Lake of Sorrows
72. Erin Hart, Lake of Sorrows
In this sequel to Haunted Ground, anthropologist Nora Gavin and archaeologist Cormac Maguire team up once again to solve the mystery of a pair of bodies found in an Irish bog. One man is from the Iron Age, and the other is from the twentieth century, but they have something in common: both men were killed in the ritualistic style of the “triple death.” As Nora and Cormac search for the identity of the modern corpse, they begin to uncover the secrets of the local villagers and the workers at the archaeological dig. Then more bodies begin to appear...and Cormac himself is one of the police’s main suspects. Will Nora be able to uncover the truth, clear Cormac’s name, and avoid getting killed herself?
By and large, I think Erin Hart is a very good writer. Lake of Sorrows is very atmospheric; as with Haunted Ground, I loved the evocative details of Ireland that she portrays. She also draws complex, well-rounded characters, which is unquestionably an attribute in a writer. However, in Hart’s case, I almost felt like she spent too much time on the various characters. There were so many of them, each with his or her own complete history and story line. I think the book would have benefited if she had cut a few of the characters and focused more narrowly on the central ones. The overall tone also felt a little dreary and depressing to me (although I guess I should have expected that, given the title!)…but maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood to read it. I do plan to continue with the Nora/Cormac books, as I believe there is at least one more coming out.
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A few months ago, I spotted a book in the Romance section, and I have now become obsessed with buying it (to mock, naturally). It's going to happen someday! The book is called Lords of Desire, and there are four stories in it by different authors. Here is the cover:
They should have called it Compensating for Something.