Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. I have read a couple of books by Kate Morton and enjoyed them. I regret I am in the minority here as I felt disconnected from the story and it took effort on my part to keep reading.. I was wishing for a chart clarifying relationships and timelines.which pulled me out of the story. Kate Morton is an excellent writer. Some descriptive passages are dazzling, but I thought there was a tendency to over elaborate. I found the book too long and meandering, and was not feeling a connection with the characters or story. The historical background was interesting but overall it did not hold my attention. The cover was eye catching. I feel that despite my reservations that it will be very popular with Kate Morton fans and destined to become a book club selection.

Kate Morton is one of my favourite authors and her latest, The Clockmaker's Daughter, doesn't disappoint. Morton always weaves a good tale that, although fictional, is believable. In this novel she strays from her tried and true formula by introducing an element of the supernatural. ( A word to the wise: check your dictionary for the definition of “eldritch” prior to curling up with this book.)
This is not a novel to read a couple of pages per sitting because there is just too much going on. Morton has interwoven so many interconnected stories and jumped around in the telling of them so much that I had to make a timeline for myself upon finishing this novel and then reread it, in order to make sure that I managed to squeeze every morsel of her story telling goodness out of the experience.
Kate Morton never disappoints and has hit it out of the park in The Clockmaker's Daughter.

I received a free copy of this ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Photographer Sarah Bain and her friends Lord Hugh Staunton, a disgraced member of the upper class, and sometime street urchin Mick O'Reilly are private detectives with a new gig - photographing crime scenes for London's Daily World newspaper.

A pub owner named Harry Warbrick has been found hanged and decapitated amid evidence of foul play. His murder becomes a sensation because he was England's top hangman and he's met the same fate that he inflicted on hundreds of criminals.

Sir Gerald Mariner, a fabulously wealthy and powerful banker and owner of the Daily World decides to turn the discovery of the murderer into a contest between the Metropolitan Police and the intrepid members of the newspaper team.

Rowland’s The Hangman’s Secret is a face paced Victorian murder mystery that kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat from the beginning. I couldn’t put this unpredictable novel down until the murderer was found.

I haven't read a Kate Morton in a while, but the books I have finished, I enjoyed. This one, however, didn't do it for me. The timelines and multiple viewpoints are confusing, and I constantly found myself going back pages to remember who characters were and what the little nuances and hints in the story were. Trying to keep track of everything pulled me out of the story and I just ended up not caring about what was happening. I enjoyed the archival aspect of the story, but there was so much interwoven throughout that I simply couldn't make heads nor tails of what was going on half the time. A disappointment for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria for the advanced copy of The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton. I felt so fortunate to have had my "wish granted" and receive a copy of this eGalley, as Kate Morton is one of my all-time favourite authors and I have been waiting (not very) patiently for her next novel.

All of the elements I adore about Kate Morton novels were present and accounted for in The Clockmaker's Daughter. Multiple narrative timelines and perspectives, atmospheric settings - I was totally transported into the world of Birchwood Manor and the lives of the people connected to the estate. The way in which the narratives finally tied together - the twist, the missing puzzle piece that I feel is iconic of Kate Morton novels - did not blow me away in the same way that The Secret Keeper or The House at Riverton did. The Clockmaker's Daughter was, nonetheless, a wonderfully entertaining way to spend a summer day. I really enjoyed it.

However - one struggle I had was the similarity in character names. Specifically - Lily Millington and Lucy Radcliffe were often referred to by their first name only (understandable), but it the chapters were Lily and Lucy were both involved, I found the two similar names confusing. If it were all the same to Kate Morton (who, presumably, chooses the names for her characters), I would have preferred two names that were more easily distinguishable.