Oakville Reads discussion

Sadie Sparrow's job as a detective and Alice's bestselling crime-writing career has allowed an interesting incursion of the crime genre into The Lake House's gothic mystery genre. Were you aware of this in your reading?

One of the main reasons that I enjoy Kate Morton's books so much is because they always have an element of mystery in the plot. I love crime novels, police procedurals, cozy mysteries, thrillers, and just about anything that fits under the mystery umbrella. I noticed right away when I started reading this book that it read more like your typical crime novel than her previous books. A big clue to that was definitely Sadie and her professional approach to resolving the mystery of the Lake House. This just added a different dimension to the book and made it an even more enjoyable read for me - almost like a two-for-one deal!

Julia wrote: "One of the main reasons that I enjoy Kate Morton's books so much is because they always have an element of mystery in the plot. I love crime novels, police procedurals, cozy mysteries, thrillers, a..."

So true, Julia! As I continue to read this book, I am also reminded of a Victorian true-crime work that our library club read a few years ago. That one was called The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective ... the case involved a beautiful and much-beloved toddler murdered in a manor house and the family that came under scrutiny and suspicion -- one of the family members was convicted.

Both books also make me think of the crime writer, Anne Perry who, as a teenager, was involved in the murder of a friend's mother. And later became a crime writer while serving her prison sentence. I wonder if Morton was influenced by either of these things...

I think we forgot to mention the genre of historical fiction as well here. Although, as someone else mentioned in an earlier thread, there is not a whole lot of historical fact/content to this novel.

I enjoyed the pairing of Alice's crime writing and Sadie's crime solving. I think they would have a good understanding of one another by sharing these skills.

Allison mentioned other books that The Lake House brought to mind. I kept thinking about the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's son and did a little background reading to see if that story could have inspired this one. In the end I think not. The stories share the disappearance of the young son of a well-to-do couple while the family was at home, but have very different endings.

I definitely enjoyed the inter-mingling of "historical fiction" and crime genre. I think the book would have seemed too long if it didn't have aspects from both. A little something for everyone.

I just loved the first chapter of this book! All the way through I kept wondering who this person was burying something - were they the killer, were they protecting someone else or were they just caught up in a complex secret?

As mentioned, Kate Morton's books generally do have a mystery to them, perhaps not as clearly defined as this one. Kate Morton is one of my very favourite writers because she manages to create an elaborate story around a big mystery, usually solved with many twists and turns along the way. I love the way Kate threads the mystery through-out the entire story, giving the reader many different possible solutions before the end.

This is the first book I've read of hers that I was able to predict the ending. I'm not sure if it's because I've come to know her writing better as I've read all her books, or because this story did have a more defined mystery to solve.

Shirley wrote: "I just loved the first chapter of this book! All the way through I kept wondering who this person was burying something - were they the killer, were they protecting someone else or were they just c..."

I too found that this book had a more defined mystery structure to it and as such did not enjoy the narrative so much as in her past books. The book seemed too neat and tidy to have that much of a mystery surrounding it. This book also lacked more description which adds to the mystery.