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Witch Bay
In a coastal village in Wales, someone is committing the perfect crime: people are disappearing without a trace. An elderly woman is the most recent disappearance. A day later, police find her body washed up on the beach. Senior officers record it as death by misadventure, but Village Constable Gwyn Thomas is certain her death and the other disappearances are connected. Police suspicion is inevitable, but as with many crimes, an unintended consequence follows. This time the consequence has a name-Bethan, the dead woman's niece. When she arrives from London to claim her inheritance, she refuses to accept her aunt's death was accidental. Bethan begins hunting down and questioning village residents who might have information. As the puzzle pieces begin to fall into place, suddenly the tables are turned. She discovers she is no longer the hunter-she is the prey.
260 pages, Paperback
First published May 22, 2014
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July 5, 2015
A troubled young woman returns to the seaside village of her childhood determined to discover the truth behind her aunt's shocking death.
WITCH BAY captured my imagination on so many levels. The setting is beautifully rendered--a small village on the rocky coast of Wales. The atmosphere is heavy with dread from page one. It brought to mind the work of Daphne du Maurier. Especially her wonderful JAMAICA INN.
The characters are varied and quirky. You don't know who to trust. I didn't even fully trust Bethan. She's an odd sort of heroine. Vulnerable but prickly. Earnest but perhaps not completely reliable. A woman of good intentions but questionable judgement. Gwyn, the local police officer, is just as layered. At first glance he seems the quintessential small village Bobby, but his easy-going demeanor masks a keen mind and powerful instincts. The sparks between Gwyn and Bethan take a little time to ignite, mostly because neither one seems to know what to make of the other.
The sense of time in the first few chapters is a little disorienting. At points Bethan's childhood reflections get mixed up with her feelings about the present. It took me a little while to figure out how long her aunt's been dead and when the last time Bethan saw her. Also, the book takes place in the mid 1980s, though you don't learn this until chapter four. At first the author's decision to set the book when she did seemed odd, but it makes sense once we discover details of the crime at the center of the mystery. I can't go into specifics without spoiling the story, except to say that the plot likely would not have worked after the formation of the EU.
The mystery itself isn't particularly complex. There are plenty of clues as to who is behind it, though one of the baddies did come as a major surprise. The fun is trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together. The item discovered under the floorboards, the local construction project that seems to have gone on forever, the seemingly random individuals who've gone missing over the past few years. The plotting is excellent, especially at the climax. I had no idea how Bethan was going to get out of the fix the villains had put her in.
I do wish that Crompton had been a bit more generous with her denouement. Another three to five pages would have been enough. Allow us the pleasure of seeing what became of some of the other characters involved that exciting final battle.
Overall, I had a good time with WITCH BAY. Crompton does a wonderful job mixing romance, suspense, and a good dose of humor. It's a fascinating little world she's created, and I enjoyed spending time there. I can definitely see myself giving this book a second read.
WITCH BAY captured my imagination on so many levels. The setting is beautifully rendered--a small village on the rocky coast of Wales. The atmosphere is heavy with dread from page one. It brought to mind the work of Daphne du Maurier. Especially her wonderful JAMAICA INN.
The characters are varied and quirky. You don't know who to trust. I didn't even fully trust Bethan. She's an odd sort of heroine. Vulnerable but prickly. Earnest but perhaps not completely reliable. A woman of good intentions but questionable judgement. Gwyn, the local police officer, is just as layered. At first glance he seems the quintessential small village Bobby, but his easy-going demeanor masks a keen mind and powerful instincts. The sparks between Gwyn and Bethan take a little time to ignite, mostly because neither one seems to know what to make of the other.
The sense of time in the first few chapters is a little disorienting. At points Bethan's childhood reflections get mixed up with her feelings about the present. It took me a little while to figure out how long her aunt's been dead and when the last time Bethan saw her. Also, the book takes place in the mid 1980s, though you don't learn this until chapter four. At first the author's decision to set the book when she did seemed odd, but it makes sense once we discover details of the crime at the center of the mystery. I can't go into specifics without spoiling the story, except to say that the plot likely would not have worked after the formation of the EU.
The mystery itself isn't particularly complex. There are plenty of clues as to who is behind it, though one of the baddies did come as a major surprise. The fun is trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together. The item discovered under the floorboards, the local construction project that seems to have gone on forever, the seemingly random individuals who've gone missing over the past few years. The plotting is excellent, especially at the climax. I had no idea how Bethan was going to get out of the fix the villains had put her in.
I do wish that Crompton had been a bit more generous with her denouement. Another three to five pages would have been enough. Allow us the pleasure of seeing what became of some of the other characters involved that exciting final battle.
Overall, I had a good time with WITCH BAY. Crompton does a wonderful job mixing romance, suspense, and a good dose of humor. It's a fascinating little world she's created, and I enjoyed spending time there. I can definitely see myself giving this book a second read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review