Reviewed by Elizabetta

TITLE: Stranger on the Shore

AUTHOR: Josh Lanyon

PUBLISHER: Carina Press

LENGTH: 213 pages

BLURB:

Twenty years ago young Brian Arlington, heir to Arlington fortune, was kidnapped. Though the ransom was paid, the boy was never seen again and is presumed dead. Pierce Mather, the family lawyer, now administers and controls the Arlington billions. He’s none too happy, and more than a little suspicious, when investigative journalist Griffin Hadley shows up to write about the decades-old mystery. Griff shrugs off the coldly handsome Pierce’s objections, but it might not be so easy to shrug off the objections of someone willing to do anything to keep the past buried.

 

REVIEW:

 

What a delight this was to read and what a great, tricky plot. With Stranger on the Shore I knew I’d be in good hands; this author knows how to deliver a good mystery romance. This is well-crafted: an easy, flowing read; descriptive without being overly flowery; and starring two very attractive main characters.

 

There’s a lot going on in the story, under the surface— kind of a mystery within the mystery— with well-laid clues to pull the reader along. Actually, I think it’s fairly clear what one of the big reveals will be, about a third of the way in. But you see why the author does what he does. It’s how the clues are played out that I find so impressive in the end. This all sounds cryptic but really, to say more would be to give too much away…

 

I have to admit that this was a slow start for me, the first third is building the characters and plot in this almost-isolated mansion-estate where most of the action takes place. And, it also felt very familiar. The style reminds me of other favorite mystery writers— Helen MacInnes, or better, Mary Stewart (The Moonspinners, My Brother Michael). Just substitute the intrepid, independent-minded but vulnerable damsel, with a gay male journalist of mysterious origins.

 

The similarity to Stieg Larsson’s wildly popular Girl with the Dragon Tattoo comes to mind too… a very wealthy family— with its cryptic and idiosyncratic members, removed from reality by money— a family which had suffered the ultimate loss, the disappearance of a young child. Add in the aging patriarch who wants closure; he brings in a journalist to write the story and dig into the decades-old mystery. Against his family’s wishes. Yeah, a taste of Larsson meets Lindbergh baby kidnapping— to which there are several references in the story.

 

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with these similarities, in the end this book stands up to the comparison quite well.

 

Here, our young journalist/budding biographer is Griffin Hadley, a man with his own cloud of mystery. He enters this world of wealth and privilege facing the animosity of family members who don’t want a stranger digging into the family dirt. He is smart and compassionate and sensitive to the family drama. He knows how to ask the right questions.

 

The plot gears up when it appears that someone is out to dissuade Griffin from his investigation— going so far as to try do him harm. But, I felt things really come to life when Griff butts heads with Pierce Mather, the family lawyer who also wants him gone. Of course, this is a romance. So, there are eventual ‘stirrings’.

 

When these two figure it out… BAM… deliciousness + mystery = happy, happy times. This author knows how to write a sweet seduction scene, and a falling into love, oh, boy.

 

“But this….this heat, this insistence that felt as much like longing as force, this seemed to crackle through his bloodstream like champagne bubbles— or maybe just an oxygen bubble heading straight to his heart.”

 

Move over, MacInnes, Stewart, Larsson… all’a youse.

 

It took me a little bit to get into the story, but this is definitely a very engaging, entertaining mystery romance that will more than satisfy this author’s legion of fans. Count me in.

 

RATING:

 

BUY LINKS:

Carina Press

Amazon