Book Synopsis:
London, 1910
Budding Private Detective Cyril Arlington Hartwell has a conundrum. London is being ravaged by the largest run of thefts in recent history. His hunch that it is all tied together may put him and those he loves in more danger than he could have reckoned.
Olivia Larken Hartwell is just home from boarding school for the summer anticipating time with her adoring parents.She misses her absent brother, Cyril, hoping for the day he will finally come home. But tragedy strikes, causing upheaval for all concerned and changes her life in a way she never could have imagined.
Olivia, Cyril, and their friends must bring the hidden to light, seek to execute justice, and dispel the darkness that hovers over London… and their hearts.
My Review:
3.5/5 stars. This had an interesting plot, but it took a long time to get going. The writing style was also pretty clunky, which made it harder to get through. I enjoyed the characters and their arcs but was also very annoyed by some of their actions. The Christian themes of forgiveness and redemption at the end were great, though.
For this being a mystery, I had pretty much figured out the gist of what was going on right from the start. There were details I didn't know, but for the most part I knew who the main person involved was. I haven't read enough mysteries to know if that means it was well-written or poorly written.
Also in regard to the plot, the pacing could've been better. The first half felt very slow, with the events dragging. It was great and engaging once it picked up, but I wish it hadn't taken so long to get to that point.
As for the clunky writing style, I didn't notice it as much as I got used to it, but early on I found myself frequently re-reading sentences because of how they were worded. It also felt like there was too much "tell" and not enough "show" at times. Writing style is a big thing for me in books, and this one was hard to read. I have other books by this author saved, but now I'm not sure if I want to read them because of that.
The characters were well-written. I enjoyed aspects of them and was irritated by other parts of them. With Olivia, I loved that she loved reading, and I liked the small reference to Little Women, my favorite classic. However, I was infuriated with how naive she was when it came to a character who was very obviously suspicious. I understand it given her upbringing, but her level of innocence and naivety was a little unrealistic. With Cyril, I enjoyed his internal conflict and turmoil over his relationship with Olivia. One other small thing is that I wish we were given a better sense of the characters' ages. I had an idea based on context clues, but having a clearer sense of how old they were would make some actions make more sense.
The message in the end was good. I loved the message of how no one is ever too far gone for God's forgiveness. However, it did feel a little unrealistic how quickly Cyril and Olivia forgave Bancroft. They're human, after all, and especially after all Bancroft had done to them, I wished they hadn't forgiven him completely right away.
I didn't like the epilogue with the romance between Olivia and Dudley. Although I don't know their exact ages, there seemed to be a big age gap between them, especially considering Olivia was probably about 18 when she met Dudley. Besides that, I saw him as more of a brother figure to her, and she even described him that way at one point in the book.
Content:
Language: None
Sexual Content: There is mention of a kiss, but nothing shown.
Violence/Gore: Descriptions of injuries and blood, people get shot, someone gets beat up, a break-in, a kidnapping
Drugs/Alcohol: None
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