Tempest at Annabel's Lighthouse by Jaime Jo Wright Book Review

About the Book:

1874
A battered woman awakens atop a forgotten gravesite by Lake Superior's southern shore. Identified only by the locket around her neck inscribed with the name Rebecca, she seeks refuge with an elderly lighthouse keeper. But as Rebecca struggles to remember who she is, she finds herself haunted by the lingering memories of Annabel, a mysterious woman who perished in the lake's unforgiving waves years earlier. With the spirit of Annabel seemingly reawakened, and an unknown adversary on the hunt to silence Rebecca once and for all, more is at stake than reclaiming her own memories. Rebecca must reclaim Annabel's as well.

Present Day
Author and researcher Shea Radclyffe escapes to the lighthouse outside a historic Michigan mining town to seek clarity about her failing marriage. Instantly drawn to the lighthouse's landlord, Shea contends with the legend of Annabel's vengeful ghost and a superstitious community that has buried the truth about a current murder. As the secrets harbored around Annabel's lighthouse unravel, Shea must navigate a fight between torn loyalty, self-discovery, and the haunting forces of love.

My Review:

Wright is a master at the dual time plot development. She knows how to reveal action in the time gone by just as its relevance is created in the current day. There is always something spooky in the plot. I am not sure everything always works out perfectly (here the ghost did walk all the way into the water). The action speeds up near the end, compelling one to finish, finally unraveling the mystery.

Her books always have a moral meaning too. Here people realize the value of the love they have and the necessity of keeping it alive. There is a bit of a Christian overtone but nothing clearly presented. Wright also helps us think about our own ancestors and if their actions decades ago may have influence on our lives today.

Even though I kind of know how the mysterious events will eventually work out (I've read all of her books), I just enjoy Wright's style and her crafting an enjoyable story.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Jaime Jo Wright is the author of thirteen novels, including Christy Award-winner and ECPA bestseller The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill, and Carol Award-winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. Jaime has also written two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. She lives in Wisconsin with her family and fabulous felines. Learn more at JaimeWrightBooks.com.

Bethany House, 352 pages.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)