***** 5- stars
Emery and August grew up on the island of Saoirse along with Lily and Dutch. August’s family owned the orchard that was central to the island’s economy. When a fire breaks out and nearly destroys it and Lily is murdered after the high school graduation party, the island residents including August’s uncle, the police chief, accuse him of killing her.
When the story opens, August is returning to the island with his mother’s ashes after they left fourteen years ago. He mentions that he did something terrible, and we wonder if he really did kill Lily. As he meets up again with Emery, his high school sweetheart who is now seeing Dutch, old feelings reunite, but things have changed. Emery can no longer trust him, although she still loves him.
As the book progresses, we learn of the supernatural elements on the island and how Emery’s grandmother and Lily’s grandmother practice witchcraft.
I enjoyed this book after reading an advanced reader’s copy of The Unmaking of June Farrow, also by this author that I found even better. If you like mysteries with supernatural elements, you’ll enjoy both these books.
I'm a retired librarian and the award-winning author of the Cobble Cove and Buttercup Bend cozy mystery series and other novels, short stories, poems, articles, and a novella. My books include CLOUDY RAINBOW, REASON TO DIE, SEA SCOPE, MEMORY MAKERS, TIME'S RELATIVE, MEOWS AND PURRS, and MEMORIES AND MEOWS.
My Cobble Cove cozy mystery series published by Solstice Publishing consist of 6 books: A STONE'S THROW, BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE, WRITTEN IN STONE, LOVE ON THE ROCKS, NO GRAVESTONE UNTURNED, and SNEAKY'S SUPERNATURAL MYSTERY AND OTHER COBBLE COVE STORIES. My new Buttercup Bend series published by Next Chapter Publishing includes THE CASE OF THE CAT CRAZY LADY, THE CASE OF THE PARROT LOVING PROFESSOR, THE CASE OF THE LLAMA RAISING LIBRARIAN, and THE CASE OF THE WHALE WATCHING WEDDING PLANNER.
I've also written a romantic comedy novella, WHEN JACK TRUMPS ACE, and short stories of various genres published as eBooks and in anthologies published by the Red Penguin Collection. My poetry appears in the Nassau County Voices in Verse and the Bard's Annual. My latest book is A MIXED BAG OF CAT TAILS, a multi-genre collection of ten stories featuring cats.
I'm a member of Sisters-in-Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Cat Writers' Association. I live on Long Island with my husband, daughter, and 2 cats.
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