The Sea House - Louise Douglas - ★★★.½
AUTHOR: Louise Douglas
GENRE: Contemporary Mystery
SERIES: Toussaints Detective Agency, #3
PUBLICATION DATE: November 5, 2024
RATING: 3.5 stars.
In a Nutshell: A contemporary mystery filled with secrets. Third book of the series (which I didn’t know when I grabbed this.) One dominant mystery and one more secondary mystery. Realistic characters, interesting themes, slowburn, fair bit of suspense, partially incomplete ending. Not too sure if it is good as a standalone as I haven’t read the earlier two books, but I feel it is better read in series order.
Plot Preview:
Morranez town, Brittany, France. When Elizabeth Quemener dies, she leaves behind a small parcel with the instructions that only Astrid Oake can open it. The problem is that no one knows who Astrid Oake is. When Elizabeth’s family and her solicitor approach the Toussaint Detective Agency for help, Mila Shepherd and her colleague Carter Jackson begin pursuing leads, but most end up blank. An exploration of Elizabeth’s home reveals that she was very afraid of someone/something, but why?
To add to the frustration, Mila is dealing with her personal troubles as well, which seem as insurmountable as the Astrid Oake case. Will Mila and the agency be able to crack both cases?
The story comes to us in Mila’s third person perspective.
I had adored The Room in the Attic by this author, and so went into this book looking forward to a gripping mystery. Well, I did find what I wanted, but I also got a lot of what I had not bargained for.
Bookish Yays:
😍 The prologue – perfect to set the right mood. Moreover, it is tough to figure out the “who” of the prologue until almost the final section. Love it when prologues work this cleverly!
😍 The Astrid Oake mystery is not the dominant arc for the first one-third and begins in an almost ordinary way, but once it gets going, it is excellent AND chilling. This mystery, darker than I had expected at first, generated a variety of emotions in me – not something I can often claim for this genre.
😍 Quite a few twists and turns along the way, most of which are tough to see coming. Some of the revelations are quite disturbing.
😍 Mila’s relationship with her teenaged niece Ani is beautifully portrayed through its ups and downs. I appreciate how Ani isn’t portrayed as a typical rebellious teen who doesn’t know how to be around adults. It’s so rare to see positive teen portrayal in adult fiction.
😍 A bonafide creepy-as-heck villain, the likes of which I haven’t read in ages.
😍 The investigation process of the Toussaint team (Mila and Carter) felt very true to life. No instant results for the most way, many dead ends, some developments left unpursued as they possibly led nowhere… The process seemed mostly authentic, with hopes as well as frustrations in equal measure. There were a few convenient discoveries, but that’s always present in this genre, so no issues.
😍 Great atmospheric writing, especially once the threads start untangling.
😍 Nice use of the picturesque setting of Brittany and also the location of the finale.
😍 The final third (except for the last chapter) is quite satisfying, even thought I could see a couple of things coming. This section made me elevate my rating.
Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 I am a series freak and do not like reading books out of series order. This book was marked as a standalone novel, but it actually is the third novel of an ongoing series. (I have since updated the listing. Perks of being a Goodreads Librarian.) A look at the first two blurbs shows that Mila and Carter are present in both of those books. As a part of the story also focusses on Mila’s family, they too would have appeared earlier. I felt like I didn’t get to know these characters as intimately as I would have, had I read all the books. This lack of connection affected my overall experience, even though the continued plot was easy to follow. This point wouldn’t be an issue for those who can jump in between a series without hassles.
😐 Too many parallel plotlines! While there is enough mystery, there is also a lot of family and personal drama, which sometimes detracts from the Astrid Oake mystery. Maybe it would be better to go into this book expecting a family drama in addition to what’s promised in the blurb. All the subplots work well, but there’s too much to keep track of.
😐 The pacing is on the slower side, especially in the first half. The second half picks up the tempo steadily until the quick-paced finale.
😐 While the core mystery connected to Astrid Oake is resolved satisfactorily, there is one more mystery in the novel, which apparently continues from the earlier books and isn’t resolved even by the end of this one. So the ending won't be satisfying to those who prefer completed arcs.
😐 “The Sea House” is actually the name of the house where Mila lives with Ani, and is nothing but an incidental setting for the story. So I didn’t get why it had to be the title of this novel. Moreover, it is too similar to another book by the same author – “The House By The Sea”. I wish the title had been more suited to the plot and a bit more unique.
Bookish Nays:
😢 Mila’s relationship struggles with Luke (which I think continue from the earlier books) felt very ad hoc to me. It didn’t seem convincing that they had been together for thirteen years. (Perhaps my lack of familiarity with them affected my experience.)
😢 There’s a lot of secret keeping (on the lines of “I'll tell you later”) from various characters. This bugged me after a point.
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised to see two mysteries in the book, almost like a Buy-One-Get-One-Free offer. I enjoyed the Astrid Oake part of the story, and am even curious to know more about the other mystery that has been left dangling. However, Mila’s relationship issues and the fact that this was a continued series stopped me from enjoying this novel more.
I think I would have appreciated this book much better had I known that it was the third of a series, and preferably having read the first two books. I did enjoy this enough to want to read the earlier books in the series, but I am slightly disappointed that I already know some future events of the overarching mystery.
Recommended to those who enjoy darkish slowburn mysteries with a healthy dollop of family drama and don’t mind a cliffhanger ending. Better read in series order.
3.5 stars. (Rounding up wherever applicable because my lower rating is partly due to incorrect expectations.)
My thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and Boldwood Books, for a complimentary copy of 'The Sea House' via NetGalley, and for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
The digital version of this book is currently available free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
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Blurb:
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.
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Author Louise Douglas:
Louise Douglas is the bestselling and brilliantly reviewed author and an RNA award winner. She has penned 12 novels mostly set in the Somerset countryside close to where she lives and Sicily. 'The Secrets Between Us' was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She is 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.
Connect with her on:
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Check out this book:
Purchase from: https://mybook.to/seahousesocial
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This has been a stop on the #TheSeaHouse blog tour conducted by Rachel's Random Resources. (@rararesources) Thanks for stopping by!
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