The Secret Keeper

I read this book The Secret Keeper way back in March during a lovely, leisurely weekend spent at Forsyth Lodge in Madhya Pradesh.

I never quite got around to writing up a review until now. Yesterday, I stumbled on some rough notes in my book, and thought it would be a good idea to compile them into a review post. And so here is my review.

About the Book

During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and watches as her mother speaks to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy—her vivacious, loving, nearly perfect mother.
~ Synopsis from goodreads

My Review

If I didn’t have my notes handy, I don’t think I would have remembered a single plot point from this book.

Yet, it was a very enjoyable one (if not memorable) and miles better than Morton’s first novel – The House at Riverton, which I loathed.

The story runs along the same lines as The House at Riverton. Both books involve a murder in the past, a heroine in the present investigating the murder, and cover wartime England. Does Kate Morton have a formula?

Anyway, formulaic or not, Morton nailed the plot, the atmosphere, and the pacing in The Secret Keeper. She also nailed the wartime love story.

The characterization of the three main characters – Dorothy, Jimmy, and Laurel was note-perfect. Morton did a great job of explaining each of them in a way that made me really feel for them (even the not so perfect characters). I especially loved Jimmy who unfolds gradually, going from just a romantic figure to someone real and complex by the end.

The twist at the end of the book wasn’t much of a surprise, but I loved the journey taking me to that ending, which actually was the perfect ending for this sort of book.

All in all, a very satisfying read.

Have you read any of Kate Morton books? Do you have a favorite?