Blackwater Lake by Maggie James

Interesting novella I read over a weekend. An easy to read tale where a young man delves into his parents' past based on his mother's dementia and hoarding. Yes, I know of people like this so I was caught in that aspect of the story.

A man in his mid-thirties lives away from his parents but on one visit he finds they are both missing. However, it is this strange collection of photographs and bits and pieces of apparently useless rubbish that leads the son to piece together their lives and the secrets he never knew. 

Not a great load of secrets are uncovered and some of them seem a little too contrived, but this book is well paced with a gentle suspense and is a good read nonetheless. The most disappointing aspects were the clichés and repetitive phrases (especially when describing skin!) plus a couple of stereotypes.

​A handy book when spending an evening in a hotel with nowt on the tv. Enjoyable mystery.

Published by Orelia Publishing on 27 September 2015.

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