In the Shadow of Croft Towers by Abigail Wilson ~ Review

My Review:

Sybil Delafield takes a job as a ladies companion for the mysterious Lady Chalcroft, a job that promises to have a link to her shrouded heritage. There are mysterious goings on at Croft Towers and not all are who they appear, with mysterious messages being exchanged the various family members distrusting of the others. Then there is Mr. Sinclair, Lady Chalcroft's beloved godson, a man that seems to always be there in her time of need, but he too keeps his cards close to his chest.

Will Sybil discover the secret of her heritage?

Sybil is an orphan with few prospects, though she was gifted with an education. She is determined to do her job well, but also perhaps discover if she herself has a personal connection to Croft Towers, as before her arrival she received a letter from a Mr. Stanton. Sybil doesn't know who she can trust,  or why she was chosen. Sybil is quiet and unassuming at first, but as secrets are revealed and the stakes are raised her confidence grows. Sybil is kind, loyal and compassionate, qualities that while good may come to bite her in the end.

This book does a good job keeping you guessing, just when I thought it would zig, it zagged, though there are few substantial reveals until the very end, which had me feeling that the plot was not a tight as it could have been. So the mid part of the book felt more like filler. Sybil is very much on the outside, and the secrets are difficult to penetrate.

Overall, a good regency read with plenty of secrets, and mystery. At times it felt like the characters were intentionally kept two-dimensional in order to maintain their mysterious aura, and throughout the book I felt that Sybil was very much in the dark. It was a good entertaining read, great for fans of intrigue and the regency era.

Note: Published by Thomas Nelson, this is a clean read, and could be categorized as a proper romance. Though often labelled as Christian Fiction, there was nothing expressly Christian about this book in any detectable form in my personal opinion.

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