The Shell House

by Jane Thynne

At the height of a stifling summer, Jessica Leigh, a smart, tough, Westminster lobbyist, arranges a holiday at Fallings, the beautiful country home of the late Sir Lewis Appleby, a pioneering geneticist. Her lover, Stephen, is hosting a conference there and to her displeasure they are joined by his journalist brother Alex.

Jessica discovers with Alex an exquisite, ruined shell house in the grounds, which Sir Lewis had been building for his wife, Katherine. But Katherine vanished before it was completed and Jessica resolves to discover why.

282 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 1999

About the author

Jane Thynne was born in Venezuela and educated in London. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English and joined the BBC as a journalist. She has also worked at The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, as well as for numerous British magazines. She appears as a broadcaster on Radio 4 and Sky TV. She has also written WIDOWLAND under the pen name C.J. Carey.

Reviews

[Laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because I liked the other two Jane Thynne books I've read: The Black Roses and Wintergarden. I didn't find this to be nearly as compelling as those two books.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was enjoying this at the start, once we got to the flashback part, the contemporary bit at the beginning was just too full of really annoying characters. However at 3/4 of the way through I became somewhat disappointed. The ending was way too rushed, there were characters that I wanted to know much more about and the contemporary stuff seemed sort of tacked on and thin.

[Crt · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Jane Thynne book.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. An old mystery from the past to be resolved and in doing so the evil of a present day company uncovered.

[Annette Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will definitely read more by this author