Reviewed by Emma Crowley
We regret to inform you of the passing of your great-aunt, Matilda Hartley. As the sole beneficiary of her estate, you have inherited her business, No. 17 Curiosity Lane, Puffin Island…
Music journalist Fern Talbot has just inherited a dusty antique shop from a woman she never knew. Her plan is simple: get in, sell it, and get out.
But when she discovers that her charming lodger, Daniel, is her train ride meet-cute, and a tantalising mystery wrapped up in a vintage wedding dress demands to be solved, Puffin Island quickly captures this devoted city girl’s heart…
Many thanks to Harper Collins UK/One More Chapter for my copy of No.17.Curiosity Lane to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
How lucky are we that it has only been two months since the publication of The Café on the Coast, book four in Christie Barlow’s Puffin Island series and here we are again with another brilliant instalment. Clearly Christie knows readers can’t get enough of this series or in fact anything she writes and doesn’t keep us waiting that long. No.17 Curiosity Lane introduces us to Fern and Daniel and right from the get go I was completely sucked into their story and to be honest I found myself reading it as slowly as possible and savouring every chapter because I didn’t want it to end and to have to wait another few months for the next book.
Christie has a fabulous writing style that makes the reader feel at ease and comfortable with both the setting and the characters. I didn’t think I’d ever get over that there would be no more books in the Love Heart Lane series but bit by bit Puffin island is finding a special place in my heart. What I really love about the series is that there is always a mystery at the heart of the story. Gone are the days where I am happy to read storylines where the girl meets boy, there is a bit of angst and indecision and then boom they are together and living happily ever after. Here Christie gives her readers much more. Yes, there is romance here but I love the delving back into the past and the sleuthing that ensues and I think perhaps this aspect has made this book my favourite in the series so far.
Some of the characters do come into play once again but only occupy minor roles so it’s easy to follow along with this new storyline. Therefore new readers will embrace and enjoy this new story as easily as those who have been on the Puffin Island journey since the beginning. An intriguing opening which piques the readers interest provides the briefest of information regarding Matilda Hartley who led a rich and full life but yet there are still wounds that need to be healed. Matilda passes away and leaves No.17 Curiosity Lane, an antique/curiosities shop on Puffin Island, to her great niece Fern who is a music journalist living in London. Fern probably didn’t even know of her great aunt’s existence as Matilda had been estranged from her family but when she receives the news Fern knows she will have to travel to the island to see what exactly has been left to her and what she needs to do about it. For Fern this is totally out of her comfort zone and truthfully an inconvenience as she has plenty of work to do in London. She’s hoping to get on and off the island as quickly as possible without much fuss. But the island and the shop have much more in store for her than she initially bargained for and she soon finds her life turned upside down in the most unexpected but hopeful of ways.
Fern is someone who is minimalist and organised and works every hour she can. Having to deal with an inheritance she’d never wanted by a woman she had never known throws her life into disarray. She never flies by the seat of her pants preferring routine and consistency which is the total opposite of Daniel. She meets Daniel on the train and a connection is formed but he gets off at a different stop and that is it or so she thinks. For when she reaches the island and discovers the shop there is Daniel. A sitting tenant so to speak who had been Matilda’s apprentice. Daniel was a fabulous character who I felt really wore his heart on his sleeve. There was no messing about with him. He wasn’t afraid to express his feelings. That’s something that I really enjoyed about this book when it came to the romance element of things. There was none of this business of keeping things hidden and becoming frustrated. Yes, there were misunderstandings and various situations and plot points to work through, but it was all done out in the open and didn’t go on for chapters and chapters therefore being dragged out unnecessarily. Getting to the crux of certain issues quickly meant that other aspects of the story namely the mystery could come to the fore and the relationship element simmered perfectly alongside this.
Daniel is charming, stubborn, confident and is a brilliant example of life is for living not for worrying. He takes people for what they are not for what they have and is never motivated by money. All he cares about is people, community and doing the right thing and this is highlighted by his loyalty to Matilda and discovering the truth. Whereas Fern is not used to real relationships as is evident by her ‘relationship’ with superstar Jax. Her focus has always been on her career and keeping her distance from anything real but now acquiring this shop and in the process meeting Daniel maybe everything she thought and believed is about to be turned on its head and perhaps for the better?
The shop is certainly not what Fern had been expecting. It’s packed full of what she would term junk but which Daniel would beg to differ as Mirada and Daniel both believed that each item has a story to tell. It never turns a profit or rarely sells anything and all Fern can think about is selling it as quickly as possible and hightailing it back to her life in London. I could completely understand where Fern was coming from as she had no real connection to the island or the shop having never even laid eyes on Matilda. When an offer comes through from a mysterious buyer which would see the shop taken off her hands and a secure future financial wise for herself she doesn’t brush it off but considers it which really upsets Daniel. He thought they were getting to know one another, that there was a spark between the pair which could ignite into something much more. He knows he can’t let the shop go without a fight. He owes it to Matilda who after all took him in in his time of need. Fern agrees to give him a month to see can he make a go of things and from that point on things really pick up pace and a brilliant story starts to emerge and one that I was deeply invested in.
Alongside the more personal side of things that aptly develop and deepen between Fern and Daniel the mystery element of the book begins to emerge. An exquisite wedding dress left at the door of the shop with a note saying find the groom sparks a whole new storyline. Of course Fern can’t just forget about it and think it’s a random mistake and here is where Puffin Island starts getting under her skin as it does with everyone. She starts to feel pulled in two completely directions as she works with Daniel to discover the meaning behind the dress but yet at the same time her life in London is always knocking at the door asking to not be forgotten or cast aside rashly. I won’t say anything more re. the dress and the adventure that ensues. Suffice to say it forms a huge part of the book and as the layers are peeled back things start to become clear and the past is roaring wanting to be heard. A huge wrong/misdemeanour needs to be right and Fern and Daniel become ardent in their pursuit of honesty and justice. After all they owe it to Matilda and her legacy.
I don’t think I will ever tire of reading Christie’s books. My only complaint is that I wish the books came as quickly as I read them because quite honestly I’d be perfectly happy just reading this author’s books and nothing else. The sense of community, friendship and supportiveness build up throughout is fantastic. The reader feels as if they are a part of everything and you can visualise yourself on the island and are there every step of the way with Fern and Daniel as the work to solve the mystery of the wedding dress. I loved how the reader is kept guessing until the very end as to what exactly had happened in the past that finally needs to be made known in the present. It was all so carefully plotted and although I had a sneaking suspicion about one or two aspects of the plot I never fully hit the nail on the head. Without doubt Christie weaves feel good tales of a consistently high standard and at the risk of repeating myself from previous reviews that standard continues to rise with each book she writes. She knows what her readers want and delivers it in spades and long may it continue. Book six, The Clockmaker’s Cottage, will be published in June just in time for the summer months of holiday reading and I am already eagerly awaiting its publication.
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