A Bend of Light

 Tell me a story... about a mystery in a small town

A Bend of Light by Joy Jordan-Lake

Publication date: September 6, 2022

Date read: December 16, 2022

Five years after the war, Amie Stilwell, a photo interpreter for an Allied unit in England, returns to her hometown in Maine. Jobless and discouraged but stubbornly resourceful, she’s starting over in the same coastal village where her life once went so wrong. Waiting for her is Shibby Travis, the surrogate mother with whom Amie never lost touch. But the unexpected also awaits. 

A silent, abandoned boy is found with a note from a stranger pleading that he be watched over. Amie and Shibby take him in, but the mysteries multiply when a Boston socialite is found dead in Amie’s barn and an old friend, believed to be a casualty of war, suddenly reappears. Trained to see what others cannot, to scan for clues, and to expose enemies, Amie uses her skills to protect a child, solve a crime, and find the motive behind a veteran’s masquerade. But through the hazy filter of a town’s secrets, Amie must also confront her own painful past.

This book was a surprise, in that it starts out as a pretty typical historical fiction novel about starting life over after the war, and turns a corner into murder mystery. While I wasn’t expecting it, I really enjoyed both aspects of the plot and thought that they were both done very well. My only complaint about the plot was that Tom Dornay’s story seemed very out of place and slow at the beginning. I knew it would tie in to the rest of the story, but waiting for it to do that was a little distracting. 

I thought that the murder mystery was interesting and well-written. I didn’t guess what was going to happen in the end, but thought that it all made sense when it was explained. 

The characters were really fun and well-developed. Not all likable, but all interesting. I loved the small-town aspect of the story and how everyone’s lives intertwined. Everyone was so distinct and their various personalities and quirks made the historical fiction aspect of the plot really fun to read. 

Overall, this was a very enjoyable story. The mystery was interesting and the more character-driven plot points were just as enjoyable. The slow, slightly distracting Tom Dornay storyline only took away a little bit from my enjoyment, and once things begin to tie together more, it was quite a page-turner.

I would recommend this to both historical fiction readers and mystery readers. Both aspects are well-done and I think genre readers of either would enjoy this. 

Rating: 4/5 stars 

Content warnings: sexism, attempted suicide, war, murder, homophobia, child abandonment, blood, violent death, bombing, sexual assault

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.