3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best, better, good -- in that order, August 24, 2005
This review is from: Mysteries Of Lost Angel Inn (Feature Anthology) (Mass Market Paperback)
The premise of this book caught my eye, and even though I'd never before read anything by any of the three authors-Evelyn Rogers, Kathleen O'Brien or Debra Webb-I looked forward to reading it. I was entirely captivated by the first story-A Face in the Window by Evelyn Rogers. Ms. Rogers had the task of setting the scene, providing the background information while at the same time telling her current story. She does this amazingly well. The reader is immediately drawn in to the concept of a mystery weekend at an old, haunted house that is being renovated into a modern bed `n' breakfast inn on the rocky Atlantic Ocean coast of Maine.
Livvy Hamilton had purchased the old house, which came with its own story: built just after the Civil War by a US Senator for his young bride, the house had been the scene of too many murders through the years. The senator had been found dead in his bed the day after the wedding, stabbed with a unique letter opener. A chambermaid had been charged with the death, but protesting her innocence, she called down a curse on the house. The senator's wife had a miscarriage and then hanged herself in the former chambermaid's room. In more recent times, the house had been abandoned for many years due to these continuing scandals, fueled by ghostly noises, and shunned by the locals. The curse manifested itself by claiming a new victim every twenty years.
In the first story, Ellie Gresham is not entirely certain she wants to re-engage a romance with a former beau-professor Curtis Davidson, even though he's the reason she's at Lost Angel Inn. Once she meets another of the Inn's guests, Jeff Cunningham, she's even more certain that Curtis is not the man for her. But after she meets all the other guests, as well as the resident staff, she's not sure who to trust and who to avoid. The planned pseudo-murder sets everyone in motion to discover the culprit, but all's not as it seems! This was an exciting story, and could easily have encompassed the entire book with the very believable plot and well-drawn characters.
The second novella, The Edge of Memory by Kathleen O'Brien was similarly well-plotted and well-written, although the tension levels were not as high as in the first story. Emily Carlyle visits the Inn with her aunt Dorrie, who's raised her after the death of Emily's mother, twenty years earlier, at the Lost Angel Inn. Emily was barely eight years old, and hardly remembers her beautiful, vivacious mother. Christopher Maxwell is a part-time employee at the Inn, but it was his father Martin who was suspected of having pushed Melissa Carlyle over the cliff. Although believable, the ending was not a great surprise to me.
The final section-Shadows of the Pasts-by Debra Webb was by far the weakest part of the book to me. The writing style was vastly different from that of the previous two authors, and I found it hard to get into the story. And while I am seldom able to figure out `whodunnit' even after years and years of reading mystery stories, this one telegraphed itself to me very early on. Using components of the two previous stories, Livvy is harrassed (there's no other word for it) by the local police chief, until the chief's own nephew-and assistant in the very small island police force-Chase Fraley begins to realize that, indeed, all is not as it seems, and sorts through the tangled plot lines. There is a happy ending, more or less.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Each story stands on it's own and yet, fits nicely to make a whole......, December 8, 2007
This review is from: Mysteries Of Lost Angel Inn (Feature Anthology) (Mass Market Paperback)
MYSTERIES OF LOST ANGEL INN
Harlequin Anthology # 708 - September 2004
These are a group of stories about an Inn on an island off the coast of Maine. The Inn was once a home built for a bride, but on the wedding night the bridegroom was murdered and the chamber-maid framed for the crime. When the chamber-maid was executed she cursed the Inn. Local folklore claim, that every 20 years the curse takes the life of someone.
A Face in the Window by Evelyn Rogers
Ellie's lead a lonely life, after her mother's illness and then passing. She craves a real family of her own. An old boyfriend invites her for the grand-reopenning of the Inn. It's to be a murder-mystery themed weekend. Ellie's not sure about the old boyfriend but wants to find out if sparks could be there. When she arrives at the Inn, she finds herself not attracted at all to her old boyfriend, but to another guest, Jeff, who oddly has warned her to stay away from the Inn as she's in danger.
Even though much of this story is staging for the other two novellas that follow, it's a wonderfully complete story of it's own. What a great introduction to this intriguing Inn.
The Edge of Memory by Kathleen O'Brien
Twenty years ago, Emily's mother was thrown from the cliffs behind the Inn to her death. Now Emily returns to the Inn with her aunt, to try to remember what happened all those years ago. Christopher is the Inn's carpenter / restorer. He was 15 when Emily's mother was murdered, and his father was accused of the crime. He's not thrilled to see Emily, afraid that she'll only stir up what should be long buried.
What a page turner! This one held me captive right to the last word
Shadows of the Past by Debra Webb
This is the story of the new owner of the Inn, Livvy. We've had wonderful glimpses of her in the preceding stories. It's the first off season for the Inn and it's undergoing more renovations. One of the Inn's employees is murdered while locking up, a job that usually Livvy did. The Police Chief has had it in for Livvy from the moment she reopened the Inn, and now he's after her for the murder. The Chief's deputy is his nephew, Chase; and Chase can't help but feel that there's something off with his uncle's behaviour and eagerness in pinning this all on Livvy. But maybe his judgment is clouded because he's had a crush on Livvy from first sight.
I'm never disappointed with anything written by Ms. Webb. She does a fantastic job of completing the last mystery of Lost Angel Inn.
I love reading mini-series, either multi-author or single author. I wasn't sure that three novellas would be able to pull off a satisfying read. This anthology does. Each story stands on it's own and yet, fits nicely to make a whole. I enjoyed this one very much!
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