THE LAKE HOUSE by Kate Morton (fic)

If you are having withdrawal pains from Downton Abbey, you could do worse than read this novel.  Kate Morton, an Australian writer from Queensland, writes beautifully dreamily descriptive passages that you can lose yourself in.  Morton likes mysteries, and this is a good one.  It is set in three different decades: 2003, 1933, and 1911.

The story opens in 1933 when we meet the Edevane family about to give an annual Midsummer's Eve party.  They live in a marvelous old family manor house in Cornwall.  It is surrounded by enchanting woodlands and sweeping lawns leading to a pond, the ocean close by.  The house and gardens and the  people who live on the manor, upstairs and downstairs, seem caught in a time bubble.  Anthony and Eleanor (née deShiel) with three daughters, Deborah, Alice and Clemmie and one son, baby Theo, all seem blessed with looks, creativity and the time to enjoy this beautiful setting.

Just as we are getting interested in the family and house called Loeanneth, we are brought up short, and find ourselves in modern times, where we meet Sadie Sparrow, a police detective on leave for becoming too involved in a case. Sadie's story also involves a mystery, and she becomes the link between the two eras and stories.  Both plot lines involve a missing person, both involve a child and both have obsessed Sadie.

Sadie's interest is piqued on a visit to her grandfather in Cornwall while she is waiting out her suspension.  While out running one day, she chances upon the old house which is now abandoned and overgrown.  On making inquiries, Sadie learns of the tragic disappearance of a beloved child that has been a cold case for 70 years.  Antsy to get back to work, Sadie sets out to discover all she can about the family and Loeanneth.

As the story pivots back and forth between the two eras, the reader is also propelled back to 1911, to learn more about the deShiel and Edevane families.  At first the plot appears complicated weaving through two different historical times, but Morton is such a skilled writer that the reader soon finds her rhythm and the book becomes difficult to put down.

I really enjoyed this book with one caveat, the ending is too neatly tied up and one discovery that appears contrived.  It left me feeling some secrets would best have been kept. I still recommend it as a well-written mystery by an accomplished writer.