Lane Kent is a young
widow who struggles with depression and harbours a secret about the death of
her husband, the circumstances of which have left her with guilt and
shame. She stumbles across the body of a
young girl and so is drawn into a murder investigation led by Charlie Lynch,
the handsome new deputy in the small town of Walton, Georgia. What follows is a mystery and a romance.
The novel examines
depression and its impact not just on the sufferer but also on loved ones. The focus is on showing people’s
misunderstanding of the illness and those who suffer with it. The problem with Lane is that she has these
abrupt mood swings. Virtually all her dramatic
shifts in mood are related to her feelings for Charlie. For example, she sees Charlie talking to a
glamorous woman and immediately “Lane’s mood turned as dark as the sky. Who was she trying to fool? She could pretend a lot of things. Put on a smile for a camera. Pretend like she was fine. But believing she deserved someone like
Charlie – that he could love someone like her – was just another lie she wasn’t
willing to live.” Her reaction seems
more like insecurity and jealousy than a sign of clinical depression. The reader is supposed to sympathize with
Lane but at times she comes across as just whiny and full of self-pity.
Charlie is the
ever-so-good-looking deputy who has just arrived in town. He sets aflutter the hearts of all women. He is just too good to be true. Not only is he handsome, but he is also intelligent
and patient and understanding and compassionate. He wins not only Lane’s heart but that of her
son Noah. More than once he is like the
knight in shining armour who charges in to rescue Lane. There is not a single character flaw to be
seen.
Often the romance
element takes precedence over the mystery.
Lane and Charlie keep bumping into each other (literally), and they both
spend an inordinate amount of time wondering how the other person feels. And the electricity that flows whenever they
accidentally touch – oh please! I believe
in love but I find little enjoyment in formulaic romances.
Much is left
unexplained. Was something added to Lane’s
glass of champagne at her parents’ barbecue?
Why did the killer become involved in the various nefarious activities
described? Certainly, more character
development is needed to explain motivations.
Lane and Charlie’s problematic relationships with their fathers are
resolved so quickly and conveniently.
Apparently this is the
first book of a series entitled Harbored Secrets. This first book is not so exemplary that I
will seek out the next one.
Note: I received an ARC of this book from the
publisher via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers programme.
No comments:
Post a Comment