"The Secret of Pembrooke Park" by Julie Klassen

[reviewsbyerin]

A responsible eldest daughter and a house full of secrets take the stage in the latest Regency novel from Julie Klassen. Abigail Foster advised her father to enter into an investment scheme, and now that they've lost nearly everything she is taking it upon herself to help make the transition to a smaller income. As she assists her father in searching for a new place to live, they are approached by a lawyer handling the estate of a distant relative. He says he is authorized to offer them the use of an old manor house, Pembrooke Park, which has been shut up for eighteen years after the mysterious disappearance of the previous owners. The strangeness of the situation does not hold back the Fosters from accepting the lease.

Abigail is searching for redemption as she travels to the country ahead of her family to help get the house ready for their arrival. Soon she hears rumors of a hidden room and secret treasure squirreled away somewhere in the old house, and is warned of fortune hunters who might try to break in. The manor has been guarded by the formidable former manager, but he and his family welcome Abigail to the neighborhood once they realize her claim to leasing the place is legitimate.

The Pembrooke family history is full of hints of murder and danger, and Abigail is unable to be completely at ease in Pembrooke Park. She soon begins receiving anonymous letters which include journal entries from a young lady who lived there previously. She's warned not to open her doors to anyone with the Pembrooke surname, but when her father invites their distant cousin, Miles Pembrooke, to stay with them, there's not much she can do. It's clear he is there to poke about the place and try to find the hidden treasure for himself.

William Chapman, the local curate and son of the former estate manager, becomes a trusted ally for Abigail. She's drawn to his relationship with God, and his friendship is a balm after the man she thought she would marry seems to have passed her up in favor of her younger sister. Although William knows many of Pembrooke Park's true secrets, he wants nothing more than to see joy come to the sweet and serious Abigail. His meager living as a clergyman's assistant does not leave much hope that he could support a wife and family, but he knows he's meant to be right where he is.

The mystery runs deep in this novel and the fullness of it will keep you guessing until the end. Who is Abigail's secret correspondent? Who is the true heir to the estate? Are the Fosters really in danger living there? Seeming to draw inspiration from Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," this was another good novel by the woman who sets the standard in Christian Regency fiction.