The Blackstone Key
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Product Description
Book Description
Gripping, richly evocative and full of high drama, The Blackstone Key is a triumphant and wildly entertaining read that will delight fans of such classic adventures as Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn.
Product Description
1795, and a young woman called Mary Finch travels in haste from Cambridge to the Suffolk coast. She has been invited to meet her wealthy uncle - and so end a twenty-year estrangement. But before she reaches her destination she discovers a dying man on the road. He is a stranger, and yet he is carrying an oddly familiar watch bearing her uncle's initials. He also seems to know who Mary is, and hints that she is in terrible danger.
His whispered warning soon exposes Mary to a ruthless conspiracy that threatens not only her family's reputation, but her very life. Far from home, Mary must learn quickly how to distinguish friend from foe. Can she trust the two men who want to help her? What is their interest in the mysterious Blackstone Key? Does it guard a secret treasure, or might it have a more sinister purpose...?
The first in an exciting new mystery series, The Blackstone Key is a gripping and vivid historical adventure that will appeal to fans of such classic tales as Jamaica Inn.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book starts off with an interesting (though familiar) premise - young, single woman, orphaned, mysterious uncle, smuggling etc. After struggling through the first few dozen pages, I looked on Amazon to see what the reviewers had to say about it. I can hardly believe that I've read the same book as some of them. I gave it another chance and plodded on to the end, skimming bits along the way, and I have to agree with the other people who have given this book a low rating.
Overall, it features a lot of clichéd characters dully wading their way through what is supposed to be an adventure but sadly wasn't much of one.
The dialogue in places is far too modern, with such phrasing as 'I guess you don't...' and 'say mister,is that right?' Reading the author blurb, it was no surprise that the author is American, and I feel that her editor should have picked up on these inconsistencies of speech and corrected them. The interview with the author at the end sounds far too similar in style to a lot of the dialogue in the book, which suggests the author hasn't got a strong grip on how the characters spoke, and this is a shame because the dialogue was, I think, the biggest part of the novel that kept lifting me out of the story. If that had been better I may well have enjoyed the story a bit more.
The cover is absolutely beautiful, though, the one with the red dress, and it deserves a star for that.
I recommend Jane Borodale's 'The Book of Fires' as a great historical read - it also has a more realistic cross section of reviews...
Overall, it features a lot of clichéd characters dully wading their way through what is supposed to be an adventure but sadly wasn't much of one.
The dialogue in places is far too modern, with such phrasing as 'I guess you don't...' and 'say mister,is that right?' Reading the author blurb, it was no surprise that the author is American, and I feel that her editor should have picked up on these inconsistencies of speech and corrected them. The interview with the author at the end sounds far too similar in style to a lot of the dialogue in the book, which suggests the author hasn't got a strong grip on how the characters spoke, and this is a shame because the dialogue was, I think, the biggest part of the novel that kept lifting me out of the story. If that had been better I may well have enjoyed the story a bit more.
The cover is absolutely beautiful, though, the one with the red dress, and it deserves a star for that.
I recommend Jane Borodale's 'The Book of Fires' as a great historical read - it also has a more realistic cross section of reviews...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The best written section of this book is the blurb which engaged my interest and, along with all the 5 star reviews, encouraged me to buy it. Unfortunately I also bought the sequel as well. The style is plodding. The characters are stereotypes, the plot is slow and not well developed. It is full of anachronisms. Women could not behave as freely as Mary does. She would have been a social outcast. Were there really police stations in the 1790s? I think not.
However, its major crime is that it is quite crashingly boring.
However, its major crime is that it is quite crashingly boring.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I skipped many passages of this book because I found them lengthy without additing to the story or the characters. The bits I enjoyed featured a gruff but kind young Captain Holland and fulfilled my original need for reasonably intelligent but non-challenging romance. The rest didn't grip me amidst the jungle of words and quite cliched plot devices.
I would say, however, that I wouldn't normally go for a book with this cover (it suggests the overly dramatic romance) and so I may not be a good judge of the genre.
I would say, however, that I wouldn't normally go for a book with this cover (it suggests the overly dramatic romance) and so I may not be a good judge of the genre.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Riveting read
I picked this book off a market stall with the intention of buying it for my best friend. As I always do, I scanned the first page and before I knew it I was starting the second... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. John A. Evans
A Great Romantic Mystery/Adventure
In the last years of the 18th Century, when the revolution and subsequent wars of France threaten to reach across to infect English shores, an impoverished schoolmistress travels... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Crux Roesia
Great start to a fantastic sequel!!!
I came across this book by chance and am glad I did, as it is just great for curling up on the sofa with :)
Published 20 months ago by Magicm
Poor reading
This novel is a poor read, the characters have no substance and are unreal. Very disappointed with this writer.
Published 23 months ago by PJ
"None of these sights inspired conversation..."
P.76 precisely sums up this book.
The plot is slow, characterisation is cliched.
The main character asks many redundant questions as the plot painfully unfolds so... Read more
The plot is slow, characterisation is cliched.
The main character asks many redundant questions as the plot painfully unfolds so... Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2010 by Gardenfingers Joe
Five goes napoleoonering indeed!
Dreadful. Completeley agree with previous 1 and 2 star reviewers. The book has a jolly japes tone more akin to the 1930s than the 1790s. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2009 by DaisyBelle
Read it!
I loved this book! Once I started reading it I found it difficult to put down and could not wait to return to it - a sure sign of a book worth recommending. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2009 by Caroline Ayres
wonderful read
This is an original and very likeable story about a very likeable character 'mary' and her adventures whilst travelling to meet her estranged uncle. Read more
Published on 28 April 2009 by Jala sufian
Disappointing
My reasoning for this is that, depsite what many others seem to have written, I did not find the book held up historically. Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2009 by museumcurator
Read this book!
This is a beautifully written book that has the whiff of historical authenticity about it. Rose Melikan succeeds in recreating a lost world, while at the same time crafting a... Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2008 by Homunculus
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