The Hidden Cove

Rae (Flight from Fifth Avenue) packs a lot of plot into her latest historical novel. A lot proves too much, however, as her tale of an orphaned girl in mid-19th century New York City disappoints with poorly developed characters and lukewarm suspense. Thirty pages into the book, Emily Adair has lost her mother (to illness), her uncle (to murder), her home and her freedom, having been sold by her uncle's killers to a gang of pickpockets. Emily's short career as a street urchin ends when, weak from hunger and despairing, she bumps into John Lawrence, a handsome businessman who is struck by her strong resemblance to his dead daughter, Ellie. He invites her home with him and makes an unusual request: Would she pretend to be Ellie to help his wife, Flora, recover from their daughter's tragic death? Soon after discovering Emily is an imposter, Flora dies from a suspicious drug overdose, and John adopts Emily. Although puzzled by his frequent nighttime visitors, Emily suppresses her doubts about her new father as she attends art school and falls in love with Hugh Carberry, a Harvard grad. But as she grows older and more beautiful, Emily notices that John is regarding her in a new manner and that his embraces are more than fatherly--and then he's murdered. The rest of the story speeds along through more melodramatic plot twists before coming to a sticky-sweet finale. (Nov.)