Rating: 
Summary: not his best
Review: the reviewer who was less than enchanted with this book makes many very good points, most of which i agree with. many of the plot twists are beyond hackneyed (antagonism turns to love, solitary heroine saves day), too much time is spent investigating the charges, not enough time is spent with the major plot twist, and the ending is completely unbelievable and unrealistic (since the heroine is not a sociopath). the village "characters" are undeveloped and there are scenes that are thrown in just for effect and not for any compelling narative developement. if the short apprearances of the dead cousins were supposed to be affecting reminders of all that was lost on the blood-sodden fields of france, they were too abrupt and too manipulative to move me (but then, i have family stories of trench warfare to draw on). the book might have been better had it been longer, or maybe only if it had been more focused. it seems a bit slapdash and there's also a hint of authorly 'how many plot devices can i shoehorn into this thing?'although i enjoyed the writing enough to stay up much too late to finish the book, i won't be keeping this one in my library.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast paced
Review: This is a rattling good story, well told. The writer, departing from his previous Ian Rutledge series, this time explores the world of Francesca Hatton, a young heiress who finds her previously ordered world crashing down around her. She has to discover the truth about her grandfather - truth that seems both hidden and horrific. Set in the time of World War 1, a period that resonates for the writer, the novel traces the maturing of Francesca in a world where her five male cousins and close childhood playmates have been killed in the war and where damaged men return from the battlefields struggling to pick up the pieces of their lives. The horror of the war and its carnage are never far away. Plot and characters are all well developed and the pacing is good throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. My only quibble would be that the male writer loses touch with Francesca towards the end, and doesn't fully enter the emotional world of a young woman contemplating marriage. Other than this, it is an exciting tale, told with wit and insight.
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