Babs Horton

The main story is set in a Welsh village in 1963: impoverished families, unwed mothers, damaged people, lots of secrets. Four children who get up to lots of mischief, who don't always understand what they see and hear, and then one of the children vanishes.

The second part of the tale is told thirty years later, with the narrative interwoven with the earlier tale. Will Sloane, retired, has always been haunted by what he didn't understand about the child's disappearance.

This is a lively plot, but I think the author tried too hard to keep the identity of the missing child secret. As a result there is a lot of confusing detail, because there is more to the story than just a missing child. For a small village there are lots of secrets and mysteries, made even more mysterious because we see so much of them through a child's eyes.… (mais)

I loved this author's first outing "A Jarful of Angels" but feared this would be a re-write. The similarities are easy to spot: an out of the way setting in the 1960s peopled by oddballs, some imaginative children, a disappearance or two, a Mediterranean connection and everyone swears a lot. There's nothing wrong with writing to a winning formula I suppose - let's be honest it never stopped Dan Brown - but I had my concerns.

Having finished I can report that the two books are very different whilst retaining common themes. This one has more mysteries per square inch - probably more than any book I've ever read. Good in a way - there is something there to interest every reader - but also bad because the overall effect is confusing. There was also at least one event that pushed credulity a bit too far - right to the edge of the cliffs of disbelief, and sent it plunging into the Sea of Scepticism.

Overall, it's value for money and worth a look if you like a book with plenty going on. I just think it's one of those cases where less might have been more.… (mais)