Shadows, Secrets and Surprises--"Shadows of Swanford Abbey" by Julie Klassen—Review

 

My Review

“Shadows of Swanford Abbey” by Julie Klassen is a Regency mystery and romance novel.  Ms. Klassen is the queen of inspirational regency fiction.  Her newest addition is touted as Agatha Christie meets Jane Austen.  In this story you will travel to an old abbey-turned-hotel, which is possibly haunted!  Add in a murder and you have quite a story!

This book is more of a mystery novel than many of Ms. Klassen’s previous works.  But do not worry, there is still a super sweet romance reminiscent of Austen’s “Persuasion” and “Mansfield Park.”  I was also reminded of “Northanger Abbey” with the Gothic feel and the mystery aspects.  Speaking of nods to great literature, there are many fun character names and situations that brought to mind Austen, Brontë, Dickens and Christie.

The atmospheric setting of an abbey that has been converted into a hotel is the perfect place for a murder mystery, as there are many guests gathered together.  One gets to see characters from both “upstairs” and “downstairs”—people of all classes and walks of life.  As one gets to know them, one wonders, what are their connections to one another?  What could their motives be?  Everyone seems to be hiding a secret of some sort.  I feel the story lagged a bit in the middle, but it really picked up at the end.  I also listened to parts of it as an audiobook and it was hard to feel the suspense and Gothic shivers because of the narrator’s chipper voice (but this is certainly no fault of the author’s).  

The mystery keeps you guessing till the end!  There are as many twists and turns as the old abbey and just when you think you have figured something out, new evidence and information is presented.

I highly recommend this book!

Content: I give this book a PG rating.  Some examples of the content are: a man is shown dealing with depression; a wife was unfaithful to her husband; references to liquor, opium and addiction; talk of women “entertaining” men at night in their rooms; a man is drunk and another high; descriptions of how the mentally ill are treated poorly with some asylums.  Mental health does play a role in the story, and it is treated with sensitivity and respect. 

Rating: I give this book 4 stars.

I want to thank Julie Klassen and Bethany House Publishers for the complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255.

About the Author

Julie Klassen loves all things Jane–Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for 16 years and now writes full-time. Her novels have sold over 1 million copies, and three of her books, The Silent Governess, The Girl in the Gatehouse, and The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. The Secret of Pembrooke Park was honored with the Minnesota Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie has also won the Midwest Book Award and a Christian Retailing‘s Best Award, and has been a finalist in the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Awards and ACFW’s Carol Awards. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.

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