Elaine has come to Hallow's End, with the intention of spreading her mother's ashes in a garden of the community she grew up in. Shortly after arriving, she meets 15 year old Brodie, a young girl working for the family who owns the cottage she is staying in. She takes a liking to the young girl and listens to her story. Her sister, 3 year old Mandy disappeared before Brodie was even born. Even though she never met her sister, she has had a profound effect on her life. Her mother recently overdosed and is in the hospital, which is why Brodie is in Hallow's End. Elaine is planning to stay while her mother's house is being renovated. It doesn't take long until Elaine is caught up in the 30 year old mystery. What did happen to Mandy? Is she still alive somewhere? The answers will change Elaine's life forever.

I felt for Elaine and young Brodie. They were both victims of circumstance. I enjoyed Brodie's snarkiness, as well as her loyalty and caring for Elaine. As the story unfolded, I thought I had it all figured out. I did have one large storyline right, but beyond that, I was surprised as the twists came and the story was revealed, right up to the end. This story was full of secrets and deceit. Parts of the mystery were easy to solve, but others were surprising. The village of Hallow's End was full of quirky, eccentric characters, who all paid a large part in the story. The pace was quick and had me finishing this one within the day. I enjoyed this story by Ann Troup and am glad I finally read it.

Fantastic book, really well written and a thrilling plot that kept me turning the pages. Highly recommend to others.

A lost child. The secrets hidden deep - or not so deep?

Elaine comes to the Hallow’s End to scatter her mother´s ashes there. But the seemingly peaceful village has its share of secrets - 30 years ago a child went missing, never found.
While Elizabeth enters an unexpected friendship with teenager Brodie, the sister of the mising child, builder Dan, her former flame, rebuilds her house - and finds that Elaine might not be who she claims to be.

Ah well. The first 60 % of the book were all I want in my thrillers - raw, interesting, full of witty and and understanding remarks about the human psyche.
But then the newer and newer unexpected secrets started to roll until the point I was overwhelmed and I lost my reading interest.

As for the characters - I like that the book is constantly calling for a decent human behaviour.
I like Brodie, she is easily the strongest female character here, and the most interesting.

All in all - this authoress definitely has talent. But it is very raw and needs some honing. But yes, the talent is here - and I see that she could become an interesting writer!

I read this novel what seems like ages ago and thought I had left a review. Anyway, I did enjoy this novel, which was well written. How I love a good mystery and must admit that the ending turned out different to what I was expecting.

This book had me gripped from start to finish. I so enjoyed puzzling things out, and wondering ohhh. A brilliant story