The Lake House
A Heart-wrenching and Atmospheric Mystery
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4.5 • 107 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
The Lake House by Kate Morton is the mysterious and enchanting fifth novel from the number one bestselling author of The House at Riverton and The Secret Keeper.
June 1933, and the Edevane family’s country house, Loeanneth, is polished and gleaming, ready for the much-anticipated Midsummer Eve party. Alice Edevane, sixteen years old and a budding writer, is especially excited. Not only has she worked out the perfect twist for her novel, she’s also fallen helplessly in love with someone she shouldn’t. But by the time midnight strikes and fireworks light up the night skies, the Edevane family will have suffered a loss so great that they leave Loeanneth forever.
Seventy years later, after a particularly troubling case, DC Sadie Sparrow is sent on an enforced break from her job with the Metropolitan Police. She retreats to her beloved grandfather’s cottage in Cornwall, but soon finds herself at a loose end. Until one day, Sadie stumbles upon an abandoned house surrounded by overgrown gardens and dense woods, and learns the story of a baby boy who disappeared without a trace.
Meanwhile, in the attic writing room of her elegant Hampstead home, the formidable Alice Edevane, now an old lady, leads a life as neatly plotted as the bestselling detective novels she writes. That is, until a young police detective starts asking questions about her family’s past, seeking to resurrect the complex tangle of secrets Alice has spent her life trying to escape . . .
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Kate Morton intertwines breathless suspense with historical fiction. When police detective Sadie Sparrow stumbles across a crumbling house in the woods, she learns it was abandoned after a child went missing there decades earlier. Shifting between the present day and the ‘30s, The Lake House is a slow-building, richly satisfying gothic mystery filled with family secrets and dark spaces. It’s perfect for readers looking for a thriller without violence or gore.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestselling storyteller Morton (The Secret Keeper) excels in this mystery set against the gothic backdrop of 1930s England. In Cornwall, the wealthy Edevane family prepares for its annual midsummer ball at Loenneth, their isolated estate. That night, teenager Alice Edevane is lingering near the nursery when someone kidnaps the cherished Edevane son, Theo; despite a lengthy investigation, he is never found. The story moves forward to 2003 London, where Det. Sgt. Sadie Sparrow is suspended after speaking to the media about a missing-person case, recently closed, that haunts her. Sparrow seeks refuge with her grandfather in Cornwall. On her first morning run there, she finds the now-dilapidated Loenneth mansion deep in the woods. Curious, Sparrow peers through the windows into tumbledown rooms abandoned in haste long ago. She begins to investigate the 70-year-old Edevane case with help from the Cornwall locals, including a retired copper who was there in 1933 when Theo disappeared. Sparrow locates the now-elderly Alice, a celebrated mystery writer in London, who hands over the keys to the estate so Theo's case can be reopened. The compelling story moves back and forth in time as Sparrow uncovers what happened to Theo in 1933 while also resolving the recent missing-person case. Morton's plotting is impeccable, and her finely wrought characters, brought together in the end by Sparrow's investigation, are as surprised as readers will be by the astonishing conclusion.
Customer Reviews
Different and intriguing
I had become a little bored with the murder mystery genre so this book was a breath of fresh air. The multi faceted viewpoints, the gentle and loving way it was told and the beautiful way it was written all captured the atmosphere of a long lost summer and the tragedy that comes from deceit, mis-communication and life's unpredictable twists and turns.
Intriguing
Well written, although process of what happened to Theo became obvious. Not that it was a deterrent to read on. Character’s relationships felt real. Overall, very good read.
Lake House
I really enjoyed this book. I am however quite cross with the previous reviewer who spoilt the surprise, why do people feel the need to give the plot away.