Today Claire Lyons reviews Aunt Bea's Legacy by Jeanette Taylor Ford. The author has very kindly offered a paperback giveaway to a winner in the UK or an ebook to winner elsewhere in the world. To be in with a chance of winning this wonderful prize, simply leave a comment below or on our Facebook page.
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Lucy’s Aunt Bea leaves her lovely old house to her niece under the condition she lives in it for a year. A suggestion that her aunt died in suspicious circumstances leads Lucy to move in to try to find out what happened, despite her fiancé Jim, who doesn’t want to live in the country. Lucy soon falls in love with the house and the village and enjoys taking over her aunt’s business, ‘Aunt Bea’s Pantry’. Into the mix comes Kenny Baxter, Lucy’s neighbour, who she is increasingly drawn to. But is the house haunted, or is someone trying to frighten her? Lucy becomes unsettled and unsure and begins to doubt even the man she is falling in love with – could Kenny be behind the mysterious happenings, and why?
Lucy’s Aunt Bea leaves her lovely old house to her niece under the condition she lives in it for a year. A suggestion that her aunt died in suspicious circumstances leads Lucy to move in to try to find out what happened, despite her fiancé Jim, who doesn’t want to live in the country. Lucy soon falls in love with the house and the village and enjoys taking over her aunt’s business, ‘Aunt Bea’s Pantry’. Into the mix comes Kenny Baxter, Lucy’s neighbour, who she is increasingly drawn to. But is the house haunted, or is someone trying to frighten her? Lucy becomes unsettled and unsure and begins to doubt even the man she is falling in love with – could Kenny be behind the mysterious happenings, and why?
So Aunt Bea has died unexpectedly and left her niece an old
house and business, but they are not where Lucy currently lives – and there are
some unusual terms to her Will… Set in modern day Britain, Aunt Bea’s Legacy is
a wonderful, rich story about family, relationships and following your hunches.
I so enjoyed this book, it really has a bit of everything,
there is more than one romance a lot of drama and it gets pretty spooky too. I
enjoyed the slow and deliberate building of tension, as on the surface it feels
like an ordinary romance… and then the spooky bits start and the characters
develop and it becomes something much more unexpected. Did Aunt Bea die of
natural causes? Or are Lucy and the local police right to be suspicious… It all
seems so out of character, and then Lucy starts to read some disturbing notes
left by Aunt Bea, was she being followed or spied on?
At the same time as grieving and reminiscing over a loved
relative, Lucy has to manage a long distance relationship and the crystallising
idea that he may not be the man for her, but who can she trust to talk to in
this new village where someone may have hurt a lovely old lady?
There are quite a few characters in the book, and this is
the first in a series (Jeanette is on Book 3 already!) so I’m hoping to meet
some of those on the ‘edges’ as I suspect they all have stories to tell. The
main characters are carefully created and more of their past and idiosyncrasies
are revealed throughout the book. As each one is introduced they all bring
something to the story, and are well described and believable, you could draw a
map of the village from the clear imagery.
Of course the house is the central character of the book, and although I
still don’t understand why they slept in separate bedrooms, it has a real
presence and influence on Lucy and how she feels about her life and her future.
As someone who has strong reactions to buildings, I could understand that
feeling – that you’re where you should be.
There is a good mix of humour and a few more eccentric
people that add colour, preventing the book becoming scary or too serious. Even
the periphery characters are well described enough that you can easily imagine
them, I particularly liked the policeman.
Throughout the whole book you are rooting for Lucy, she is easily
likeable and empathetic. The story has many threads that are well woven
together and it reaches a satisfying conclusion.
This book would suit people who like romance with a bit more
going on and fans of a cosy mystery, and there is no gore or too much sex. It’s also good if you like to get to know a
fictional area and its people - I do now feel connected to the village, and
there is something going on with that field I want to know more about…
About the Author: Jeanette Taylor Ford is a
retired Teaching Assistant. She grew up in Cromer, Norfolk and moved to
Hereford with her parents when she was seventeen. An undiagnosed Coeliac,
Jeanette was a delicate child and missed a great deal of schooling, but she had
a natural ability to write good stories, even at the tender age of nine or ten.
When young her ambition was to be a journalist but life took her in another
direction and her life’s work has been with children – firstly as a nursery
assistant in a children’s home, and later in education. In between she raised
her own six children and she now has seven grandchildren (soon to be eight!), a
beautiful great-granddaughter and a mischievous great grandson.
Jeanette took up writing again
in 2010; egged on by a Facebook friend. To date, she has published eight novels
for adults, a fantasy for children and a little book of short stories and
poems. Aunt Bea’s Legacy is the seventh book and the first of a series.
She lives with her husband
Tony, a retired headmaster, and two cats, in Derbyshire with a Nottinghamshire
postcode, England. (I never know whether to tell folks I live in Derbyshire or
Nottinghamshire!)
You can find Jeanette on Facebook, her books are available from Amazon in the UK and US.
About the Reviewer:
Claire has run Mrs Average Evaluates for five years now, and still writes a regular book review in a local magazine. Her passion is to share great writing and encourage wide reading for learning, pleasure and escapism. She also runs her own business, has four young children and a dog to keep her busy. You are most welcome to join her friendly FB Group, and she’s always on the lookout for Guest Posts on the website.
About the Reviewer:
Claire has run Mrs Average Evaluates for five years now, and still writes a regular book review in a local magazine. Her passion is to share great writing and encourage wide reading for learning, pleasure and escapism. She also runs her own business, has four young children and a dog to keep her busy. You are most welcome to join her friendly FB Group, and she’s always on the lookout for Guest Posts on the website.
Sounds like another great book from Jeanette
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