The Shadow of Memory

by Connie Berry

Overview

In Connie Berry’s fourth Kate Hamilton mystery, American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton uncovers a dark secret buried in Victorian England.


As Kate Hamilton plans her upcoming wedding to Detective Inspector Tom Mallory, she is also assisting her colleague Ivor Tweedy with a project at the Netherfield Sanatorium, which is being converted into luxury townhouses. Kate and Ivor must appraise a fifteenth-century painting and verify that its provenance is the Dutch master Jan Van Eyck. But when retired criminal inspector Will Parker is found dead, Kate learns that the halls of the sanatorium housed much more than priceless art.

Kate is surprised to learn that Will had been the first boyfriend of her friend Vivian Bunn, who hasn’t seen him in fifty-eight years. At a seaside holiday camp over sixty years ago, Will, Vivian, and three other teens broke into an abandoned house where a doctor and his wife had died under bizarre circumstances two years earlier. Now, when a second member of the childhood gang dies unexpectedly—and then a third—it becomes clear that the teens had discovered more in the house than they had realized.

Had Will returned to warn his old love? When Kate makes a shocking connection between a sixty-year-old murder and the long-buried secrets of the sanatorium, she suddenly understands that time is running out for Vivian—and anyone connected to her.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643859088
Publisher:	CROOKED LANE BOOKS
Publication date:	05/10/2022
Series:	Kate Hamilton Series , #4
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	257,517
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Connie Berry is the author of the Edgar Award-nominated Kate Hamilton Mysteries, set in the UK and featuring an American antiques dealer with a gift for solving crimes. Like her protagonist, Connie was raised by antiques dealers who instilled in her a passion for history, fine art, and travel. During college she studied at the University of Freiburg in Germany and St. Clare's College, Oxford, where she fell under the spell of the British Isles. In 2019 Connie won the IPPY Gold Medal for Mystery and was a finalist for the Agatha Award’s Best Debut. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and is on the board of the Guppies and her local Sisters in Crime chapter. Besides reading and writing mysteries, Connie loves history, foreign travel, cute animals, and all things British. She lives in Ohio with her husband and adorable Shih Tzu, Emmie. You can learn more about Connie and her books at her website www.connieberry.com.

Editorial Reviews

03/14/2022

In Berry’s intriguing fourth mystery featuring antiques expert Kate Hamilton (after 2021’s The Art of Betrayal), Kate and two older friends, including Vivian Bunn, find Will Parker, a retired police inspector and a sweetheart of Vivian’s from many years ago, dead in a graveyard in the Suffolk village of Long Barton. Will was investigating a cold case that he, Vivian, and some friends had first encountered as teenagers when they discovered the abandoned home of a physician and his wife who had been poisoned. When Kate learns that Will was murdered, that the physician may have been embroiled in dubious activities connected to a local mental health facility and a priceless painting, and that suspicious circumstances have arisen with other members of Vivian’s teenage group, she begins to fear for her friend’s safety. New and faithful fans alike will appreciate the tying together of present and past, as well as the poignancy in the long effects of unfortunate choices. As usual, Kate and her fellow villagers provide congenial company for readers. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Services. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Shadow of Memory:
“Intriguing . . . New and faithful fans alike will appreciate the tying together of present and past, as well as the poignancy in the long effects of unfortunate choices.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“A seamlessly plotted mystery for fans of English puzzles.”
—Library Journal, starred review

“Deftly crafted, inherently compelling, a real page turner of a read from cover to cover.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Inherently fascinating, impressively original, and a mystery lover's delight from cover to cover.”
—Midwest Book Review

Praise for the Kate Hamilton Mystery Series:
“[A] traditional mystery that combines British legend with a contemporary story of crime and betrayal.”
—Library Journal, starred review on The Art of Betrayal

“A delight for lovers of antiques and complicated mysteries with a touch of romance."
—Kirkus Reviews

"An engaging cast of characters that will appeal to fans of Jane K. Cleland’s Josie Prescott novels and Barbara Allan’s Trash ’n’ Treasures mysteries."
—Booklist

"This cozy has it all: well-developed characters, clever dialogue, [and] a gentle love story that never slows the mystery plot...Readers will eagerly await the next installment."
—Publishers Weekly

"Historic settings, antiquing tips, and a surprising motive in an angst-filled mystery/romance."
—Kirkus Reviews

"A well-realized cast and a beautifully described setting."
—Booklist

"Fans of Jane K. Cleland's books . . . will want to try this series."
—Library Journal

"Berry takes her protagonist down the path to discovery...A very satisfying ending."
—New York Journal of Books

“A well-written, intriguing debut mystery that combines history, an unforgettable setting, and mature, relatable characters."
—Library Journal, starred review, Debut of the Month of A Dream of Death
 
“Delightfully steeped in the flavors of Scotland past and present . . . A Dream of Death grabbed my attention from the start and didn’t let up."
—Bailey Cates, New York Times bestselling author

“Deliciously atmospheric and beautifully written."
—Peg Cochran, USA Today bestselling author

“What a treat! A modern day Outlander."
—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author

“A Scottish delight that will keep you on your toes until the very end.”
—Carlene O’Connor, USA Today bestselling author

“As satisfying as a full Scottish breakfast, entertaining as a highland fling, and mysterious as the Loch Ness monster."
—Sherry Harris, Agatha Award-nominated author

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2022

Following a hen party, American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton walks two friends home, but finds a body in the graveyard. She also finds a note with the name and address of one of those friends, Vivian Bunn. The body is identified as Will Parker, a retired police detective; 58 years earlier, at 17, Will was Vivian's first romantic crush at a British holiday camp. Along with three other teens, they spent the week spinning stories that would account for the murders at an abandoned house. It's Kate's trip to a former sanatorium, Netherfield, that links the two locations and a mystery from half a century ago. The board of Netherfield hope to sell a painting by Jan van Eyck at auction to raise needed money, but Kate has doubts about the work. While she waits for authentication of the painting, someone is tracking down the teens, seniors who once gathered evidence at the house now owned by a Netherfield board member. Is there any other reason these seniors are now targets of a killer? VERDICT Well-developed characters, antiques and art, along with a riveting case with roots in the past elevate this traditional mystery. The sequel to The Art of Betrayal is a seamlessly plotted mystery for fans of English puzzles.—Lesa Holstine

Library Journal