The Bones in the Orchard
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4.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
At Gravesyde Priory, each new arrival is either a blessing—or a threat. . .
Wycliffe Manor has been neglected for decades. Its new heirs are determined to create a welcoming home. Yet soon after the latest family moves into the nearby parsonage, bones are uncovered in the orchard. . . and odd strangers arrive.
When her curate father returns his family to Gravesyde for the marriages of the manor’s heirs, gawky spinster Patience Upton has high expectations—until her father is murdered. Shock at learning her father had a mysterious past, leads to alarm that the killer may have been after his notebook, which she now possesses.
After the chapel is ransacked and a witness killed, it’s clear the murderer isn’t done. Desperate to find the truth, Patience accepts the aid of Henri Lavigne, Wycliffe Manor’s smooth-talking rake. Intent on saving his new home and family from danger, Henri is drawn to the clergyman’s guileless daughter but wonders if she hasn’t reason to conceal the killer’s identity.
Before there will be any courting, much less marrying, the inhabitants of the manor realize if they want a chance at a future, they must hunt the killer themselves. But are they hunting one murderer. . . or more?
Customer Reviews
A murder, a mystery, and lost treasure…
Patience Upton is the daughter of a former curate from Gravesyde Priory, who argues that he is still the curate. There just wasn’t enough funding, so he left. Her father has some questionable dealings with a variety of different people, several of whom want him to go away. When her father is murdered, Patience and her mother really want to stay at the priory, because they were happy there at one time. They really don’t have any other options. And they learn that they are stronger than they know!
Henri Lavigne is a rake who is eeking out a living as a peddler—selling tools, household items, and notions to the people of the area. He’s the second son of a French noble, but has decided to call the priory his home, along with his brother and the rest of his ‘found’ family. He has discovered a sort of purpose now, and he is drawn to Patience and the mystery of her father’s death.
There are several threads to this story, and there are some strange things happening as well. By the time things get somewhat sorted, readers have learned more about many of the characters inhabiting Gravesyde Priory.
This story was a little bit harder to get into for me. It’s interesting and captivating, but seemed to flow a little slower than the prior story. Readers do delve deeper into many of the characters living at the priory, and that adds to the overall storyline linking each of the books in this series. There are additional clues discovered regarding the mystery of the lost treasure, but they still haven’t found it. I can’t wait to see what happens next!