The Lightkeeper's Ball

February 28, 2011
In 1910, New York socialite Olivia Stewart resists an arranged, socially advantageous marriage, and the mysterious death of her sister Eleanor in Northern California is an unhappy but convenient excuse to go West to investigate. On the way, she is thrown off a Bay area ship and nearly drowned, so she has a number of reasons to hide her identity when she arrives in Mercy Falls, Calif. Her shipboard rescuer turns out to be her dead sister's fiancé Harrison Bennett, about whom she has suspicions. Harrison in turn has his reasons to distrust the Stewart family. In this atmosphere of deceit and suspicion, attraction between Olivia and Harrison grows. Coble spins a tangled web in this third book in the Mercy Falls series (after The Lightkeeper's Bride), with red herrings and oodles of duplicity. Some complications (letters conveniently found) simply strain credibility, as does the revelation of the villain. Coble's fans won't mind that the plotting is a little loosely woven.

Starred review from April 15, 2011

When New York socialite Olivia Stewart's sister, Eleanor, dies in California under mysterious circumstances, Olivia travels to Mercy Falls determined to find out if her sister's fiance, Harrison Bennett, had anything to do with it. The more she gets to know Harrison, the more convinced of his innocence she becomes. VERDICT Coble's historical series (The Lightkeeper's Daughter; The Lightkeeper's Bride) just keeps getting better with each entry. Coble has a strong feel for the time period (in this case, 1910) and has scripted believable characters in suspenseful situations. Recommend the series to fans of T. Davis Bunn and Marta Perry.

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