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High-Wire Heartbreak by Anna Schmidt - Chloe Whitfield is a successful mystery novelist, but she needs inspiration for her upcoming book which will be set at Ca' d'Zan, the Florida home of John Ringling. She's arranged to stay at the estate while it's being renovated so she can do research on the history and setting - it's important to her to get all the details right. She has no intention of allowing anything personal into her novel, but she does have a personal interest in the Ringling circus. Her great-grandmother, Lucinda Conroy, was a trapeze artist in the circus, but she seemed to have disappeared. All Chloe knows is that her Grandma Alice was Lucy's only child, and Alice was raised in an orphanage before being adopted by a couple from New Jersey.
Chloe's passing interest in Lucy intensifies when she notices a poster showing Lucy performed at Ringling's private birthday gala at Ca' d'Zan. A little more digging turned up a newspaper article reporting that she was accused of stealing that evening and was arrested. With help from the estate's historian, Dr. Ian Flanner, and a couple other young staffers, Chloe gathers information for her novel and follows Lucy's trail as well. And along the way, Chloe and Ian get closer.
In alternating chapters, the reader is taken back to the 1930s to follow Lucy's story. At the pinnacle of her performing career, she discovers she's been duped by the man she thought was her husband. Now she's pregnant and alone, and unsure where to turn. When she's framed for a theft, her trapeze partner comes to her rescue and the two of them come up with a bold plan to help her evade arrest and have her baby. She plans to bring up her child herself despite her circumstances and health concerns, but what if her true identity is revealed?
It took me a few chapters to warm up to Chloe, but I liked her more as she learned about Ca' d'Zan and her great-grandmother; and got more invested in the friendships she's building with Ian and her assistant. I felt that Chloe was a bit flat as a character, but Lucy was much more well-developed. There were some interesting and unexpected twists in both storylines and I enjoyed both.
From the Publisher:
In 1936--A party at the Ringling mansion Ca d'Zan in Sarasota, Florida, leads to a robbery--and possibly death.
A successful historical mystery writer, Chloe Whitfield comes to Ca' d'Zan to research her next novel. Chloe's fascination with the circus is rooted in family stories of her great-grandmother Lucinda Conroy, who reportedly was a trapeze artist of some renown. She's heard hints of scandal - and perhaps larceny, but no details.
Chloe's grandmother - rumored to be Lucinda's only offspring - was raised in an orphanage and never knew her mother. Intrigued as she is, Chloe has no intent of writing about Lucinda until she sees a poster featuring Lucinda as the star performer for a 70th birthday gala for John Ringling in May of 1936. From there the trail goes cold.
Who was Lucinda and what happened to her?
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.
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by Anna Lee Huber - Kiera returns with Gage to his family home to help locate his cousin who has gone missing under mysterious circumstances.
