Postcards from the Past

Well, you ask me, is this crime fiction or not? A crime was committed way back in the past, but that is not really the focus of the story, although it does explain why one of the characters is as he is.

The focus is the mystery behind why their mother's step-son Tris, whom they haven't seen for 50 years, is coming to visit Billa and Ed. The postcards he sends them in the weeks before he arrives have obviously been carefully selected, to remind them of things they would rather forget. And they anticipate his visit with great dread.

It felt a bit gentler than the books I usually read but I read it with great pleasure. The characterisation was excellent, and the suspense generated by the impending visit was well done.

‘Postcards from the Past’ is primarily about a retired brother and sister, Ed and Billa, who live in comfort in a pleasant home in Cornwall. The story starts when they receive a disturbing postcard from their step-brother Tris. They disliked him intensely as a child, and have not heard from him in about fifty years...

It took me a while to get into this book. Marcia Willett has quite a gift of description, but that's not my thing so I found myself skimming a little, wondering where the story would go. But gradually, as with others by this author, I found myself feeling more and more involved. There are a lot of other characters, and I was delighted to realise that some of them were in a novel I enjoyed a couple of years ago,‘The show more Christmas Angel’.

There are a lot of sub-plots, mostly enjoyable; I didn't quite believe in the parts that include the unpleasant Tris, but then the author's characters are usually so likeable (albeit flawed) that I suspect she has a hard time writing believable baddies.

Overall, I enjoyed it and would certainly recommend it to anyone who has read ‘The Christmas Angel’. Marcia Willett’s books are always free of bad language and anything that would be rated more than PG, although it’s not a story for children. An added bonus is that characters from the novel 'The Christmas Angel' play a significant role in this book.

Latest longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2021/07/postcards-from-past-by-marcia-wille... show less

After their respective marriages end, a brother and sister return to their childhood home to a comfortable retirement near friends. Their contentment is disrupted when postcard start arriving from a half-brother they haven't seen or heard from for 50 years. A nice story about good people facing unpleasant memories. There are also some nice dogs and maybe too much description of trivial objects and peripheral characters. Library book.

Didn't quite enjoy this book as much as her previous book although it did have some of the same characters. Still well written. Shame also that manuscript was not properly checked several errors in book

Quick, light read that I thoroughly enjoyed while reading but can't remember much about a week after finishing. Would be a good "beach" read.

Family