The Mysterious Miss Mayhew by Hazel Osmond

Tom doesn't need any more women in his life. He already has a five-year-old daughter, an estranged wife who keeps blocking his efforts to get divorced and a mother who might be having an affair with the vicar. 
So when Fran Mayhew turns up - years younger and with all the tact of a dinosaur with its backside on fire - she's just another tricky person to deal with. ...
And what's she doing in his remote part of Northumberland crawling around in graveyards anyway? But soon Tom discovers that there's more to the mysterious Miss Mayhew than meets the eye - and that it's not just his heart he's in danger of losing.

I have read all of Hazel Osmond’s previous books and I have loved each and every one of them because they are beautifully written and full of emotion. The Mysterious Miss Mayhew shows a different side to the authors writing and she shows that she can write comical novels as well as emotional ones too.

Fran is new in town and it isn’t long before she meets Tom who is raising his daughter alone. Tom and Fran seem to be bumping into each other more often but Fran is keeping her private life hidden and the reason as to why she is in town but before long attraction begins to grow between the couple but what mystery is Fran hiding?

Our mains character are Tom and Fran, the book alternates between the two characters with the majority of the book told from Tom’s point of view which is rare to see but worked extremely well in this book. We got to know Fran by her daily diary entries where she lists 10 thoughts on the day and I was surprised how just with these 10 points how well we actually got to know her character. I also have to mention Tom’s daughter because she was a little ray of sunshine she was involved in a lot of the humorous parts to this book and her relationship with her dad was so believable and natural.

The storyline was more light hearted than the authors previous reads and at times I did find myself chuckling away so I did enjoy this side to her writing. It took me quite a long time to start getting an idea as to what Fran’s secret was so it was rather unpredictable for a good part of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I did find that I was engaged with the storyline and the characters all the way through. I enjoyed seeing a different side to the author’s usual writing style it just shows what a talented author she is, but I still favour her deeper more emotional books but I will still be recommending this book.

Kindle                     Paperback