PINTEREST
BLOGLOVIN
GOODREADS
A mysterious bequest and the legacy of a tragic love – only one person can unravel the hidden secrets of the past before it’s too late…
When Elisabeth Quemener dies she leaves a small parcel with the instructions that it must only be opened by Astrid Oake. The trouble is, no one knows who Astrid Oake is…
Elisabeth’s family turn to Touissants detective agency for help but, when Mila Shepherd and Carter Jackson try to track Astrid down, their frustration soon mounts. Their only clue is a photo of two young women holding the hands of a tiny child. The women are smiling but Mila is haunted by the sadness in their eyes. Is this Astrid and Elisabeth and if so, who is the child? And why are there signs everywhere in Elisabeth’s home that the old woman was frightened despite her living a quiet life with no known enemies?
As Elisabeth and Astrid’s story slowly unfolds, Mila feels the walls of her home The Sea House closing in. And as the secrets finally begin to reveal themselves, she is ever more determined to carry out Elisabeth’s final wishes. Because what is inside that unprepossessing parcel might just save a life…
Louise Douglas is back in the Brittany seaside town of Morranez with a heart-stopping, heart-breaking, brilliantly written and utterly compelling mystery. Perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Eve Chase and Lucinda Riley.
MY THOUGHTS
My thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour invite and the publisher for a copy of the book via Netgalley. The Sea House is published by Boldwood Books (5 November 2024) and available in ebook (including Kindle Unlimited), audiobook and paperback. I’ve read so many of Louise’s books over the years, with a few being reviewed here on the blog – The Secret by the Lake, The Room in the Attic and The Secret of Villa Alba. Louise is such a trusted author, I don’t even need to read the blurb to know that I want to read the book.
The Sea House is the third book in the Toussaints Detective Agency series (the previous ones being The Lost Notebook and The Summer of Lies). I haven’t yet read either of these but it didn’t matter at all. In fact I wasn’t aware that there were previous books until I had finished this one so it works perfectly well as a standalone.
Mainly set in Brittany, the main characters are Ceci and Mila. Ceci is Mila’s stepmother and together with a colleague Carter, they both run an agency specialising in looking for missing people. Following the death of a client, they are tasked with quite a challenge with fulfilling her last wishes. They are given a parcel with strict instructions that it is only to be given in person to a certain Astrid Oake. The client, Elizabeth Quemener, lived an unassuming life in a heavily protected house. She had clearly been afraid, but of what or who? The intriguing prologue didn’t give much away.
Tracking down Astrid is no easy task, no-one knows who or where she is and Mila struggles to know where to begin. There is also a separate strand of a family tragedy which is causing heartache and leaving Mila conflicted in her loyalties.
I’m never disappointed in a book by Louise Douglas and I was completely engrossed in this. Mila was a great character; compassionate and caring, she was treading unchartered waters and emotions with difficult family dynamics. She had her own complicated love affair to deal with as well as a challenging relationship with her mother Lydia after her husband left to be with Ceci.
The hunt for Astrid brings Mila to the UK but someone doesn’t want her to succeed. The receipt of threatening messages are just the prelude to events that ultimately lead to a suspenseful and tension filled conclusion that kept me on tenterhooks wondering how it would end. There were times when I thought Mila was crazy to take the actions she did but then it would have been a much shorter book!
This is a great read, cleverly plotted and definitely one to recommend. There is a fantastic sense of place with vivid imagery of both the seaside town of Morranez and the wintry desolation of Yorkshire. The twists and turns of the investigation, together with the ongoing mystery of another strand with its emotional turmoil make for a dramatic and intriguing read.
Hello! I’m Louise, author of 12 novels mostly set in the Somerset countryside close to where I live and Sicily. I’m thrilled to have won the RNA Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller award 2021 for The House by the Sea which has sold more than a quarter of a million copies.
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