I had the feeling that because these characters are very clever, they expected me to be clever as well. Two, the mystery is written in a way that expects me to keep up. Their community becomes one of quiet, cautious acceptance and it’s lovely to read.

As the mystery progresses, their private, authentic selves begin to mingle and connect with others, building a subversive intimacy of secrets that’s supported by and hidden behind their public personae. The characters each have a public face and a private world of their own, sometimes a tragic, difficult one they want or need to hide. One, I really liked the characters, the world, and the half-teaspoon delivery system of information: nothing is dumped. I’m bummed there aren’t more books to disappear into, and I might have to go re-read them immediately for two reasons. For example, there’s the bucolic setting, but around the borders are real menaces in addition to the central mystery: PTSD, the trauma of war, major societal change, and the threat of homophobia. One tagline I’ve seen reads, “cozy mystery like Agatha Christie but make it gay.” It’s not so cozy that the dead have about as much impact as a dissolving dead NPC in a video game the cozy has sharp edges. Together they unravel a mystery that exposes long-standing family secrets and threatens to involve James more than either of them would like.I started reading Hither, Page, finished it too quickly, immediately hunted down the sequel, The Missing Page, and read that too quickly as well. So he does what any sensible spy would do and infiltrates the house party. He’s just returned from one of his less pleasant missions and maybe he’s slightly paranoid about James’ safety, but he’s of the opinion that rich people aren’t to be trusted where wills are concerned. He finds the family home filled with half-remembered guests and unwanted memories, but more troubling is that his uncle has tasked his heirs with uncovering the truth behind a woman’s disappearance 20 years earlier. When James learns that an uncle he hasn’t heard from in ages has left him something in his will, he figures that the least he can do is head down to Cornwall for a weekend to honor the old man’s parting wishes.

Overview: England, 1948: Semi-retired spy Leo Page and country doctor James Sommers team up to solve a decades-old mystery. The Missing Page (Page & Sommers, Book 2) by Cat Sebastian (Narrated by Joel Leslie)

The missing page cat sebastian