Set in 1947 in wintry rural British Columbia. Lane (former wartime intelligence officer) and her police inspector husband - whose surname is very aptly ‘Darling’ - are newly wed and settled in their small country community. A local schoolteacher goes missing, her predecessor (and housemate) is found battered and suffering from a stroke and the house is trashed, and the police have a hit and run victim to identify. Lane steps in to mind the school while the police - with her help - gradually unravel the mysteries.
This is the first one from this series that I have read. While I wasn’t completely sold, I’d probably pick up some of the earlier ones to get a better sense of the main characters. It would also make it easier to follow who all the local residents are - there are many and I got very confused at times! I hope that the others don’t all follow the same formula of jumping between current time and revealing the backstories for several characters though, as it makes the narrative quite choppy. The setting and time period are lovely though and I liked the rural school setting. The children were also charming. The plot had a few good twists and turns, some of them unexpected, which kept me reading to find out how everything came together.
This is the first one from this series that I have read. While I wasn’t completely sold, I’d probably pick up some of the earlier ones to get a better sense of the main characters. It would also make it easier to follow who all the local residents are - there are many and I got very confused at times! I hope that the others don’t all follow the same formula of jumping between current time and revealing the backstories for several characters though, as it makes the narrative quite choppy. The setting and time period are lovely though and I liked the rural school setting. The children were also charming. The plot had a few good twists and turns, some of them unexpected, which kept me reading to find out how everything came together.