Wherever Lynn Goes

by Jennifer Wilde

In Jennifer Wilde’s chilling tale of romantic suspense, a woman plunges into mortal danger when she investigates a brutal murder—and uncovers the truth about her own mysterious past Life is looking up for newspaper editor Lynn Morgan. She just got her first book contract and is seeing a terrific guy, attorney Lloyd Raymond. But her peace of mind is disrupted when she starts receiving prank phone calls from someone claiming to be her father, who has been dead for close to twenty years.   Then a phone call from her aunt precedes a ghastly murder, and Lynn is drawn to the crime scene, in the village where she grew up. At her aunt’s Devon estate, Lynn meets handsome, rakish Bartholomew Cooper. Why is the son of the town’s most prominent nobleman living in her aunt’s carriage house? The police insist they have identified the murderer and see no connection between the crime and Lynn’s disturbing phone calls. But Lynn senses that the killer is still out there . . . someone whose deadly connection to her past could obliterate her future.

Genres: Gothic, Romantic Suspense

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Jennifer Wilde is a pseudonym of T. E. Huff (Thomas Elmer Huff). He also wrote under the names Edwina Marlow and Beatrice Parker.

Reviews

[Ana Lopes Miura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The denouement was quite silly, in my opinion, but I had a lot of fun on the way. I’m puzzled, though, by Wilde’s tendency of writing such dull protagonists while having the best friend sidekick character be so plucky, intelligent and interesting.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was on my own now, and in my purse was a perfectly lovely contract and an even lovelier check signed by Philip Ashton-Croft himself. The Sunday Supplement would have to do without me. Someone else could cover the next axe murder from “the woman’s point of view.”

I am now on a mission to read every Tom E. Huff gothic novel. The mysteries are nothing too special, the heroines sometimes are not too bright and make silly decisions. If you haven't figured everything all out at least half-way through, you've never read a romantic suspense novel written in their heyday of the '60s, '70s. But the humor is top-notch and unusual in a gothic and the pace just merrily rolls along. It's light on the romance and the secondary characters are well-drawn. I particularly enjoyed Lynn's best friend Mandy who is a hoot and definitely the brains of the operation.

Men found her fascinating, and with her powerful magnetism and individuality she could have been quite successful had she really tried. Mandy was singularly unambitious—rather lazy, in fact, far more interested in being amused than in having a career. Her chief claim to fame thus far was her appearances on the telly as Maisie the Milkmaid in a series of commercials for Delicious Dairy Milk...Flippant, lighthearted, invariably cheerful, she was also shrewdly intelligent—something few of her merry companions ever suspected.

Mandy is in the thick of things every step of the way and even gets her own unlikely love interest. Huff sometimes plays around with the stereotypical characteristics of the romantic hero and the villain so it actually might take the gothic romance devotee an extra page or two to figure out who the true love interest is. Cliches abound but I love the way he obviously does not take the genre too seriously and I like to think he is giving the knowing reader a little wink and a smile. I love the setting of the London scene of the '70s and the, now in 2020, retro details and attitudes.

If you're looking for a baffling mystery and heart-melting romance pass this one by. But if you're looking for a fun nostalgic trip down memory lane this old-timey contemporary gothic will keep you turning the pages and give you some laughs and smiles along the way.

https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice cozy murder mystery.

[Vani · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main female protagonist is tiresome at times, but it's a thrilling read on the whole.

[Carmella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lynn is a writer, lives in London with her roommate Mandy, an actress. She has a pretty quiet life, sees a lawyer named Lloyd. Writing for a newspaper, Lynn is given a chance to do what she has always wanted, to write a historical book.

Then she receives a call telling her that her Aunt had been murdered. She lived with her Aunt when her father had gone off to Australia for work. She was 5 when she moved in and 13 when she was sent off to school. She had a strange relationship with her Aunt whom she loved in her own way.

So off she and Mandy go to her Aunts home to settle things. Once there, everything changes. Her Aunts death was made to look like a murder-suicide and there are doubts by many once she is there.

Was her Aunts death what they say? What did her Aunt want when she called Lynn so hysterical. What does this have to do with the other odd phone calls Lynne has been receiving? And is Bart what he seems?

I didn't like this book much honestly. I did finish out of respect for the author. I personally like a little more romance. The characters were developed well enough but that all seemed so cold, so contained. Friend Mandy and Bart had a bit more spark.

[Angel Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read, Good Characters **I received an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review**Lynn Morgan was 26, had worked for the Sunday Supplement for 5 years, and was very happy to be leaving. History was Lynn's first love. Phillip Ashton-Croft was one of the most prestigious publishers in London. Books he published were the last word in scholarship and impeccable taste. Lynn had written some articles on the court of Louis XIV and Phillip Ashton-Croft felt they could be expanded into a book. Contact was offered and Lynn had a new publisher. Lynn had met Lloyd three months ago. He was a lawyer. Mandy was her good friend and roommate. The girls had been getting phone calls for two months by someone saying they were Lynn's daddy. Lynn was an old fashioned woman in a lot of ways. She cared about her friend Mandy. She could be stubborn at times. She was a good person. Throughout the story, she tried to show she wasn't frightened even though she was. She was a smart woman and by the end of the story she found her true love in the oddest of ways. I liked the characters, the plot and the story. I really liked the twists and turns. I recommend this book to anyone that likes this genre.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jennifer Wilde was one of my favorite writers of historical romance back in the 70s-80s. So when I had an opportunity to read a Jennifer Wilde book I jumped at it. Jennifer Wilde was actually a pseudonym for T.E. Huff, an man who wrote under a number of female pseudonyms and in fact when this books was first published in 1975, it was under another of his pseudonyms, Beatrice Parker.
This often reads like something written in 1975 - the language, the clothes, the overall feel of the book all took me back. For me it was obvious that this was the case, and I enjoyed the nostalgia aspect that it gave the book. For younger readers, that may well translate simply to “dated”, and be offputting. But personally, I enjoyed the mystery and the tension of never being quite sure about the characters who surrounded Lynn. It won’t be for everyone, but I quite enjoyed this one.

Copy provided by Netgalley and Open Road Integrated Media in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am thoroughly confused. This reads like a 1960s/1970s Mary Stewart book. In the story, the main character references a father who died in 1959, yet the character is young. Is this a re-release? If so, it should either specifiy that it's a period book or it needs updated. The language is extremely dated, so dated that it was a distraction to me.

[Ericka · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good mistery novel, keep me in my toes!
...buuuut the heroine (lynn) was not one of my favs, kind of narrow minded and too naive.
weird cuz jennifer w. tends to write strong-smart female characters.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only rated a three because as a reader I felt disconnected to the cold characters. The storyline was interesting, but a story can only be great when backed up with amazing characters.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.