Woman Without a Past (original 1991; edition 1992)

I was a big fan of Phyllis A. Whitney when I was young -- first of her juveniles (still a good read!), then of her adult novels. I see from the book list inside that she wrote quite a few more after I switched to cozy and historical mysteries.

While I did figure out the killer and motive, I didn't guess the who or why the heroine was kidnapped when she was an infant and sold to her adoptive parents.

Molly Hunt doesn't have amnesia, the past she's missing is the one she would have had if she'd been left with her birth parents. Molly knew she was adopted, but had assumed she was given up. She writes mysteries with the kind of strong heroines she wishes she were. A chance meeting with a stranger at her publisher's is how she learns the truth.

Molly is not terribly keen on flying to South Carolina to meet her birth family, especially when she learns that not all of them want to meet her. She doesn't like her original first name. Her birth father is dead. Her sister is thrilled. Her birth mother had never recovered emotionally from losing her older daughter. Is Mrs. Mountfort just a little weird or is she insane? Ms. Whitney gives us plenty of reasons to wonder which answer is correct.

As is usual in this type of book, there are two potential romantic leads. If this book runs true to type, one of them is evil. Is it the one engaged to Molly's sister? Will her sister have to die so the heroine gets the man?

I've never been to Charlston, but I enjoyed the descriptions very much. I also enjoyed the touch of the supernatural and the endearing psychic cat. Molly's comment that she wasn't famous enough yet to have her name appear above the title of her latest book made me chuckle.

If you like romantic suspense, this is a nice example of the genre. It certainly had me turning the pages during the last chapters.

Scott Ordley is the artist for the cover with the impressionist-style landscape of watger, trees with low hanging branches, and a little bridge curving over the water. The author's name in above the title and they are in equally large pale orange letters. ( )

A nice cosy gothic style mystery - undemanding but the right sort of read I needed right now! Although I guessed most of the plot but that didn't spoil my enjoyment of it - I haven't read a book like this in ages and it reminded me of the books I read years ago - authors like Barbara Michaels and Victoria Holt.

This arrived recently, a trade from BookMooch - my first mooched book! All the way from a moocher in the states - it's been on my wishlist for a while because it's set in beautiful Charleston, a town I was lucky enough to visit in April 2007 for the BookCrossing Convention, and where I met such wonderful people.

What I enjoyed most about this book was its setting - it did bring back memories of Charleston, a beautiful town and area ....and I do mean to visit again some day. ( )