☆☆➹⁀☆ 4 stars ☆➹⁀☆☆
About the Book:
Abigail Bender lost her only love at Gettysburg in 1863. One hundred and fifty years later Kaitlyn Novacs, teetering on the edge of a breakdown after the loss of her one love, encounters Abigail’s spirit in a quaint Canadian inn. There’s a connection between these women, Kaitlyn feels it the first moment she sees the ghost but refuses to admit it. She is forced to accept how closely her fate mirrors the ghost’s when through Abigail’s window she witnesses the ghost’s life and death. Still, there’s a secret Abigail withholds from Kaitlyn. Will discovering that secret come too late to save Kaitlyn from Abigail’s fate?
My Thoughts:
Susan Lynn Solomon’s Abigail’s Window is a haunting and suspenseful tale of love and loss. Abigail Bender’s and Kaitlyn Novacs’ stories are told in parallel in a remote Canadian B&B over a stormy weekend. The author turned up the chills and creepy vibe with the setting!!
Abigail’s apparition is seen and heard by only a few. Kaitlyn is one of those few. Kaitlyn is a smart and successful lawyer. She has a keen mind, but lately life has been taking a toll on her. I found Kaitlyn’s girlfriends’ insensitive teasing of her hearing noises really offensive, but it did set up Kaitlyn for time by herself to encounter the ghost of Abigail Bender. The tension and foreboding mount as hints are dropped about Kaitlyn’s struggle with a traumatic past. Does Kaitlyn really encounter the ghost of Abigail Bender, or is her mind playing tricks on her?
Ms. Solomon’s attention to detail paints a vivid picture of the Niagara-on-the-Lake area as well as life in the late 1800s. The well-researched history added depth to the story. I loved the references to the classics such as Shakespeare and Tolstoy. I loved the messages Abigail tries to teach Kaitlyn, and equally, I love the reality of how much effort it takes for Kaitlyn to learn them. The complexity of Kaitlyn’s life as well as the intriguing epilogue made for a rich story.
About the Author: Formerly a Manhattan entertainment attorney and a contributing editor to the quarterly art magazine SunStorm Fine Art, Susan Lynn Solomon now lives in Niagara Falls, New York.
Since 2007 many of her short stories have appeared in literary journals, including, Abigail Bender (awarded an Honorable Mention in a Writers Journal short romance competition), Ginger Man, Elvira, The Memory Tree, Going Home, Yesterday’s Wings, Smoker’s Lament, Kaddish, and Sabbath (nominated by the editor of Prick of the Spindle for 2013 Best of the Net). A collection of her short stories, Voices In My Head, has been published by Solstice Publishing, and her latest short story.
A finalist in M&M’s Chanticleer’s Mystery & Mayhem Novel Contest, and a finalist for the 2016 Book Excellence Award, Susan Lynn Solomon’s first Solstice Publishing novel, The Magic of Murder, has received rave reviews, as has the novelette, Bella Vita, and the novel, Dead Again all stories that continue the adventures (and often missteps) of these characters. In the new Emlyn Goode Mystery novelette, The Day the Music Died, Ms. Solomon once more demonstrates that murder can have sense of humor.
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