Whistle for the Crows by Dorothy Eden

Description

From one of the world’s classic authors of romantic suspense comes the thrilling tale of a young woman caught between the desires of two very different brothers while researching a family’s secret history in an eerie Irish castle.

For Cathleen Lamb, traveling to Dublin to record the history of the mystery-shrouded O’Riordan family is the answer to a prayer. Still grieving over the accident that killed her husband and baby daughter, she hopes to lose herself in other people’s lives.
But something sinister is going on at the ancient castle at the edge of the moors . . . something beyond the scandalous skeletons rattling around the O’Riordans’ closets. The former heir was killed three years earlier in a suspicious fall. The same night, the family matriarch suffered a stroke that left her mute.

Despite the malice that surrounds her, Cathleen is drawn to the brooding, darkly passionate man who is plotting to control the family. But even he may not be able to protect her when the crimes of the past reach into the present to terrorize the living.

I gave this book three stars out of five

My thoughts:

I quite enjoyed this book. It was a relatively straightforward read that was easy to immerse oneself in. The setting was perfect for the story that evolved, particularly the gloomy, half ruined castle on the moors in rural Ireland. The author painted an excellent picture of the location with many great descriptive passages.

The story was a nice mix of a number of different elements. It was filled with family history, scandal, investigation, suspense, although I thought that it was a little short on the actual romance.

I enjoyed the interaction between Cathleen and the members of the O’Riordan family, especially Liam and Rory. The rivalry between the brothers for Cathleen’s attention was interestingly handled, and gave great insights into the characters of these men.

I enjoyed the authors skill at character building. She gave us a number of well-rounded characters that were interesting and deep. It was easy to invest in the characters and their lives.

The plot was interesting and moderately paced, although a little slow in places.

The introduction of snippets of back story and the revelation of more and more skeletons from the close to bursting closet of the O’Riordans was cleverly done.

I enjoyed the conclusion of the story and found it interesting and somewhat different to how I had expected.

I would certainly recommend this book to those interested in an eerie mystery story, but would be more reluctant in recommending it as a romance, as this element seemed to be very understated.

This review was based upon a complimentary copy provided by Netgalley and the publisher Open Road Media as part of the Retro reads program.