Daughters of the Lake (by Wendy Webb)
Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb has a lot going on. I mean that in the best possible way! There’s history, a love story, a death mystery, and the paranormal. Kate returns to her parents’ home on the lake to recover from her marriage recently ending. She finds a woman’s body that has washed upon the shore. Once the police arrive to investigate, they all discover the woman is wearing a vintage nightgown and wrapped within is an infant. No one knows the identity of the woman and Kate quickly becomes a suspect. What Kate cannot share with local law enforcement, is that she has seen the woman in her dreams.
The story line switches back and forth between present day Kate, and a 100-year-old love story between Addie and Jess. The love story is fascinatingly told, and each time the author makes them the focus it becomes increasingly suspenseful. Kate needs to distance herself from the lake where she found the woman’s body, so she moves in with her cousin, Simon, who operates a bed and breakfast in their family’s historic, grand mansion. Kate doesn’t spend much time recuperating from either her pending divorce, or trauma of finding the dead woman. Instead, she launches herself into a research project where she learns about her ancestors who lived in the home and tries to learn the identity of the mysterious woman. Kate’s dreams and paranormal activities in the mansion are instrumental in her search for answers and justice.
The ending was perfect. Some aspects of the story were tied up neatly, while other pieces left just enough for the imagination. In the author’s note, Wendy explained that the town of Wharton is fictional; however, it’s based on the real life town, Bayfield, Wisconsin. The mansion in the story is modeled after Le Chateau Boutin, a place Wendy stayed with friends to celebrate her birthday. Of course I had to Google it! It’s a beautiful Queen Anne Victorian bed and breakfast and now called Old Rittenhouse Inn. And it is exactly as I imagined the mansion while reading this book. You can check out this gorgeous Victorian mansion here.
Daughters of the Lake is a great book, and I truly enjoyed my time with the characters. I’ve read of couple of other books by Wendy Webb and really enjoyed her work. So, when I saw Daughters of the Lake as an option to borrow on Amazon Prime Reading, I immediately added it to my library. One of the many things I appreciate about Amazon Prime Reading, is that I can add an ebook to my library, and it will patiently wait for me to read it. All of this is available to me thanks to my Amazon Prime Membership.
As a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, I earn from qualifying purchases linked back to Amazon. Every penny earned allows me to blog about books and keeps this site running.
