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My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Many Thanks to BookSirens and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

What a blessed find this book turned out to be! I have no idea what it is about mystery wills, and unknown properties and a bleak past that always seem to pique my interest and The Aviculturist that comprises all these topics with a beautiful romance and a dash of suspense was simply too good to be devoured in a single sitting.

The title of the book had me stumped in the beginning but once the story unfolds with twists and turns of the past, it felt the perfect title. Lily is back to her childhood home after the death of her mother, to a place that has always haunted her, a place where she lost one half of her family. The secrets hidden by her mother makes her tasks difficult but she begins to find comfort in her old surroundings and seeing the aviary built by the groundsman Joe and the exotic birds and animals thriving there give rise to hope for her future.

This is a story of love that stands the tests of time and the author’s writing was so captivating that parts of Cornwall come alive. It is an exceptional work by a debut author as there’s a perfect mix of all the elements that appeals to a reader like me. There were instances where I thought the surprise element was a bit too much with the convoluted relationships and b’coz I did guess at all the secret threads, it failed to incite the necessary angst reading about Lily and Oliver.

A thrilling debut by Ann Smythe that has provided me with a new favorite author, I will surely be looking forward to read more.

Atmospheric and compelling, Ann Smythe’s debut immerses the reader in a gripping story of love, murder and revenge.
June 1971, Alice Sanders is celebrating her sixth birthday at her family’s Cornish country home in Lostmor. But by the end of the evening, an event so horrific unfolds that it changes the family’s lives forever.


Years later, following the death of her mother, Alice’s sister reluctantly returns to Cornwall for the reading of a mystery will. Once there, with the help of newly found friends she gradually unravels a web of secrets surrounding her family’s past and unlocks the reasons for her nightmares that she has spent a lifetime trying to escape. Meanwhile, as a violent storm grips the sleepy town of Lostmor, a cataclysmic chain of events leads to a perilous outcome no one could have predicted. 

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