Murder at Waldenmere Lake by Michelle Salter

It’s my stop today on the blog tour for Murder at Waldenmere Lake by Michelle Salter. Many thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour invite.

Murder at Waldenmere Lake is the second book in Michelle Salter’s Iris Woodmore Mystery series.

Walden, 1921: Local reporter Iris Woodmore is determined to save Waldenmere Lake from destruction. The railways want to buy the property surrounding and turn it into a tourist destination (including a hotel with 80 rooms). The local council too bids for the property as they want to preserve Waldenmere Lake.

When Iris and Elijah (her boss) meet with Sir Henry (in charge of buying the property for the railways), Iris tells him that one portion of the property belongs to General Cheverton, and he might not be willing to sell it. Iris and Elijah return to Walden and decide to meet General Cheverton but that doesn’t happen – they find him dead in his home. A shotgun is found near his body and they wonder if it was an accident.

Later, it is found that someone killed the General. The land is sold to the railways soon after and they begin to drain the lake. They find a military tank; when the military occupied the property (during the war), they had dumped a lot of things into the lake before leaving. But what’s more interesting is that, the tank isn’t empty…

WOW!! Another fantastic addition to my favorite historical series by Michelle Salter. From start to finish, I was hooked. I read this book in one sitting – I had to, you see. So many unexpected developments, twists, shocking revelations, my god!!

Speaking of unexpected developments, there is one major twist that shocked me the most. This particular twist has brought a whole lot of changes to the series plot. I didn’t see this coming and to be honest, it made me cry. I felt sad for Iris because it affected her a lot.

Just when Iris thought things are going well in her life, she’s given a challenge. Her relationship with George is under the spotlight here. Iris makes a bold decision at the beginning of the story but later wonders if she did the right thing.

If you have read the first book, then you would be familiar with the recurring characters such as Alice, Ben, George, Percy, Mrs Siddons, and Elijah. Each of these characters play a significant role in this book too.

Coming the mystery behind the General’s murder – we have handful of suspects here, with the main being General’s nephew. Then we have another mystery regarding the tank found in the lake. I suppose this new development becomes more and more significant as Iris digs deeper into the case.

I love Michelle Salter’s storytelling. The whole story felt like a movie playing in my head. Excellent plot-to-story development with unexpected and shocking developments. There’s one more character who seems to be the only connection between these mysteries. Their role in the series was well portrayed.

I loved the character developments – especially that of George and Iris. With the decision that Iris makes at the end, I wonder what lies ahead for her. Poor thing had to suffer a lot and I certainly hope things get better in the near future.

Though this book can be read as a standalone, I recommend you to start from the beginning. I insist on this because one of my blogger friends read this one first and she felt she would have enjoyed the story more had she read book #1 first.

If you are looking for an engrossing and unique historical mystery, I recommend you to give Murder at Waldenmere Lake by Michelle Salter a try.

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