In the Shadow of Lakecrest

by Elizabeth Blackwell

The year is 1928. Kate Moore is looking for a way out of the poverty and violence of her childhood. When a chance encounter on a transatlantic ocean liner brings her face-to-face with the handsome heir to a Chicago fortune, she thinks she may have found her escape—as long as she can keep her past concealed.

After exchanging wedding vows, Kate quickly discovers that something isn’t quite right with her husband—or her new family. As Mrs. Matthew Lemont, she must contend with her husband’s disturbing past, his domineering mother, and his overly close sister. Isolated at Lakecrest, the sprawling, secluded Lemont estate, she searches desperately for clues to Matthew’s terrors, which she suspects stem from the mysterious disappearance of his aunt years before. As Kate stumbles deeper into a maze of family secrets, she begins to question everyone’s sanity—especially her own. But just how far will she go to break free of this family’s twisted past?

• ISBN10: 1503941841
• ISBN13: 9781503941847
• Publish Date: 1 February 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Amazon Publishing
• Imprint: Lake Union Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 282
• Language: English

Reviews

[kalventure]

"It never occurred to me that Matthew had secrets of his own, that we'd both been modeling our best selves for the other's admiration."

Madness, secrets, and the burden of marrying into a powerful family. At its core the story is a feminist one, and its setting in the Jazz Age with the cultural rebellion against society makes for an interesting tableau for an ambitious woman seeking a future beyond her station. But money doesn't buy happiness, and Kate finds out that those with money have issues of their own.

It felt like there was a lot of exposition in the last 10% of the book. Blackwell is a talented writer, but this story could have been tightened up a bit more so that there would have been some more exposition earlier in the book (which I acknowledge for a mystery is difficult to do). I am most bothered by the multiple plot points that were left unanswered, particularly the kiss. It seemed disingenuous that Kate wouldn't confront Matthew about it. It seemed that the kiss served merely as a means to get Kate into the labyrinth for a weird mystical storm...