Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley

Susanna Kearsley's books always have great settings. In The Splendour Falls we find ourselves in Chinon, the setting of the famous Chateau de Chinon, where during the 12th century, Queen Isabelle was rumored to have hid her jewels.

Our heroine Emily Braden goes on holiday to Chinon to meet with her cousin Harry, who is hoping to discover the location of these jewels. Once arriving, Harry is no where in sight, but this doesn't seem to worry Emily – I guess Harry does that a lot.

At the Hotel de France, Emily meets an odd arrangement of folks from Canada, America, Germany and, of course, France. Also in there is a fellow Brit. Emily bonds with Paul, one of two brothers from Canada, and seems to have a thing for Neil, her fellow Brit.

As time goes on, Emily starts to think that maybe something has happened to Harry and starts a low key investigation to find him. Suspense ensues, someone is killed and a murderer is discovered.

Compared to her other books, The Splendour Falls isn't as suspenseful, but it does have its moments. There are times where Emily feels she's being followed, and those kinds of moments always freak me out. I also really liked the odd ensemble of characters. Kearsley fans should be satisfied with this.


7 comments:

Marg said...

This is one of the books that I can't find here which is a bit disappointing for me!

Joanne said...

I have not read this one by Kearsley and I'm trying to leave one or two of her books left unread for a bit....you know, just to have something of hers to look forward to when I need a Kearsley "fix." I think the only other one I haven't read by her is Every Secret Thing. Have you read that one, Christy or Marg?

Christy B said...

Oh, no, Marg! :(

I haven't yet read that one, Joanne. I'll have to look for it.

Joanne said...

I think it was published under the name Emma Cole, but I believe I read on her blog that any reprints of her books will be under Susanna Kearsley -- it's gets so confusing when authors publish under multiple names (and multiple titles/covers in different countries)!

Marg said...

My understand that when Every Secret Thing is rereleased soon it will be under the name Susanna Kearsley and not Emma Cole.

I haven't read it yet, but I do have it out from the library at the moment.

Joanne said...

Great news re: rereleasing Every Secret Thing. Now, if I can just get my hands on The Rose Garden I'll be a happy camper! :)

Marg said...

Joanne, maybe approach Sourcebooks, the US publisher. I think they are sending out ARCs at the moment. It is well worth getting hold of. It is right up there with The Winter Sea in terms of my favourites.