Review of The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen

   

What better setting for a mystery than the real "lost" village of Tydeham, an abandoned ghost village in Dorset, England? That's where I found myself when reading The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen.

This story begins in 1968 with Liz Houghton, a London newspaper reporter whose ambition backfires and relegates her to obituary writing. When the city becomes enthralled with the disappearance of a young girl, Liz tries to jump-start her languishing career by investigating the story, with the help of her best friend and police officer, Marisa.

 

When Liz arrives in Dorset, she's mystified by how familiar the place feels. Then she stumbles across the disappearance of three girls during the World War II evacuation of London. One was found murdered in the woods by a nearby train line, and the other two were never found. 

From visit-dorset.com

Liz's investigation brings her to Tydeham. (The correct spelling of the village name is Tyneham, but Bowen used a common misspelling.) The residents were forced to move out of their homes in December, 1943, so the military could use it to practice for the WW II D-Day invasion. Tydeham went from being a village filled with the feelings of home and community to a decimated war site of Britain's own making, left unlivable because of unexploded munitions. (Today it is still used as a British Army training facility, though it is also open to the public at specific times.)

Do the three girls from the past connect with the ghost town and the current missing child? And why does Liz feel like she's been here before — a place her family says she's never seen? 

I chose this book because I absolutely loved another one by the author, Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure, and was intrigued by the story of Tydeham. Also, as a journalist, I liked how Liz was battling to prove she could be more than an obituary writer.

I would have liked this book better if it had focused solely on the Tydeham storyline. The stories behind the girls' disappearance were intriguing, as were Liz's discoveries about her past. However, too many mysteries were crammed into one book! Each could have been its own book, with much more detail and intrigue.

Even so, I enjoyed the book overall and the chance to immerse myself in the Dorset of both the 1940s and 60s. In fact, I liked it enough to seek out other books by Rhys Bowen.

 

Are any of you fans of Bowen's stories? What should I try next?

If you'd like to learn more about Tydeham/Tyneham, log on to visit-dorset.com.