The solution to this mystery, and the evasion to the danger that threatens, lies deeply emeshed in the history of a beautiful old house full of secrets.
Can you tell I loved Refuge on Cresent Hill? Here’s the back cover information from Melanie Dobson’s website.
The Bristow Mansion
has guarded its secrets for generations.
Until now…
Jobless, homeless, and broke, Camden Bristow decides to visit the grandmother she hasn’t seen in years. But when Camden arrives in Etherton, Ohio, she discovers that her grandmother has passed away, leaving her the 150-year-old mansion on Crescent Hill. The site of her happiest summers as a child, the run-down mansion is now her only refuge.
When Camden finds evidence that she may not be the mansion’s only occupant, memories of Grandma Rosalie’s bedtime stories about secret passageways and runaway slaves fuel her imagination. What really happened at Crescent Hill? Who can she turn to for answers in this town full of strangers? And what motivates the handsome local Alex Yates to offer his help? As she works to uncover the past and present mysteries harbored in her home, Camden uncovers deep family secrets within the mansion’s walls that could change her life—and the entire town—forever.
The thing I liked the most about this book is how Melanie Dobson arrived at the plot by attacking it from different directions. As a reader, I knew something was going on, but the revelation would come from an unexpected character.
At one point, the story alluded to a fact, (yes, I’m steering away from spoilers!) and I literally put my Ipad down and gaped at the wall. “Oh course!” The author expected my reaction evidently because she followed the close of that chapter with more information assuming that everyone had the aha, just like me. I love it when authors can read my mind!
Well written, with just the right amount of intensity, though a little slight on the romance side, I thoroughly enjoyed “Refuge on Cresent Hill” and look forward to trying another of Melanie Dobson’s many books. And here’s a treat! The fictional house from her book had inspiration in a real house near where she grew up. Find more about it and pictures here and you can learn more about Melanie Dobson here.
Marji Laine 