Friday 8 June 2012

Friday Recommended Read...


Friday again, and it's time for my choice of book for Friday recommends...







This is an exciting book blog hop that book bloggers can take part in once a week to share with their followers, the books that they most recommend reading!

The rules for Friday Recommends are:

Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
Pick a book that you've read, and have enjoyed enough to recommend to other readers. It can be a book you've read recently, or a book you read years ago - it's up to you - but make sure you tell us why you love the book (like a mini review). You make the post as long or as short as you like.
Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My Friday recommended read is the third book in the Crowther / Westerman series of Gothic suspense novels from Imogen Robertson. 

My thanks to Real Readers for supplying a copy of this book to review


by


Island of Bones
Headline Review (29 Mar 2012) 




My Review

Against the backdrop of the glorious English Lake District, reclusive anatomist, Gabriel Crowther and his companion, Harriet Westerman meet again in a gothic story of intrigue, mystery and long dead secrets. The Island of Bones is the third book in the Crowther/ Westerman series of Gothic suspense novels, and is a fast and furious blend of history, deception and danger.

When an extra body is discovered in an ancient grave on the aptly named Island of Bones, Gabriel Crowther and Harriet Westerman are called upon to travel to Derwent Water, Cumberland, in order to investigate the mystery surrounding this unknown body. With added poignancy, Gabriel must return to what was once his family home in Keswick, which he abandoned during a scandal many years ago. The wild and untamed beauty of the area is richly juxtaposed alongside a story of disloyalty, disgrace and discredited honour. There are some really nice touches; Imogen Robertson has a nice way of writing, her characterisation is excellent, and her stunning description of the landscape, and superstition surrounding the Island of Bones, makes for interesting reading. The late Georgian era is captured to perfection, and the suspicion and superstition associated with this small Cumberland town is well explored.

With no prior knowledge of the previous two books in the series, it took me a little while to warm to the central characters, but once I understood a little more of their distinctive personalities, I found the narrative flowed very well, and I then became absorbed in the story. I particularly enjoyed reading the parts which involved Harriet’s young son Stephen, his relationship with the eccentric Casper Grace was by far my favourite part of the novel.

Overall, I thought that this was a fascinating and suspenseful murder mystery. I’m always happy to find a new author to follow, and it is now my intention to read the previous two books in the Crowther/ Westerman series.

4 ****

The previous Crowther / Westerman books by Imogen Robertson
Instruments of Darkness (2009)
Anatomy of Murder (2010)
Island of Bones (2011)
Circle of Shadows (due in 2012)


Instruments of Darkness Anatomy of Murder Island of Bones Circle of Shadows




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