Summary: The Bridge to Belle Island by Julie Klassen
After a humiliating mistake, lawyer
Benjamin Booker resolves to never again trust a beautiful woman. When an old
friend is killed, the senior partner isn't satisfied with Bow Street's efforts
and asks Benjamin to investigate. Eager to leave London for a while, Benjamin
agrees. Evidence takes him to a remote island on the Thames, a world unto
itself, shrouded in mist and mystery. Soon he finds himself falling for the
main suspect--a woman who claims not to have left the island in ten years. But
should he trust her?
On Belle Island, Isabelle feels safe and leads a productive life, but fear keeps her trapped there. When Mr. Booker arrives with news of her trustee's murder in London, Isabelle is stunned. She has not left the island, yet she has a recurring dream about the man's death. Or is it a memory? She had been furious with him, but she never intended . . . this.
When a second person dies and evidence shockingly points to her, Isabelle doesn't know who to trust: the attractive lawyer or the admirer and friends who assemble on the island, each with grudges against the victim. Can she even trust her own mind? While they search for the truth, secrets come to light and danger comes calling.
On Belle Island, Isabelle feels safe and leads a productive life, but fear keeps her trapped there. When Mr. Booker arrives with news of her trustee's murder in London, Isabelle is stunned. She has not left the island, yet she has a recurring dream about the man's death. Or is it a memory? She had been furious with him, but she never intended . . . this.
When a second person dies and evidence shockingly points to her, Isabelle doesn't know who to trust: the attractive lawyer or the admirer and friends who assemble on the island, each with grudges against the victim. Can she even trust her own mind? While they search for the truth, secrets come to light and danger comes calling.
My thoughts about The Bridge to Belle Island
When lawyer Benjamin Booker and his senior partner Robert Harvey
stumbles upon a crime scene, they are horrified the victim is longtime friend
and company founder Percival Norris. The case seems connected to Isabella
Wilder of Belle Island. Benjamin agrees to pay her a visit to investigate the
murder under the cover of giving her legal advice.
The victim, Mr. Norris, has served as trustee of the Wilder estate in a
way which increasingly worries and angers his charge Isabella. He is trying to
use his power to pressure Isabella into allowing a shipbuilding company onto the
beautiful and secluded Belle Island. For the last ten years she has not left
the island even once because she believes in a curse on her family. She is
adamant on keeping everything as it is, stay on the island and run her willow
basketry business as usual. Only trouble is, she has this strange and vivid dream
of being present in the Wilder’s town house at the time of the murder.
When Benjamin arrives at Belle Island, he is eager to both please his
employer, Mr. Hardy, and regain confidence in himself after a very public and
humiliating loss in court. He is trying to quietly dig up additional evidence
in the murder case and figure out what Isabella has to do with it all. Could it
be she or another family member is the actual murderer?
Isabella’s niece Rose Wilder is betrothed to Christopher Adair. He lies
about his whereabouts at the time of the murder. He acted entitled and arrogant,
and I disliked the way he tried to cover up and obstruct the investigation.
Evan Curtis is Isabella’s childhood friend and youth love interest. He
was sent away to the most dangerous of war zones because it was in Mr. Norris’
best interest as trustee that Isabella didn’t marry. He is very angry with Mr.
Noris and suspects him of picking the most dangerous posting of all hoping he
would be killed in the Peninsular war. I found him odd and secretive, maybe
even dangerous with his experience of weapons and war. Why is he back a Belle
Island after so many years?
Dr Theodore Grant also Isabella’s childhood friend. Even though he is a
very talented doctor meant for big things in some city, he stays on as country
doctor. Isabella expects him to propose to her at some point. She waits, but
nothing happens. Instead he seems to act over-protective, possessive and
patronizing towards her. She considers him a friend, but has no real feelings
for him. A strange display of reactions show everything is not as it seems with
him.
The vivid writing of this story draws me into the plot. It feels like
I’m actually there in the beautiful English hamlet Riverton with the old
village church, thatch roofed cottages and the Thames River lazily floating by.
I love the descriptions of life on the river at the time. A lot of activity seemed
to be going on with fishing boats and net makers trying to make a living.
Weeping willow trees and lush greenery add to the lovely nature scene. I
can almost hear birds chirping in the trees and feel the sun on my face, while
I visualize the story. Who could imagine bad things happen in a beautiful place
like this.
I found the menu descriptions of the dinner party at Belle Island as
thorough as they were impressive. People really did know how to eat and party
at the time. The dancing part an issue in it’s own right.
This plot had great build up of tension. I was kept busy suspecting a
number of characters of some kind of foul play throughout the story. The relationship
between Isabella and Ben I felt grew slowly but surely amidst all the drama in
a way that complimented the story without overpowering it.
The Bridge to Belle Island is recommended for fans of Julie Klassen’s other
works and for readers of historical fiction.
My rating 5 stars / 5
(All opinions in this review are my own)
Product Details: The Bridge to Belle Island
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0764218204
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (December 3, 2019)
Publication Date: December 3, 2019
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B07PZYTSC8
About The Author: The Bridge to Belle Island
Julie Klassen loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. She
worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her
novels have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. She has also won the
Minnesota Book Award, the Midwest Book Award, and Christian Retailing’s BEST
Award. Julie is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She and her husband
have two sons and live in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visit www.julieklassen.com and
talesfromivyhill.com for more information.
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