My favourite aspect is the enchanting Sicily setting with its glorious scenery, fascinating culture, wondrous food and hospitable people. Author Louise Douglas beautifully captured the very soul of Sicily in her descriptions which made my heart happy. I know Sicily and was easily able to envision multitudinous nuances. To me, Sicily is a star character. The mystery itself is interesting but so are the characters, some of whom are likeable, others not, creating a fabulous sometimes angsty atmosphere. On the whole, it is a simple story with well-written characters and an interesting plotline. I would recommend this more to people who are new to the genre and would appreciate the work more than I did. I will continue to recommend and read the author's works. Given April’s role in the book, the reveal should have come from her. What’s the use of having a detective working with another local detective if someone else takes over the climax? While April does connect a few dots, her standing on the sidelines during a crucial scene doesn’t give a good impression. April Cobain is recovering from the loss of her love and soulmate when a letter comes from a friend who’d pushed her away decades ago. She’d left to go her own way after a dreadful, jealous scene.

A brilliantly written, gripping, clever, compelling story, that I struggled to put down. The vivid descriptions, the evocative plot and the intrigue that Louise created, which had me constantly asking questions, made it a highly enjoyable, absolute treasure of a read.' Kim Nash on The Scarlet DressI enjoyed the story though very few of the characters were likable. The ending to me was quite sad, when you realize all the hatred and ostracism the family endured over the years, it was really quite heartrending. Present day, TV showman and true crime aficionado Milo Conti is Italy's darling, uncovering and solving historic crimes for his legion of fans. When he turns his attention to the story of the missing Irene Borgata, accusing her husband of murder, Enzo's daughter Maddi asks her childhood friend, retired Detective April Cobain, for help to prove her father's innocence. But the tale April discovers is murky: mafia meetings, infidelity, mistaken identity, grief and unshakable love. In the case of cozy crime mysteries, I have been ok to not critically evaluate the procedures and even the plot tie-up. However, this is a stale story repeated over hundreds of novels & movies. There is some reasonable character development for Irene, Maddalena and April, but most of the other characters are flat. I could guess how the mystery would be tied up early on, and yet the last sections were far more poorly written than I expected. The prospective future outlook offered for the central characters (especially April) was very silly and abrupt. Beautifully written, chillingly atmospheric and utterly compelling, The Secret by the Lake is Louise Douglas at her brilliant best’ Tammy Cohen, author of The Broken

TV showman and true crime aficionado Milo Conti is Italy’s darling, uncovering and solving historic crimes for his legion of fans. When he turns his attention to the story of the missing Irene Borgata, accusing her husband of her murder, Enzo’s daughter Maddi asks her childhood friend, retired detective April Cobain, for help to prove her father’s innocence. But the tale April discovers is murky: mafia meetings, infidelity, mistaken identity, grief and unshakable love.As the world slowly closes in on the claustrophobic Villa Alba, and the house begins to reveal its secrets, will the Borgata family wish they’d never asked April to investigate? And what did happen to Enzo’s missing wife Irene? You get a sense of so many things not being said. I struggled to pinpoint what exactly happened and who was responsible. Of course, I made guesses based on what I knew but in all honesty? I had no idea what happened to Irene in that bleak landscape at the side of the road.I absolutely loved every bit of this story. Louise Douglas is a master storyteller. Excellent character portrayal and development. Mind-blowing and totally unexpected ending - I LOVED IT! Firstly I really loved the vivid descriptions of Sicily which really made Italy come to life for me. It seems like a beautiful place and I’d love to visit there one day to see the beautiful sounding beaches or walk in the mountains. This is not a book to read while hungry as there were lots of mouth watering descriptions of food throughout the book which sounded absolutely delicious. I actually had to Google recipes for some of the food mentioned as it sounded so good.

I loved The Lost Notebook so much! From the opening lines, I was drawn in to a gripping story, beautifully written and so cleverly orchestrated. I rooted for the main character, I held my breath at the denouement and as for the climax of the book - just wow. Highly recommended.' Judy LeighPresent Day. TV showman and true crime aficionado Milo Conti is Italy’s darling, uncovering and solving historic crimes for his legion of fans. When he turns his attention to the story of the missing Irene Borgata, accusing her husband of her murder, Enzo’s daughter Maddi asks her childhood friend, retired detective April Cobain, for help to prove her father’s innocence. But the tale April discovers is murky: mafia meetings, infidelity, mistaken identity, grief and unshakable love. As the world slowly closes in on the claustrophobic Villa Alba del Ciliegio, and the house begins to reveal its secrets, will the Borgata family wish they’d never asked April to investigate? And what did happen to Enzo’s missing wife Irene? I couldn't help but feel sad for all the parties involved in this mystery, from Irene to Enzo to Maddie to Donatella and her family. Whatever happened - it wasn't anybody's fault, per se. Just two sad people who thought they could lead a happy life but didn't expect the surprises that life had in store for them. As I was reading through, it felt like a movie playing in my head. The claustrophobic atmosphere at Villa Alba, Donatella's controlling nature, Enzo's refusal to speak about the incident that occurred 35 years ago, mafia meetings, grief, infidelity, and unconditional love - totally engrossing story from start to finish! There is a slow and steady progression into the facts that can be found in 2003 while we get sneak peeks of possible twists in the older timeline. All the characters in the plot have shades to them, all acting in different ways when the situations change.