Devlin's Light (1) (Enright Family Series)

India Devlin has made a name for herself as a hardworking prosecutor who is particularly relentless against child molestors and rapists. As the novel opens though, she is not on the job but at her brother's funeral. The entire town of Devlin's Light had turned out to pay their last respects to Ry, who was following in the Devlin family tradition of service to the community. India was not only stunned by Ry's death, but the fact that he had been murdered, leaving behind his six year old step daughter. Little more than a year before his wife had drowned in the bay that bordered the family estate. This novel has been called a 'suspenseful mystery' and frankly there is very little suspense and most readers will have figured out any mysteries long before the author gets around to answering them. It is a lovely romance, although rather slow paced and again the reader will undoubtedly seen it coming within the first couple of pages. So why five stars? The characters, Stewart has filled this small town on the Delaware coast with charming, interesting people. Many of the secondary characters are so interesting that they deserve to have their own stories told. Happily there are at least two sequels this one that will tell the stories of at least two. There is one strange aspect to this novel though, several times in the story food plays a part and the author has very thoughtfully included recipes for some of the dishes mentioned. The recipes are quite good but it is odd to find recipes included in a mystery romance. Still I am looking for the next novels in the series, WONDERFUL YOU and MOON DANCE.

Devlin's Light takes you through the complex emotions of losing a brother and gaining a child right into deserting your pleasant stable life and into mystery and love. This book moves rapidly and keeps you so involved with the characters that you feel as if they are good friends. You learn about life on an island and how quickly life can change. An excellent read.

Rarely do I decide to review a group of books instead of just one. And, while I believe each one of these books can stand on its own, readers will be so enthralled with the Enright family, they will want to read them all. Much like the wonderful family series by Nora Roberts, these books are to be savored as some of the best relationship novels of the 1990s. DEVLIN'S LIGHT set on Delaware Bay is the story of criminal prosecutor India Devlin and the first Enright sibling, marine biologist, Nick. And although there is more of a mystery in this story as India attempts to find out who killed her brother, it's the relationship with Nick that's at the forefront.WONDERFUL YOU, set in Chester Co, PA is tells Zoey Enright's story as she falls in love with Ben Pierce, a childhood friend. There are some light moments in this story when Zoey, would rather eat take out than cook herself, is required to prepare a few dishes in order to help demonstrate cookware in her job on-the-air at a home shopping network.In MOON DANCE, Stewart tells the story of the youngest Enright, ballerina Georgia. Set in the Maryland countryside, we find Georgia who wants one certain barn as a dance studio, while her nemesis, Matt, has planned to use it as a veterinary clinic. The settings of these stories are all so vividly described, it's hard to imagine they're not real places. Readers will want to visit Devlin's Lighthouse, Zoey's Garden, The Bishop Inn, and the farm at Pumpkin Hill.A common thread running through all three books is the matriarch of the family, Delia Enright, bestselling mystery novelist, who loves her children but does interfere perhaps a little too much, but always in a caring manner. Many readers will wish they had a mother like Delia!!! Readers will also be happy to know that Delia gets a love interest of her own in MOON DANCE. Mariah Stewart's books, like Nora Roberts' sibling sagas, are not about murder, espionage, or mystery (although each book has a bit of intrigue as well) but are instead about relationships - between a man and a woman, between a woman and her mother, between sisters. I can't think of many writers who can do this better. In all her books, strong secondary characters abound. She creates a world the reader is reluctant to leave after the last page is turned. Thankfully, readers can look forward to more of the Enrights in PRICELESS which will be out in 1999. It can't be soon enough for this reviewer. Reading each book has been like visiting an old friend.

I thought Devlin's Light was storytelling at its best. A nice blend of suspense, mystery, and romance, full of characters to care and root for. I enjoyed India's mix of toughness and vulnerability, and her loyal and patient Nick Enright was to die for! Add a host of wonderful supporting characters including a troubled niece, a Latin-spouting wise woman aunt, and a quite vibrant brother who's dead, but remains vibrantly alive in the hearts of his loved ones, and you have good company over a great story.

How many years must Assistant District Attorney India Devlin pay for the mistake she blames herself for, a misjudgment she made as a child? How many sexual deviants, preying on children, must she get off the streets of Paloma, Pennsylvania before she feels that she has paid the price of her transgression? These questions haunt India, who rarely returns to her New England hometown of Devlin's Light. With her beloved brother murdered, India must come to grips with her past because her little orphaned niece Carrie needs her. .......Carrie looks to India for nurturing and wants her to come home to the old Devlin homestead where Aunt Augusta keeps the home fires burning. Also waiting for India to return is Nick Enright, a man who fell in love with her when he first saw her at her sibling's funeral. Nick realizes that India has a lot of decisions to make and several demons to confront, but he has the patience and determination to wait for her even as he makes his desires and intentions known to her. India knows that Nick is that one in a lifetime male. She decides to travel to New England to take care of her niece, cherish Nick's love, and learn why her brother was killed. .....A book as good as DEVLIN'S LIGHT comes along very rarely because it seems to run the gamut of all tastes. The novel has universal appeal making it difficult to classify although it incorporates elements from the family saga, romance, mystery, suspense, and general fiction genres. Mariah Stewart leaps to the top with a work that will appeal to her myriad of fans as well as the audiences of Belva Plain, Barbara Taylor Bradford, and Anne Rivers Seddons. DEVLIN'S LIGHT has a luminance that leaves most other works pale in comparison. .....Harriet Klausner