The Night Journal

Elizabeth Crook

Found this book at the Highlands branch the day I got my hair cut. Began reading it Thursday after beginning three other books that did not/have not held my attention.

This book read very easily and I found myself absorbed into the story within a few pages and read all afternoon until I finished it.

I guess I like it very much. Normally I would just say, Loved it, but I want to hold off that accolade for books that totally impress me. This one was close.

Nothing wrong with the story. A set of journals from the turn of the century are published by the daughter and resisted by her grand-daughter until it is almost too late. But we devour them along with Meg and solve the mystery right along with her.

I particularly like Bassie, the daughter of the journal writer. I loved the scene where she enters rather storms into the newsroom of a newspaper and demands the photo of her mother from the reporter who is by all practical purposed, clueless. She slams her cane against his desk and he resists handing over the photo she goes through his desk and finds it herself with him trying to fight her off. Good scene.

And when she dies, I wish they had not killed her off but left her to solve the mystery, which was always in her memory anyway she just did not know it. I was moved by the eulogy given at the grave by the Park Ranger that loved her.

I hated the fact that it was so important to get her buried quickly. She was the benefactor of many and if she died on Sunday and put in the ground on Tuesday, her obit would not have even hit the papers giving no one a chance to attend the ceremony. Odd, but I guess the author did not want to add a bunch of sap to the death and dismiss Bassie, as needed at the time.

Because we are introduced to another Bassie, the young daughter of the journal writer.

All in all a good read, that I for one could not put down.

Chick lit (maybe), but good chick lit.