Basic story. Man moved to the big city (NYC) from small town 20+ years ago. His wife has died and he decides to go back home to help a cousin renovate the family home into a bed and breakfast. Once back you find that there is still a mystery surrounding the murder of a family member and the reemergence of a love interest.

I read this book for a discussion group and I wasn't impressed. Not that it's a bad book but it just didn't capture me. It's categorized as Inspirational Fiction or a Gentle Read or whatever name a library or bookstore gives to Christian Fiction; although the author, Ann Tatlock, does not have any heavy handed messages. Truth is an overiding theme not treated within any particular religious context. The only "religious" theme is 'life' after death which enters more toward the end of the book.
All of that aside, I just wasn't grabbed by any of the characters or their stories. It's part historical novel with some mystery and a little bit of a love story thrown in. It takes place in Mason, Ohio, which is interesting if you're familiar with the southeastern part of the state.

This one is better for a quick-reading story rather than an indepth book discussion.

Neil Sadler returns to his home town in Ohio, somehow knowing that that is what he needs to do following the death of his beloved wife. While there he stays at "the house", a huge farmhouse in the gothic style, with seventeen rooms, a ballroom, and a tower--which is where he finds his Uncle Bernie. Bernie knows he will die soon, and has returned to the house where he was born. He says there is some unfinished business to attend to first, and that begins to be evident when Neil runs into his old flame Mary. Mary's husband is a policeman and is under investigation after shooting someone while responding to a domestic violence call. Neil knows that Mary is no stranger to tragedy, her father--Neil's adopted uncle--was jailed after her ill mother was found dead in their home. ( )