her two protagonists and the crime at hand. In providing a lead for the third novel in the series Hart has her character in Dr Gavin behaving like a teenager in her rejection of her Irish lover Cormac Macguire who we expected to become the love of her life at the end of "Haunted Ground."



Hart excels at keeping up the dark and sombre mood; everyone has their secrets, and everyone has their burdens of sadness to carry. "Lake of Sorrows" treads in the shadows. It is a mystery novel that is light on plot, though soaked with rich and memorable characterization in its secondary and introductory characters. The third novel promises to take the action out of the bogs and into the U.S. so it will be interesting to see if this will lighten up the tone of this grim though beautifully evocative series.


Rating:
Summary: an enjoyable read
Review: This book provides a very enjoyable read, not compelling or tense and not too much distracting detail. It is what I consider lighter type mystery. I would consider reading more by this author.