M L Eaton

Note : This review was originally posted @ Readers' Muse

The book opens with a quote from Julius Ceaser on Tides & affair of men. That combined with the summary and the picture in page 2 gave me an idea what to expect in the second edition of Mysterious Marsh series. Our protagonist, Hazel Dawkins is back again, this time with her newborn baby Jessica to solve yet another “Legal Mystery”. This time it only got better than the previous book.

So what did I expect? I expected beautiful writing, logical story and some beautiful history for I knew what to expect after reading the first book in the series. To state that the book lived up to my expectations would be an understatement. The book truly delivered more than what I expected. The story line was logical, well woven and had quite a number of surprising twists. In fact towards the climax the story line turned so racy that I ignored the growling of my tummy for it was lunch time.

Initially the history of the painting and Hazel’s dreams (or premonitions?!) seemed vague but as the story line progressed all that history about Rye & the painting made a lot of sense.

Two things that I truly loved about the book were – The writing style & the characterisation. The writer has this beautiful typical British style of describing things (Duh me! She is a Brit after all!). I fear not many people will appreciate this style of writing for people these days appreciate the “Instant” kind of writing sans the description about even the smallest detail. The writer has a great sense of describing things. Her experience in legal practice is much evident in her writing.

The characterisation deserves a special mention. The protagonist, Hazel is portrayed with such a depth that she inspires me to be a strong person. At times writers tend to get carried away so much so that the characterisation is so unrealistically ideal. Thankfully the characters in this book were nowhere near that state.

My only weeny tiny bit of complaint would be the story line of Mark in the beginning which I felt was a bit out of league.

To sum it up, “When the tide turned” is beautifully written compulsive read which got me all hooked!

VERDICT: Must read! It’s “THE PERFECT” mystery!

RATING: 4 on 5

… (mehr)

Note : This review was originally posted @ Readers' Muse

The book opens with a quote from Julius Ceaser on Tides & affair of men. That combined with the summary and the picture in page 2 gave me an idea what to expect in the second edition of Mysterious Marsh series. Our protagonist, Hazel Dawkins is back again, this time with her newborn baby Jessica to solve yet another “Legal Mystery”. This time it only got better than the previous book.

So what did I expect? I expected beautiful writing, logical story and some beautiful history for I knew what to expect after reading the first book in the series. To state that the book lived up to my expectations would be an understatement. The book truly delivered more than what I expected. The story line was logical, well woven and had quite a number of surprising twists. In fact towards the climax the story line turned so racy that I ignored the growling of my tummy for it was lunch time.

Initially the history of the painting and Hazel’s dreams (or premonitions?!) seemed vague but as the story line progressed all that history about Rye & the painting made a lot of sense.

Two things that I truly loved about the book were – The writing style & the characterisation. The writer has this beautiful typical British style of describing things (Duh me! She is a Brit after all!). I fear not many people will appreciate this style of writing for people these days appreciate the “Instant” kind of writing sans the description about even the smallest detail. The writer has a great sense of describing things. Her experience in legal practice is much evident in her writing.

The characterisation deserves a special mention. The protagonist, Hazel is portrayed with such a depth that she inspires me to be a strong person. At times writers tend to get carried away so much so that the characterisation is so unrealistically ideal. Thankfully the characters in this book were nowhere near that state.

My only weeny tiny bit of complaint would be the story line of Mark in the beginning which I felt was a bit out of league.

To sum it up, “When the tide turned” is beautifully written compulsive read which got me all hooked!

VERDICT: Must read! It’s “THE PERFECT” mystery!

RATING: 4 on 5

… (mehr)