In the Shadow of Lakecrest

Blackwell’s (While Beauty Slept) latest is a gothic novel about a young woman finding her own rags-to-riches rise in 1928 suburban Chicago. Kate Moore is a summer companion accompanying her young charges on a voyage from England across the Atlantic back to the U.S. when she meets Matthew Lemont, the handsome and wealthy heir to the Lemont fortune. After their chance encounter leads to marriage, Kate feels out of her element at Lakecrest, the Lemont estate outside Chicago. Kate becomes disturbed by Matthew’s strange nightmares and the disappearance of his aunt Cecily years before. As Kate tries to assimilate into the Lemont way of life and avoid the presence of her dogmatic mother-in-law, Hannah, she gets closer to learning the secrets behind Matthew’s vivid nightmares and Cecily’s disappearance. Blackwell has expertly crafted the novel so that it is impossible to tell which characters are truly evil. Marjorie, Matthew’s twin, has never really liked Kate but hasn’t been as vicious toward her as Hannah has. And Matthew’s loyalty to his mother seems to surpass his loyalty to Kate, so she is never sure if she can truly trust him. The simmering undercurrent that something ominous is about to happen runs throughout the entire novel, resulting in a true page-turner. (Feb.)