Homecoming by Kate Morton

 

Adelaide Hills, 1959. At the end of a scorching hot day, in the grounds of a grand country house, a local man makes a terrible discovery. Police are called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most mystifying murder investigations in the history of Australia.

London, 2018. Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, a phone call summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, has suffered a fall and is seriously ill in hospital.

Seeking comfort in her past, Jess discovers a true crime book at Nora’s house chronicling a long-buried police case: the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. And within its pages she finds a shocking personal connection to this notorious event – a crime that has never truly been solved.

Whilst visiting Padstow I stumbled upon a gorgeous independent book shop that had wonderful displays of new releases and Signed Independent Bookshop editions and the one that immediately caught my eye was Homecoming by Kate Morton, an author I had never read before but with its stunning cover and exquisite detailed sprayed edges I took a look at the blurb and realised this was a mystery I wanted to uncover.

The first thing I noticed with this book was the authors beautiful detailed writing style that effortlessly brought everything to my mind so vividly from the picturesque setting to the full-bodied characters along with their thoughts, feelings and emotions. It was so easy to get lost in this story and feel a part of the answer to solving the mystery surrounding the deaths of Isabel and her children.

The storyline is told in dual time frame which works perfectly with this book despite being something I am not usually a fan of. Current day we meet Jess whose Grandmother Nora is critically ill in hospital and seems to be disturbed by something in her past which leads Jess on a path of discovery as she unearths her family’s hidden tragedy, a tragedy that has never really been solved.

We are taken to the time of the discovery of the bodies and hear the statements of those in the community and as the storyline moves along and more pieces of the jigsaw are found my own spider senses kicked in and I did actually solve one part to the story fairly early on ( I won’t say anymore as I hat to give spoilers) this didn’t ruin my reading of this book though because there was still other pieces surrounding the story and more shocking elements revealed that I hadn’t picked up on so I still had my interest piqued the whole way through.

I do feel like the book was a little longer than it needed to be but just as I got to the point where I felt like my attention was wavering, I was immediately pulled back into the storyline. This was a delicate and winding storyline that uncovers secrets and their long lasting effects they have on peoples lives who are effected even in years to come. I loved this authors storytelling and think fans of Erica James and Dinah Jefferies will love this author too. I can’t wait to read another novel by this author.

This book is also now available in paperback.

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