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It was a dream come true.
Buying a run-down farm in a beautiful Vermont town is the start of a new life for Sophie Davis. She moves her mother, Grace, and her half sister, Marty, out of the city, hoping the change will help both women sort out their complicated lives. And for Sophie, turning Stonegate Farm into a quaint country inn is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. She doesn't even mind that the farm was the scene of a grisly multiple murder twenty years earlier .
Then a stranger comes to town.
When a stranger moves in next to the farm, Sophie believes the sense of peace she has built for herself and her family is being threatened. Because there's something different about John Smith. It's clear he's keeping secrets and that he's come to Colby, Vermont, for a reason. And that reason has something to do with Sophie and Stonegate Farm.
Now her dream is becoming a nightmare.
Who is John Smith? Why does his very presence make Sophie feel so completely out of control? And why is she beginning to suspect that this mysterious stranger will put in jeopardy everything she's dreamed of—maybe even her own life?
When he awoke there was blood on his hands. The sheets were tangled around his sweating, naked body, his mouth tasted like copper, and there was blood on his hands.
He sat up, cursing, pushed his long dark hair away from his face and looked blearily out into the morning sunshine. It was early - he hated waking up before noon.
And he sure as hell hated waking up covered in blood.
He stumbled out of bed, heading toward the back door to take a leak. He looked down and saw he had streaks of blood on his body. He leaned against the door and closed his eyes, groaning.
He slept in one of the tumbledown cabins by the lake, but it didn't have a shower, and there was no way in hell he was going up to the big house like this. No way in hell he was going to stand around with some animal's blood on him. He must have hit a deer last night, driving home, though for the life of him he couldn't remember a goddamned thing.
He pulled on a pair of paint-spattered cutoffs and headed down to the lake, as fast as his pounding head would let him. He'd smoked too much, drunk too much, the night before, and he needed it to wear off, fast. The cold lake water would clear his head, bring his memory back. When he got back to his room he'd finish packing and get the hell outof there. He'd had enough of small-town Vermont.
Even in August the lake was icy cold, shocking the hell out of him. He let out a shriek as he dived beneath the surface, but he kept going, letting the frigid water flow around him, washing the blood from his hands, from his long hair, from his thick beard.
He surfaced twenty yards from shore, tossing his long wet hair over his shoulder, and squinted into the sunlight. There were more people than usual up at the inn - Peggy Niles must be in seventh heaven. She'd be wanting him to fetch and carry, even though he'd told her he was leaving. Maybe he'd just skirt around the back of his place, grab his stuff and get the hell out of there before he could change his mind. Lorelei had told him to get lost, and he wasn't the kind of man who stayed in one place for too long. Winter was coming, jobs would be opening up in Colorado, and he was ready for the life of a ski bum.
He dove back under the water, heading toward shore with long, easy strokes, circling around past the small sandy beach and the long wooden dock he'd built a few months back.
When he surfaced again, he saw a pile of clothes floating at the edge of the water, among the cattails that he'd spent half the summer trying to get rid of. He recognized the garish striped shirt that was one of his favorites, and he wondered who the hell had taken his suitcase and thrown it in the lake. Probably Lorelei - she'd been pissed off big time when he told her he was leaving, but then, she hadn't given him one good reason to stay. Not that he could even imagine one.
He moved closer, squinting. He was slightly nearsighted, but he never wore glasses except for his prescription sunglasses, and God knew where they were back in the mess of his room. The clothes were floating, half in, half out of the water, but he didn't recognize the white shirt. He didn't own any longsleeved shirts.
He stopped moving, waist deep in the chilly water, and his skin froze. And then he moved, fast, running through the water till he reached her side, turning her over to see her pale, dead face, and the sliced throat, like a jester's grin, curving beneath her jaw.
They loomed over him, coming out of nowhere, waiting for him, and he couldn't move, frozen in the chilly water with Lorelei's body in his arms.
"Thomas Ingram Griffin, alias Gram Thomas, alias Billy Gram, you're under arrest for the willful murder of Alice Calderwood, Valette King and Lorelei Johnson. Anything you say ..."
He didn't listen to the words. He looked down at the girl in his arms, the girl he'd held last night, the girl whose blood had stained his hands.
And he began to cry.
Excerpted from Still Lake by Anne Stuart Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Enterprises
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Anonymous
Posted June 14, 2012
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.From the first page, the story drew me in. The plot was believeable and well developed. The characters were real, although I did have a small problem with the plausiblity of a 30-year old virgin...but at least THAT didn't last long! The lead male interest was totally hot.
What can I say, I really liked the book, and all books by Anne Stuart. This one was a 7.5 for Anne Stuart in the intensity department, but I don't think this story line qualified for as much intensity as her spy thrillers. For story-line, character developement and my genearl enjoyment of this novel, my overall rating would be at least a 9. Good work, Ms. Stuart!
Anonymous
Posted June 20, 2006
This was a goooooooooood book. Romantic all the way. I finished it in one night. Its good I liked. Not that much killer action but great love scenes haha there my favorite
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Posted March 7, 2005
Still Lake was an excellant book, I never got bored with it. This book was about a women named, Sophie, who brought her mother and younger sister to Vermont to live with her, and take care of a bed and breakfast. The bed and breakfast was once the place where three young girls were found murdered. Out of nowhere a man came along and Sophie fell in love with him, but what she didn't know was that he was thought to be the murderer of the three young girls. I loved how the author made it hard to find out who the real murderer was. I knew the mother wasn't really sick, and I liked how she was encouraging to Sophie. I really didn't like Marty, the sister, but once she met the boy who helped them fix the house up she started to change, in a good way. Some parts of the book were spooky, like when she got run off the road and when the murderer was watching her swim in the lake. The book was great and had a very good ending.
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Posted December 18, 2003
Still Lake combines mystery and romance. It's about a 30 year old virgin, Sophie, who buys an old farm house and plans on turning it into an inn. She lives with her rebellious half sister, Marty, and her senile mother. One day, a mysterious man named Griffin, moves in next door. Griffin was convicted of murdering three girls 20 years earlier in the home Sophie lives in. The only thing he remembers from that night is waking up with blood all over his clothes and finding his girlfriend floating dead in the lake. He¿s back in Colby, Vermont to try and remember what happened that fateful night. This book is well written and draws the reader in with its twists.
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Posted April 20, 2003
An enchanting tale that brings the pristine atmosphere of Vermont alive. Suspense with the blooming flower of an exotic love provides an adventure which I too, spent a sleepless night to complete.
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Posted October 25, 2002
If you're looking for passion that sizzles, you've come to the right place. I spend a sleepless night in order to complete this entertaining tale of suspense and love till I finished it by dawn.
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Overview
It was a dream come true.
Buying a run-down farm in a beautiful Vermont town is the start of a new life for Sophie Davis. She moves her mother, Grace, and her half sister, Marty, out of the city, hoping the change will help both women sort out their complicated lives. And for Sophie, turning Stonegate Farm into a quaint country inn is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. She doesn't even mind that the farm ...