Member Review

This is the first book of this series that I have encountered. The very idea of something called a book-retreat seemed like the most magical concoction. My reaction of this idea would rival some people's affinity to something like Disneyland. The concepts described in the book, sounded appealing even though I do not have a fountain of information when it came to information about authors and their connected histories. 

I began with the fact that this book is the first of a series that I have read, because it is the fourth book in a very deeply embedded plot. This plot seems to have a lot of roots which made me feel a little left out at times ( of the tale that is). It is not often that I read books out of order, but in this particular case I would recommend a working knowledge of the people involved in Storyton. There is a conference taking place at the book retreat and there has been a surprise discovery when laying ground for a new spa. This discovery starts a new chain of questions, and in the following the trail led by those questions, more than one person is hurt. There is a lot of fast paced planning and execution, controversies that go way back in time and new bonds made.The people involved in the town and therefore in the unravelling of the case, are pretty interesting and their collective love for books is almost like a fairy tale. I felt the narrative a little stiff (in terms of what I am used to) at times but it is a pretty good book overall.