Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb has a lot going on. I mean that in the best possible way! There’s history, a love story, a death mystery, and the paranormal. Kate returns to her parents’ home on the lake to recover from her marriage recently ending. She finds a woman’s body that has washed upon the shore. Once the police arrive to investigate, they all discover the woman is wearing a vintage nightgown and wrapped within is an infant. No one knows the identity of the woman and Kate quickly becomes a suspect. What Kate cannot share with local law enforcement, is that she has seen the woman in her dreams.

The story line switches back and forth between present day Kate, and a 100-year-old love story between Addie and Jess. The love story is fascinatingly told, and each time the author makes them the focus it becomes increasingly suspenseful. Kate needs to distance herself from the lake where she found the woman’s body, so she moves in with her cousin, Simon, who operates a bed and breakfast in their family’s historic, grand mansion. Kate doesn’t spend much time recuperating from either her pending divorce, or trauma of finding the dead woman. Instead, she launches herself into a research project where she learns about her ancestors who lived in the home and tries to learn the identity of the mysterious woman. Kate’s dreams and paranormal activities in the mansion are instrumental in her search for answers and justice.

The ending was perfect. Some aspects of the story were tied up neatly, while other pieces left just enough for the imagination. In the author’s note, Wendy explained that the town of Wharton is fictional; however, it’s based on the real life town, Bayfield, Wisconsin. The mansion in the story is modeled after Le Chateau Boutin, a place Wendy stayed with friends to celebrate her birthday. Of course I had to Google it! It’s a beautiful Queen Anne Victorian bed and breakfast. And it is exactly as I imagined the mansion while reading this book. You can check out this gorgeous Victorian mansion here.

Daughters of the Lake is a great book, and I truly enjoyed my time with the characters. I’ve read of couple of other books by Wendy Webb and really enjoyed her work. So, when I saw Daughters of the Lake as an option to borrow on Amazon Prime Reads, I immediately added it to my library. One of the many things I appreciate about Amazon Prime Reads, is that I can add an ebook to my library, and it will patiently wait for me to read it.

I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog ( )

Exciting

I really loved this book. It was wonderful to flip back and forth through time as the story weaved an intricate tale of love, mystery, folk lore and so much more. It really kept my interest and I just wanted more. The characters are well formed and so real! ( )

It has been ages since I read a good gothic and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I have to say that the ending surprised me. I was sure I knew who the killer was and the characters' viewpoints seemed to support my conclusion. Turned out I was wrong and I'm ok with that. It doesn't really matter to me if I figure out a mystery before the solution is revealed. I just enjoy the ride. I would definitely read another book by this author. ( )

DNF 37%!

Sorry, but no matter how much I enjoyed The End of Temperance Dare couldn't I muster interest enough to finish this book. The story is so... saccharine and honestly boring. I have to admit that I was quite taken with the cover and the blurb intrigued me. But, it's just romance all the way. The murder mystery? Zzzz well it's much more important that the MC had a vision of her romancing the cop that takes over the case.

DNF 37%!

Sorry, but no matter how much I enjoyed The End of Temperance Dare couldn't I muster interest enough to finish this book. The story is so... saccharine and honestly boring. I have to admit that I was quite taken with the cover and the blurb intrigued me. But, it's just romance all the way. The murder mystery? Zzzz well it's much more important that the MC had a vision of her romancing the cop that takes over the case.