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Die verborgene Geschichte
Nach dem tragischen Tod ihres Mannes hofft die Kinderbuchautorin Jo, im malerischen Dorf Shipcote zur Ruhe zu kommen. Zusammen mit ihrem kleine Sohn bezieht sie ein altes Cottage, das sie von ihrer verstorbenen Großmutter geerbt hat.
Doch schon bald verdüstern Schatten der Vergangenheit ihr beschauliches Leben auf dem Land: Vor Jahren wurde im Cottage eine Frau ermordet. Ein Verbrechen, das nie gesühnt wurde und in mysteriöser Beziehung zu einem Roman steht, den Jos Großmutter geschrieben hat. Alle Exemplare des Buches sind verschwunden. Jo macht sich auf die Suche nach dem Manuskrip - und kommt damit dem Mörder von damals gefährlich nahe.
Doch schon bald verdüstern Schatten der Vergangenheit ihr beschauliches Leben auf dem Land: Vor Jahren wurde im Cottage eine Frau ermordet. Ein Verbrechen, das nie gesühnt wurde und in mysteriöser Beziehung zu einem Roman steht, den Jos Großmutter geschrieben hat. Alle Exemplare des Buches sind verschwunden. Jo macht sich auf die Suche nach dem Manuskrip - und kommt damit dem Mörder von damals gefährlich nahe.
480 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
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April 20, 2013This book started out engrossing and interesting enough and I was really enjoying it. Till about 90 pages in. Then it skidded to a snails pace and I found myself paging ahead to see if it picked up. I read 20 more pages and it didn't. All the characters talked about nothing of consequence (unless it comes into play later in the story, but really, it was just small talk stuff that I could see) and it had my eyes glazing over. The story may gain momentum later, but I just can't muster the enthusiasm to read more.
Also, (again, unless this comes into play later in the story) I really don't enjoy reading about babies in stories. The daily routine of caring for one took away from the main storyline (for me) and I couldn't see why this little character was introduced into the story. That's just me. I'm sure many would enjoy this, but I didn't.
I'll keep it on my shelf for a little while to see if maybe it was my mood and if I want to pick it up again. Unfortunately, I just ordered another of her stories so I'm not confident that this one will be better. :(
Also, (again, unless this comes into play later in the story) I really don't enjoy reading about babies in stories. The daily routine of caring for one took away from the main storyline (for me) and I couldn't see why this little character was introduced into the story. That's just me. I'm sure many would enjoy this, but I didn't.
I'll keep it on my shelf for a little while to see if maybe it was my mood and if I want to pick it up again. Unfortunately, I just ordered another of her stories so I'm not confident that this one will be better. :(
December 20, 2022
This was a deliciously creepy gothic. The heroine, Jo Treleven, is a young widow who has recently inherited a small cottage from her grandmother. Rather than selling it right away to any of the variety of interested buyers, she travels to the isolated little village to check it out herself. Upon arrival, it seems like a stay in the cottage might be just the change of scenery she and her infant son need.
Early on in the book, Jo learns that her deceased grandmother had written a novel many years before. Jo would love to read this book, but the few copies in existence keep mysteriously disappearing. The author does a great job of showing the shift of tone in this book from odd to eerie to downright sinister as Jo tries to find her grandmother's book and increasingly disturbing things keeps happening to everyone who knew the book and her grandmother.
If you enjoy Barbara Michaels and Phyllis Whitney's gothics, you will probably enjoy this tale of past evil doings reaching into the present.
CW: murders on page, discussion of suicide
Early on in the book, Jo learns that her deceased grandmother had written a novel many years before. Jo would love to read this book, but the few copies in existence keep mysteriously disappearing. The author does a great job of showing the shift of tone in this book from odd to eerie to downright sinister as Jo tries to find her grandmother's book and increasingly disturbing things keeps happening to everyone who knew the book and her grandmother.
If you enjoy Barbara Michaels and Phyllis Whitney's gothics, you will probably enjoy this tale of past evil doings reaching into the present.
CW: murders on page, discussion of suicide
September 7, 2023
Ist ganz OK, wenn man einen entspannten Krimi lesen mag
June 29, 2012
I had a feeling I would enjoy this gothic mystery since it was set in a picture-perfect village in the Cotswalds, especially since The New York Times said it was written "in the style of Daphne du Maurier and Mary Stewart." It had so many elements I enjoy in a good murder mystery, including a colorful cast of characters with lots of family secrets. I particularly enjoyed that the main character was a children's book illustrator, and that there was a second mystery of the search for a lost book written by the heroine's grandmother. I'm anxious to read Llewellyn's other two books!
September 20, 2012
Written in the 1990s, Life Blood: A Novel of Suspense has an otherworldly quality to it. It seems strange that nearly two decades makes such a difference, but the relative absence of cell phones and computers illustrates that this is an historical book.
Perhaps I would have liked this book 19 years ago; I don't know. But I liked it now, and part of the reason I liked it was the juxtaposition of the "present" history with the protagonist's history, around which the plot twisted.
Perhaps I would have liked this book 19 years ago; I don't know. But I liked it now, and part of the reason I liked it was the juxtaposition of the "present" history with the protagonist's history, around which the plot twisted.
December 16, 2020
Caroline Llewellyn was recommended to me as an author who writes in the same vein as Mary Stewart and that is true of her novel Life Blood. A mystery, a missing book, some romance, and a little bit of history all blended together to make a nice read.
August 14, 2017
Pretty good, liked it better than the Masks of Rome but not as much as The Lady of the Labyrinth. I had the mystery solved pretty early on but I still enjoyed the journey and there were lots of little subplots to keep me entertained along the way.
April 30, 2018
Sehr SEHR langatmig und sehr mühsam konstruiert. Dieses Buch ist mindestens 200 Seiten zu lang und leider überhaupt nicht spannend.
July 7, 2023
Loved it! Especially appealing to Anglophiles.
April 27, 2026
ich hab relativ lange für dieses Buch gebraucht, es hat mich einfach nie so komplett gefesselt aber ich hab es trotzdem sehr genossen, der Stil hat mir richtig gut gefallen!
January 5, 2012
"Caroline Llewellyn ... returns with the powerful and evocative story of along-ago murder, a lost novel, a neolithic burial mound, and the way in which they interweave to troubling effect in the imagination of a young woman.
"It's spring when recently widowed Jo Treleven arrives with her baby son, Max, in the picturesque Cotswold village of Shipcote to take possession of a cottage left to her by her grandmother.
"Jo, a children's book writer and illustrator, hopes to find here the peace that has eluded her since her husband's mysterious death. Instead, she learns that she's living in the house where a woman was brutally murdered fifty years ago. The killer was never caught,but the murderer's identity may have been revealed in a novel written by Jo's grandmother. Strangely, all copies of the published book, LifeBlood, seem to have been destroyed.
"Far from home and alone, Jo discovers, to her surprise, that she's distantly related to an influential local family, the Mallabys, who both attract and unsettle her. She reaches out to a young single mother, Sophie Dymock, and feels herself increasingly drawn to a divorced American, David Cornelius and his eleven-year-old son Rafe.
"But whom can she trust? As her search for LifeBlood leads her to disturbing truths about the past, Jo realizes that she may have put herself and her baby in mortal danger."
~~front & back flaps
Well, what's not to like? A cottage in the Cotswolds, a neolithic burial mound, and a mystery?
Note to self: the next time you find a book about a lovely young lady inheriting a cottage in the Cotswolds, put the book down and walk away. They never turn out to be worth the reading.
This book had a good plot, but the author unwisely chose the devise of having our heroine advance the mystery by incessantly wondering if So-and-so said what he said because he was guilty of the murder, or was he simply hiding something? Example:
"Later, as I got ready for bed, I took this line of reasoning one step farther. The letter from Goddard Grant Ltd. was bound to make me wonder why someone else should want the book, perhaps even make me curious enough to read the book, if I hadn't already. For some reason, I remembered what Mela had said about letting sleeping dogs lie. There was another interpretation that could be given to Willoughby Webb Springer's interest in Nan's book. Rather than letting those sleeping dogs alone, he might, for some reason of his own, be interested in stirring things up."
I was surprised to see it was written in 1993 -- the style is reminiscent of the 1930s & 40s.
"It's spring when recently widowed Jo Treleven arrives with her baby son, Max, in the picturesque Cotswold village of Shipcote to take possession of a cottage left to her by her grandmother.
"Jo, a children's book writer and illustrator, hopes to find here the peace that has eluded her since her husband's mysterious death. Instead, she learns that she's living in the house where a woman was brutally murdered fifty years ago. The killer was never caught,but the murderer's identity may have been revealed in a novel written by Jo's grandmother. Strangely, all copies of the published book, LifeBlood, seem to have been destroyed.
"Far from home and alone, Jo discovers, to her surprise, that she's distantly related to an influential local family, the Mallabys, who both attract and unsettle her. She reaches out to a young single mother, Sophie Dymock, and feels herself increasingly drawn to a divorced American, David Cornelius and his eleven-year-old son Rafe.
"But whom can she trust? As her search for LifeBlood leads her to disturbing truths about the past, Jo realizes that she may have put herself and her baby in mortal danger."
~~front & back flaps
Well, what's not to like? A cottage in the Cotswolds, a neolithic burial mound, and a mystery?
Note to self: the next time you find a book about a lovely young lady inheriting a cottage in the Cotswolds, put the book down and walk away. They never turn out to be worth the reading.
This book had a good plot, but the author unwisely chose the devise of having our heroine advance the mystery by incessantly wondering if So-and-so said what he said because he was guilty of the murder, or was he simply hiding something? Example:
"Later, as I got ready for bed, I took this line of reasoning one step farther. The letter from Goddard Grant Ltd. was bound to make me wonder why someone else should want the book, perhaps even make me curious enough to read the book, if I hadn't already. For some reason, I remembered what Mela had said about letting sleeping dogs lie. There was another interpretation that could be given to Willoughby Webb Springer's interest in Nan's book. Rather than letting those sleeping dogs alone, he might, for some reason of his own, be interested in stirring things up."
I was surprised to see it was written in 1993 -- the style is reminiscent of the 1930s & 40s.
September 7, 2007
LIFE BLOOD – G
Carolyn Llewellyn – Standalone
The inheritor of a Cotswolds cottage, children's book illustrator and writer Jo Treleven flies with her infant son to visit her property and becomes involved in a fifty-year-old murder that took place there.
This was a pleasant-enough gothic. I enjoyed the relationships but would have liked a stronger element of suspense.
Carolyn Llewellyn – Standalone
The inheritor of a Cotswolds cottage, children's book illustrator and writer Jo Treleven flies with her infant son to visit her property and becomes involved in a fifty-year-old murder that took place there.
This was a pleasant-enough gothic. I enjoyed the relationships but would have liked a stronger element of suspense.
September 24, 2009
This is a reread for me. And a very good one. A 50 year old mystery finally solved by a young Canadian visiting the Cotswolds to determine if she wants to keep a cottage inherited from her grandmother. There is a missing book at the center of the story and unsolved murders. A little romance. Descriptions are lovely.
December 4, 2012
Book club read. I found keeping all the characters (i.e., relationships, kin, past histories) somewhat difficult throughout the entire book. The 11-year-old Rafe, along with his pet ferret Spike, was a very endearing character. I enjoyed the developing trust written by the author between the two young female characters, Jo Treleven and Sophie Dymock.
July 26, 2015
Ab und zu lese ich auch ältere Bücher mal wieder.. dieses hier ist ein leichter Genuß, manchmal
etwas sehr moralisch oder (zu gewollt?) tiefschürfend, aber schön für einen Abend, wenn man nicht viel
denken will :-)
etwas sehr moralisch oder (zu gewollt?) tiefschürfend, aber schön für einen Abend, wenn man nicht viel
denken will :-)
June 19, 2008
A Mary Stewart wannabe who has written several enjoyable romantic suspense novels
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August 26, 2010Pretty good, slowed down in the middle, picked up at the end, but they all lived happily ever after,!
March 1, 2015
This book is a charming mystery novel set in England. The novel reminded me of the works of Kate Morton. I look forward to reading Llewellyn's other 3 mystery novels.
June 5, 2015
Really enjoyed this book!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews