We welcome our new reviewer Barbara who gave 4 stars to Stranger On The Shore!

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Stranger On The Shore

By Josh Lanyon

The blurb..

Twenty years ago young Brian Arlington, heir to Arlington fortune, was kidnapped. Though the ransom was paid, the boy was never seen again and is presumed dead. Pierce Mather, the family lawyer, now administers and controls the Arlington billions. He’s none too happy, and more than a little suspicious, when investigative journalist Griffin Hadley shows up to write about the decades-old mystery. Griff shrugs off the coldly handsome Pierce’s objections, but it might not be so easy to shrug off the objections of someone willing to do anything to keep the past buried.

So what did I think?

Journalist Griff Hadley has always been fascinated by the lives of the rich, so when he is invited to write a book about the unsolved kidnapping of four-year old Brian Arlington, he jumps at the chance. The Arlingtons are extremely wealthy and Brian was taken 20 years before in the middle of a costume party at the family’s lavish estate.  One of the family servants was jailed for the crime, but Brian was never found.

When Griff arrives at the estate he finds himself unwelcome in the extreme.  Only the family patriarch Jarrett is kind. The rest of the family and servants are hostile, fearful that Griff’s research will turn up too many family skeletons.  Worst of all is Pierce Mather, the family lawyer.  Pierce is handsome, well-groomed, and an imperious jerk who tries to buy Griff off on the very first evening.

Griff is undeterred by the general hostility and throws himself into the research, uncovering many details that the police never knew.  He also uncovers a softer, although confusing side of Pierce during an awkward one-night stand.  Just as Griff is making progress putting together the pieces of the kidnapping and the pieces of Pierce’s story, a stranger appears who claims to be the long-lost Brian.  It seems as though the Arlingtons are due for a happy ending but something still isn’t quite right.  It’s up to Griff and Pierce to find out the truth.

This is a great mystery and a very satisfying romance.  There are lots of twists including one big whopping one at the end, and it was the kind of plot that I like where the reader can’t solve the mystery until the characters do.  The characters and setting were very well done, and even though murder in the mansion is a common plot device, it was handled with originality. The author was very smart- he carefully referenced the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and The Great Gatsby both of which added a lot of atmosphere.

I liked the romance a lot.  Pierce is that kind of Mr. Darcy type who you hate at the beginning and like more and more as the story goes on.  He and Griff are both complicated characters who don’t fall in love easily, and that added the satisfying level of erotic tension to the story.

I recommend this book highly!  Good plot, good characters.  What more can you ask for!

4 stars

Reviewed by Barbara

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To find out more about Josh Lanyon and his books visit his website.

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