- Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Mira (Nov 1 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1551669722
- ISBN-13: 978-1551669724
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.1 x 2.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 113 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #418,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Brimming with Neggers's (The Waterfall) usual flair for creating likeable, believable characters and her keen recognition of the obstacles that can muddle relationships, this suspenseful modern-day tale is delightfully populated with 19th-century ghosts. When Tess accepts a rundown house by the sea in lieu of payment for a design job, she never expects a skeleton buried in the cellar and the handsome, taciturn widower next door to be part of the package. But the skeleton vanishes before anyone else sees it, throwing doubt on Tess's claims and throwing her into a panic, as the stealing of the skeleton likely points to murder. This also puts a damper on her unsought, but irresistible, romance with neighbor Andrew. Neggers seasons her people with warm, genuine details that give everyone, even the most secondary characters, a depth and quirkiness unusual in a genre that relies too often on stereotypes to fill out the cast. Tess's frequent references to her mother's death from cancer when Tess was a child seem an awkward and a heavy-handed way to give the heroine some baggage, but Tess and Andrew's magnetic dance toward each other and the tense drama surrounding the identity of the missing skeleton engage the reader instantly. Neggers delivers a colorful, well-spun story that shines with sincere emotion among a field overstocked with contemporaries that rely on lots of flashy passion but little soul. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Fun and a little hard work. That's all Tess Haviland had in mind when Ike Grantham paid her for her graphic design work with the run-down, 19th century carriage house on Boston's North Shore. Then Ike disappeared and now Tess finds herself with much more than a simple weekend project to get her out of the city. It's not just the rumors that the carriage house is haunted--it's the neighbors: six-year-old Dolly Thorne, her reclusive babysitter, Harley Beckett...and especially Dolly's father, Andrew Thorne, who has his own ideas about why Tess has turned up next door.
But when Tess discovers a human skeleton in her dirt cellar, she begins to ask questions about the history of the carriage house, the untimely death of Andrew's wife...and Ike's disappearance. Questions a desperate killer wants to silence before the truth reveals that someone got away with murder. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
This book started great, but then it went to the dumps.,
By
This review is from: The Carriage House (Mass Market Paperback)
When a person finds a dead body in the basement, you call the police. I can not believe that Tess did not do that. After that the book seemed to go down hill. I figured out that Ike was the skeleton and who had killed him before I was even half way through the book.I did enjoy the interactions of the characters to each other. I really enjoyed Dolly Thorne's daughter, the little princess. I like that Tess was not any wimp by any standards, and the fact that she was not perfect in figuring out the mystery. I would not recommend this book for the suspense, but I would recommend this book as a good romance.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Started well... then went downhill,
By A Customer
This review is from: The carriage house (Mass Market Paperback)
As a great fan of romantic suspense, I was really excited by the premise and the interesting beginning of the novel... but as it went along I found myself getting frustrated and wanting to throw the book across the room. Tess's (the heroine's) thoughts seemed to jump around, stupid choices were made (for a supposedly smart woman) and scenes and dialog were sometimes hard to follow. Motivations were often unclear and information omitted. The relationship between Tess and Andrew was very tepid - there was little hint of true passion and growing affection between them, and their meager love scenes were mediocre. The characters of Dolly and Harl were sweet and/or quirky, but not enough to rescue the novel's flaws. I felt sadly let down at the end and expected better of Carla Neggers. I'm not sure that I would buy this author again.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read, solid characters and plot,
By A Customer
This review is from: The carriage house (Mass Market Paperback)
I enjoyed this book - it had solid characters and it was nice to revisit people from prior books. This book was superior to The Cabin, in my opinion, and thank goodness she cut down on the "texas ranger" phrase. Perhaps I'm missing something, but Neggers seems obsessed with overusing phrases in her writing, and if there is one downfall in this book, that would be it.. using one phrase over and over again. Tess was a strong female character, and Sam was a good match for her, and the murder plot was interesting too, although some parts (like the kids running amuck) were hard to believe. Overall, an improvement from The Cabin.
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