Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of The Blackstone Key by Rose Melikan. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.
The Blackstone Key by Rose Melikan
A Mary Finch Mystery
Touchstone (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-4165-6080-7 (1416560807)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-6080-7 (9781416560807)
Publication Date: August 2008
List Price: $14.00
Review: Rose Melikan’s debut novel, The Blackstone Key, is a mystery based in eighteenth century England. It is a slow moving, very laid back, relaxing novel. This is a generally pleasant story with a typical gothic heroine, Mary Finch. She is brave for a young lady of the time period and blushes at every little thing. She is a sweet young maiden but she is also very bright. A very likable young lady.
Mary is going to see a long lost uncle at his estate called White Ladies. He has left her an inheritance that will give her the life of leisure that she longs for. Along the way she meets excitement that includes a coach crash and an injured fellow who seems to have a connection with her uncle as he has the same design watch that matches one her deceased father left her. There is also an interesting key. As he lay dying, breathing his last, he had whispered a cryptic warning to her.
As the story progresses she eventually arrives at her uncle’s house and is attacked by smugglers but is saved by a stalwart fellow who seems to be someone she can trust. She meets many more people who seem to want to help and yet if she makes the wrong choices she could lose her life. Mr. Deprez is very attractive but a bit too attentive; Mrs. Tipton is a bit too protective; and Mr. Hicks is a bit too helpful. They are all aware that she is about to become an heiress.
War and intrigue of spies and smugglers provide a background that adds some interest to this sleepy little story.
As the plot in The Blackstone Key slowly moves along it is an easy to put down this book. It has a few fast moving spots but all in all I would not recommend it if you are looking for a fast moving, exciting read. It did not hold my interest and was very glad to see it finish.
Special thanks to guest reviewer M. Hanna for contributing her review of The Blackstone Key and to Touchstone Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) for providing a copy of the book.
Review Copyright © 2008 — M. Hanna — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission
If you are interested in purchasing The Blackstone Key from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.
Synopsis (from the publisher): Mary Finch is a young woman of wit, courage, and straitened circumstances. When invited to meet her wealthy uncle and end a family estrangement, therefore, she sets off immediately for White Ladies, his estate on the Suffolk coast. Yet soon she is embroiled in an adventure beyond any she could imagine, for the year is 1795, and England is at war with Republican France. When she arrives at White Ladies she learns that her uncle has died, leaving behind evidence of a treacherous plot. Enemy agents have obtained military secrets that would give France a decisive advantage, but who is the source of this information, and how can he be stopped?
Mary is not alone in her quest to solve the mystery, but the men who profess to help her are not quite what they seem. From Suffolk the traitor's trail moves finally to London. There Mary learns the true meaning of the Blackstone key, but has the treasure it secured already been lost?
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