The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

An investigation into a girl’s disappearance uncovers a mystery dating back to World War II in a haunting novel of suspense.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

August 2024; Lake Union; 978-1662504211
audio, ebook, print (379 pages); historical fiction

This well-written novel has an intriguing main character and a page-turning plot.  It's a dual timeline with one timeline in 1943 and the other in 1968.  Most of the action takes place in 1968 with the 1943 time mainly used for background to the story.  The book also had several similar mysteries going on at the same time as the main character traced several missing girls - both in 1943 and 1968.

Liz is an obituary writer at a London newspaper.  It's certainly not the job she wanted but after she made a big mistake with a story she'd written, she was assigned the job of writing death notices.  Her best friend and roommate Marisa is a police officer.  When Marisa tells Liz that she's going to Dorset to follow up on a clue about a missing girl in London, Liz sees this as a chance to get a scoop on the story of the missing girl.  They don't find the missing girl from London but they do find out about 3 young girls who went missing in 1943 when children from London were sent to the country for safety to get away from the bombing of London.  One girl had been found murdered but the other two cases had never been solved.  Liz begins to wonder if there is a connection between the 1943 missing girls and the girl currently missing from London.  Liz and the police get permission to enter a village that the Army requisitioned in 1943 in hopes of finding clues.  Strangely, Liz feels like she's been there before but how is that possible since she was only 2 years old when all of the people were told that they had to leave the town?  The more Liz digs into the mysteries of the missing girls, the more familiar the small town becomes to her.   Is there a connection between the missing girls and is there a reason that Liz is having flashback memories when she's in the town?  The questions don't all get answered until near the end but it's a real page-turner until all of the answers are uncovered.

I really liked Liz and her friendship with Marisa.  Liz wanted to be a news reporter and she kept reaching for the goal despite her boss's feelings.  She and Marisa both fight the prejudice against women that is rampant in both of their jobs.  Liz was tenacious in trying to solve the mysteries of the missing girls and never gave up.  This book had mystery, a bit of romance, and lots of secrets.  I look forward to reading other books by this author.

Buy The Rose Arbor at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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