From the bestselling and award-winning A.M. Howell, author of The Garden of Lost Secrets and The House of One Hundred Clocks, comes a brand-new thrilling historical mystery of stolen treasure, friendship and deep courage set in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. February 1948. Ruth has been whisked off to the lonely Rook Farm to investigate the discovery of long-buried treasure with her mother. But at the farmhouse, she finds secrets lurk around every corner. Joe, the farmer's son, is hiding something about the treasure, while land girl Audrey watches their every move. But before Ruth can find out more, the treasure is stolen... With a storm coming, Ruth must race to uncover the secrets of the treasure keepers before all of their lives are changed forever.
The Secret of the Treasure Keepers by A.M. Howell is the latest historical mystery by a writer who is fast becoming a master of the genre.
I always get a little thrill reading Ann Marie Howell's books as they have all so far been set in a part of the world I am familiar with: East Anglia. This new book is no different and is set in the Cambridgeshire Fens near Ely. I love the way the book captures the landscape so vividly and uses it to enhance the mood of isolation that forms a large part of the story.
The story is set a few years after the end of world war 2 and centres around Ruth, whose mother is an amateur archaeologist. They go to Rook farm, near Ely to investigate some treasure that has been dug up in one of the fields. This treasure is amazing and intriguing and could be a major find but Ruth's mother senses that something isn't right and Ruth too has her suspicions because the son of Mrs Sterne (the farmer) is behaving suspiciously and seems to be hiding something.
This set up draws you into the mystery and we get to meet an array of characters including Joe (the farmer's son), Audrey, a land girl who stayed to work on the farm after the war and her fiancé amongst others.
I am not going to describe what happens in the story in much detail as it is a mystery story and I don't want to describe anything that would spoil the mystery, suffice to say that this story is written with the writer's usual flare for detail. I found my self drawn into the time and place immediately and with every chapter I wanted to read on to see if more of the mystery was revealed or I could begin to piece the clues together and figure out what was going on.
I really enjoyed this story-in fact I ended up reading it in one sitting and found myself very tired the next morning as I had stayed up late to finish it. The characterisation and character development is really good and I loved seeing the world after world war two. I hadn't realised how much everyone was still struggling after the war and it took quite a few years before everything was recovered and rebuilt-this story allows you an insight into this time.
This book is perfect for anyone who is a fan of history or mystery stories. Ann Marie Howell already has quite a large fan base at my school as I have loved all of her books as have the children I have introduced them too.
The Secret of the Treasure Keepers is out on 31st March 2022, you can pre order it here:
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