PINTEREST
BLOGLOVIN
GOODREADS
When Caroline Alleyn inherits Wickham Grange, all she wants to do is sell up. There are bad memories there, linked to her childhood as the daughter of a single mother – and to all the other mothers she knew in that house. But her grandmother Frances’s will means that it can’t be sold without the consent of five elderly women, and they all refuse. None of them will tell her why she has to keep a house she doesn’t want. Instead, she is given a stark warning: don’t look for Lizzie Sixpence.
Though Caroline has other worries. Someone is watching her; the house’s elderly tenants are lying to her; and an old man is hoarding mementoes of her past.
Then she finds the bones.
And Caroline is left with a choice: keep silent, or betray everything her grandmother stood for. Because there is one final secret to be revealed…
MY THOUGHTS
My thanks to Anne of Random Things Tours for the invite and to the publisher for the ecopy to review. I do love a mystery – and I’m also a sucker for an attractive cover so I couldn’t resist this! The Last Secret of Wickham Grange is published by Bedford Square Publishers in ebook, audiobook and paperback formats (23 April 2026).
The story begins in 2006 when Caroline is attending her grandmother Frances’ funeral. Although much loved, Frances was not a blood relative (its complicated) and then to find out that she. and not her mother Betty, had inherited Wickham Grange, a large Victorian building now converted into flats was a shock; even more so when she discovers that she cannot sell the property without the consent of five women – all strangers to Caroline, not to mention the two elderly tenants who were protected from eviction. I was immediately intrigued – why the restriction and who were these women who were so afraid and hostile when Caroline approached them.
There are many characters over the two timelines, the modern and late 1940s and it could have become confusing however the author manages the connections and transitions well. There were some characters that were quite unpleasant and I didn’t initially warm to Caroline. She had made her own life as a partner in a law firm and had the brusque manner of someone who just wanted rid of the building so that she could move on with her own plans.
There are so many secrets to be revealed in this atmospheric story. At one time the Grange had been a place of safety for women but Caroline felt anything but safe with strange and unsettling occurrences, including the warning not to look for Lizzie Sixpence. Whoever she may be.
This book may have had a sedate start but the two timelines led into an emotional and mysterious story with drama and sinister undertones. It didn’t take long to become engrossed in the lives of the residents at the Grange, especially with Frances and Maud and, despite a touch of misdirection, I correctly guessed part of the mystery, however there were more revelations that took me by surprise.
With a powerful storyline and fully drawn characters there is much to like about this book. It had a conclusion that was both emotive and satisfying – I very much enjoyed it and would happily read more from Zoe Manlow.
Zoe has spent 25 years working in education, but her heart has always really been in writing, with a particular love of stories about people who may not be who or what they seem. She studied Creative Writing as part of her degree with the Open University and during lockdown finally managed to get back into writing seriously. Originally from Kent, she now lives in London with her husband and their enormous dog.
