Review: Searching for Sylvia

Searching for Sylvia by Joanna Stephen-Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Set in Australia, this is a family drama with a twist…

It starts with Paul, a solicitor who comes home to his wife how tells hims she is leaving him for someone else….leaving her boring life and boring husband…..He decides it’s time for a new life and leaves Sydney for a small, remote town of Cobar.

He continues to work as a solicitor and loves his new life….then comes a mystery buyer of the near derelict homestead, Tordorrach. The current owner, Seamus is reluctant to sell to the English despite being heavily in debt, but eventually sells. Seamus is a nasty, belligerent piece of work and alienates everyone around him including his long suffering wife, Mary.

The new buyers are all related, and lived at Tordorrach many years before and are still troubled by the sudden disappearance of Sylvia, mother to Grace and Juliet at the time. They employed a private detective, but unfortunately nothing could be found….

They also find an old journal written by an ancestor, which adds a little history to the family.

A lot of this story is about the renovation of Tordorrach and the setting up of a new business, from the cabin fittings to menu’s, which helps builds a wonderful picture of the estate, the new owners and their relationships amongst themselves and those around them.

A body is then found, buried a long time ago……murdered…..is this Sylvia? And just who In this small town knows what happened?

All is revealed in an emotion packed confession, will this be the end of it now ? ….

A slowly paced but totally immersive read from start to finish….I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to Bloodhound Books for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour and for the promotional materials and a free copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest, unbiased review

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