Blackthorn Winter

This novel was the assigned summer reading for an Honors 9 English class. Without exception, the students loved this book.

Fans of the Nancy Drew stories will enjoy this latest book by Kathryn Reiss. BLACKTHORN WINTER is a well-written "who done it?" mystery that leaves you wondering until the very end. Blackthorn is a perfect place for a mystery to take place. It is a damp, gloomy town in England, an artist's colony with some very interesting residents. All the residents seem to be busybodies, knowing a little too much gossip and happenings in the town. It's a far cry from sunny California, where Juliana and her family used to live. Her mom, facing a crumbling marriage and wanting to explore her artistic roots further, made Juliana and her brother and sister move to England with her. The adjustment wasn't easy - she was away from her Dad, her friends, and everything else she knew. England, at least where she was, didn't look like any of the pictures in the calendar Mom bought her. Even worse, Juliana had a constant nagging feeling that something wasn't right. The book has two mysteries intertwined together. The first mystery that has to be solved is finding the murderer of Liza Pethering. As you delve further into the book you will discover that finding the culprit is easier said than done. The person arrested is the easy choice, but not particularly the right choice. The second mystery has to deal with Juliana's past, which has to be unraveled so she can move forward. At five years old, Juliana joined the Martin-Drake family. Ever since she was little, Juliana has had trouble with recalling memories of her past. It seems that she can't remember anything before she was five. Did something happen to her to make her repress the memories? Are the two mysteries tied together somehow? All she knows is that she must solve both of them before another person, maybe herself, becomes the next victim. Reviewed by: coollibrarianchick

In one of her latest novels, Blackthorn Winter, Kathryn Reiss puts everything you would think of in a mystery, and more into the plot. This book wasn't just your average "who done it" mystery; it included drama, suspense, and more. I have to say, I have read a lot of mysteries in my life, and this one definitely is on the top of my list. Some mysteries are a little unrealistic, but this one I could understand how she was feeling, and it all seemed real to me. When Juliana Martin-Drake's parents split, her mom drags her and her two other siblings off to a small artist's town in England, called Blackthorn Village. Juliana is adopted, and can't remember anything from before she was five years old. When she arrives in Blackthorn, she starts to have strange dreams, and gets a sense of insecurity. Just when the Martin-Drake family starts to get settled in to their small cottage, one of their close friends is murdered. A prime suspect was immediately arrested, but Juliana was sure that he was innocent. When Juliana started looking into the murder more, she makes a shocking discovery. While all of that was going on, there was more drama; new friends, and even a boy named Duncan. Kathryn Reiss does a great job of making the dialog of the people interesting. For example, a very uneducated person, had very poor speech, and she wrote it like that. All of those little details made the story more realistic. Sometimes I felt like I was inside the book; when Juliana felt someone watching her, I would actually look around the room. If I was asked what the main tone, or feeling of this book was, I would have to say suspense. I know I say it a lot, but that's what the book mainly was; full of suspense. There were many moments when I felt my own heart pounding. I have to say, the ending of this novel was only average. It wasn't great, but on the other hand, it wasn't totally horrible. It was basically the typical mystery ending; the criminal is arrested, and everyone is happy. There were a few more little details, such as Juliana finding out who her dead mother's parents are. I just wish that the author had extended the ending a little farther. I would have liked to see what Juliana's grandparents were like. Overall, Blackthorn Winter was a great book. It included all of the great key things that need to be in a mystery. It can be a little scary at times, but that's what makes you never want to put it down. Trust me, I know; I spent a couple hours at a time reading this book. I would recommend this great book to a person who enjoys mysteries and suspense. You won't be disappointed.

Sunny skies and warm beaches was the life for fifteen year-old Juliana Martin-Drake. All of this would change when her mother moves to Blackthorn, an "artist's paradise", on the coast of England. Along with her two siblings, Edmund and Ivy, (more often referred to as the Goops) she and her mother arrive in Blacthorn, and they meet her mother's old (literally) friend, Liza Pethering, who didn't have a good looking appearance. She looked like a witch: old, black hair, a crooked nose, and an attitude that could drive anyone mad. Juliana especially meets a British teen named Duncan, whose stepfather, Quent Carrington, is renting her family an old stone cottage, and is a talented sculptor, too. She also meets a photographer who's referred to as Kate, whose mother, Celia Glendenning, isn't a fan of Liza Pethering either. It seems in Blackthorn that everyone's against Liza Pethering, but no one pays any attention until she's found dead in a stream after leaving the party drunk. The suspected killer, Simon Jukes, is arrested and taken to the police. All is well until his brother keeps claiming that he's innocent, and she suspects that maybe someone else killed Liza Perthering, and not Simon Jukes. That's when she find's out the clues. First, in her own house, she discovers a bloodstain on the floor, and notices that a couple pieces of jewelry that was given to her mother was missing. One of them, a beach rock, could have been used to knock Liza out, and then she would have been dragged to the stream where she would have drowned. Then she finds the evidence that whoever did this did use the rock, which was found in the stream. Then, Juliana finds a beach stone on her porch threatening for her family to go home to America. All of a sudden, Juliana finds out about her past, and figures out who has commited the crime: Quent Carrington, her family's landlord, and Duncan's stepfather. After getting chased down an underground tunnel, Juliana learns Quent's motive: jealousy. After Liza Pethering became such an accomplished artist, he killed her. Either way, Juliana becomes a local hero, and even her father moves to England where her family is finally reunited. Blackthorn Winter, by Kathryn Reiss, is an excellent novel to read because of its suspense, its adventure, and how the English countryside is accurately described. Blackthorn Winter, by Kathryn Reiss, is an excellent novel to read because of its great suspense. Throughout the novel, there are exerts that would literally put the reader on the edge of his or her seat. In the later section of the book, Juliana is coming home from a trek around the town when she hears something. A loud flush is heard, and a door opens - the bathroom door, as Celia Glendenning comes out of it. Another is when Juliana is being chased down the underground tunnel. Built during the Middle Ages, the tunnel is dark, damp, and has a fork in it or two. This will make the reader think, "Which path should s

Juliana Martin-Drake has enough on her mind. Her mother has dragged her and her brother and sister halfway around the world in an effort to "find herself" as an artist. Not only does Juliana miss her dad, she worries that her parents will be getting a divorce. Then there's trying to fit into the artist's colony at Blackthorn. Everything is different in England. Juliana misses the California sunshine, along with her private American bathroom and her gregarious friends. She doesn't know anyone in England; when she speaks to them, she only understands about half of what they're saying. And of course there's the tiny matter of her memory. Juliana can't remember anything from the time before she was adopted, at age 5. It has always bothered her, but --- somehow here in England, separated from almost everything familiar --- it seems even worse. So the last thing she needs is to be involved in a murder mystery. But when someone bashes neighboring artist Liza Pethering on the back of the head and then leaves her in a river to drown, Juliana finds herself caught up in the drama. Everyone else seems relieved and almost happy when the police arrest the ne'er-do-well of the neighborhood, Simon Jukes. But to Juliana, things just don't add up. There are so many other people with better motives: Liza's henpecked husband; the local patron of the arts who's enraged by the cruel portrait Liza painted of her; the girl Liza recently fired, whose response was to wish Liza dead; and maybe even Juliana's own mother. Despite mysterious warnings to back off, Juliana continues to investigate. The closer she gets to a solution, the more difficult she finds it to shake the feeling that this is all tied up with her own mysterious past. Will she succeed in unraveling the mystery before the murderer decides to make her the next victim? BLACKTHORN WINTER is an exciting combination of a novel about coming-of-age angst and a mystery. Kathryn Reiss does a good job of devoting equal time to each aspect, and of integrating the two themes into a great read. With believable characters, a fascinating setting and a compulsively readable mystery, BLACKTHORN WINTER is a wonderful addition to anyone's library. --- Reviewed by Paula Jolin