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Julie Klassen

Shadows of Swanford Abbey Paperback – December 7, 2021

by Julie Klassen (Author)

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Agatha Christie meets Jane Austenin this atmospheric Regency tale brimming with mystery, intrigue, and romance.

When Miss Rebecca Lane returns to her home village after a few years away, her brother begs for a favor: go to nearby Swanford Abbey and deliver his manuscript to an author staying there who could help him get published. Feeling responsible for her brother's desperate state, she reluctantly agrees.

The medieval monastery turned grand hotel is rumored to be haunted. Once there, Rebecca begins noticing strange things, including a figure in a hooded black gown gliding silently through the abbey's cloisters. For all its renovations and veneer of luxury, the ancient foundations seem to echo with whispers of the past--including her own. For there she encounters Sir Frederick--magistrate, widower, and former neighbor--who long ago broke her heart.

When the famous author is found murdered in the abbey, Sir Frederick begins questioning staff and guests and quickly discovers that several people held grudges against the man, including Miss Lane and her brother. Haunted by a painful betrayal in his past, Sir Frederick searches for answers but is torn between his growing feelings for Rebecca and his pursuit of the truth. For Miss Lane is clearly hiding something. . . .

Print length

416 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bethany House Publishers
Publication date

December 7, 2021
Dimensions

5.5 x 1.04 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0764234242
ISBN-13

978-0764234248
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Agatha Christie meets Jane Austenin this atmospheric Regency tale brimming with mystery, intrigue, and romance.

When Miss Rebecca Lane returns to her home village after a few years away, her brother begs for a favor: go to nearby Swanford Abbey and deliver his manuscript to an author staying there who could help him get published. Feeling responsible for her brother's desperate state, she reluctantly agrees.

The medieval monastery turned grand hotel is rumored to be haunted. Once there, Rebecca begins noticing strange things, including a figure in a hooded black gown gliding silently through the abbey's cloisters. For all its renovations and veneer of luxury, the ancient foundations seem to echo with whispers of the past--including her own. For there she encounters Sir Frederick--magistrate, widower, and former neighbor--who long ago broke her heart.

When the famous author is found murdered in the abbey, Sir Frederick begins questioning staff and guests and quickly discovers that several people held grudges against the man, including Miss Lane and her brother. Haunted by a painful betrayal in his past, Sir Frederick searches for answers but is torn between his growing feelings for Rebecca and his pursuit of the truth. For Miss Lane is clearly hiding something. . . .

About the Author

Julie Klassen (www.julieklassen.com) loves all things Jane--Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. Her books have sold over a million copies, and she is a three-time recipient of the Christy Award for Historical Romance. The Secret of Pembrooke Park was honored with the Minnesota Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie has also won the Midwest Book Award and Christian Retailing's BEST Award and has been a finalist in the RITA and Carol Awards. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. She and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, visit www.julieklassen.com.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bethany House Publishers (December 7, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0764234242
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0764234248
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.04 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #105,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #648 in Gothic Romances
- #788 in Historical Christian Romance
- #925 in Christian Historical Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
509 ratings

About the author

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Julie Klassen

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Julie Klassen loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. She worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her novels have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. She has also won the Minnesota Book Award, the Midwest Book Award, and Christian Retailing’s BEST Award. Julie is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She and her husband have two sons and live in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visit www.julieklassen.com and talesfromivyhill.com for more information.

Customer reviews

5 star		64%
4 star		27%
3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Happy Reader

Great Mystery with clean Romance

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2021

Verified Purchase

I love Julie Klassen. I have read almost all of her books. This was a much different style for Klassen as she dives more into mystery writing. I found this mystery surprising with lots of twists and turns. I also really liked the build with the romance.
Content: Clean
Language: Clean
Religious: Yes. Klassen has always had a lot of Christian themes in her books. This just flows well with the story.

Happy reading!!

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

kris morgan

Gothic/ Regency...Is that a thing?

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2021

Verified Purchase

Julie Klassen's Shadows Of Swanford Abbey is the perfect book to curl up with on a cold snowy afternoon. Taking Place in s Regency England abandoned cloister remodeled into a Grand hotel full of mysterious corridors, romance, and perhaps a ghost or two. Is anyone who they claim to be? Follow Rebecca and Sir Frederick as they try to solve the mysterious goings-on at Swanford Abbey while resolving their own past. The plot is fast-moving and quite intriguing. I love the setting and all of the characters are fascinating. Ms. Klassen has once again created a delightful visit to a time long gone.

So brew up a pot of tea and settle in for an enjoyable afternoon.

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

dktem

Great Mystery

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

I loved the latest book by Julie Klassen. Enjoyed all the details from the clothing to the hotel. The story is a mystery, with just a touch of romance.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

One who loves to read

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2021

Verified Purchase

Intense and spell binding. I love the way Julie Klassen makes her characters so life like and real. They struggles with issues that one can so identify with. Mystery, romance.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Very Slow, Keeping the Plot and Character Development Too Far in the Shadows

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

I was prepared to love Shadows of Swanford Abbey, and am beyond disappointed that I didn't. Like many books of its kind, Swanford Abbey had some great "bone structure." I loved the idea of the abbey as a character in itself, and the idea of a mystery based on the death of a writer and the writing life.

Rebecca and Frederick were set up to be great characters as well. I wouldn't say they had romantic chemistry, but I sensed it was coming. While I was waiting, I did enjoy the friendship between them, particularly the flashback scenes. I also enjoyed some of the slightly more romantic or heroic scenes, like when Frederick tells off Ambrose Oliver for showing up at Rebecca's door drunk in the middle of the night.

Finally, I enjoyed what I saw of Rebecca and John's sibling relationship, and the depth that could've come from it. I appreciated the fact that although Rebecca was treated as John's caregiver, John did not read as helpless or "perfect in disability," so to speak. Within their sibling relationship, John and Rebecca are completely human and relatable. John is infuriatingly selfish at times, but anyone who's experienced any level of depression can relate to some of his actions. And Rebecca is a good representation of a sibling who loves her brother, but actually expects more from him (rather than wallowing in the self-pity of, "I love him, but he makes life horrible.") With Rebecca, it's more, "I love John, so I'm going to help him where I can and otherwise try to get us to a place of mutual healing."

Unfortunately, all these good points get buried in a lot of problems. The first and biggest is an excruciatingly slow pace. The mystery doesn't even begin until 200 pages in, which is a bit more than halfway through and way too late. Up to then, we mostly get narrative summary--explanations of who people are, relationships to each other, a couple of flashbacks, and so on.

Julie continues falling into telling over showing. Here, it's so egregious that you'll find phrasing like, "Rebecca wanted to see X," right next to, "And then she saw Y," or something to that effect. She also falls into this during the "solving" of the mystery, in that we get every single word of Frederick's inquest, but not a lot of movement or plot or character development.

As undeveloped as these characters are, there are also a *lot* of them. Few if any are developed beyond the label "hotel employee" or "hotel guest." I wouldn't have minded if there had been a few minor characters; after all, Swanford Abbey does read like your classic Agatha Christie, "closed circle" type of murder mystery. But the problem is, none of these characters move beyond names and labels. And speaking of names, every name seems similar. There are a bunch of F and H names, both for characters and places, that are difficult to keep up with.

All this said, this is still Julie Klassen. She can still write great books, and this one had the potential to be one of them. But it just didn't hit the right notes for me. I'll keep my eye on her and say better luck next time.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

sandradriver

Facination, Mystery, and Love

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2021

Verified Purchase

This well-written story will keep you guessing how everything is going to end. A very good read! Julie has done a tremendous job with this book.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

B Anderson

Intriguing story and characters

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

MS Klassen's novels are always high quality from the story line through the characterization and right down to the editing. Thank you for another thoroughly enjoyable read.

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

This is a good, clean novel with interesting characters. I have thoroughly enjoyed everything that Julie Klassen has written. I recommend all of her books!

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Lou

Genteel, romantic, murder mystery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

Shadows of Swanford Abbey is a romantic mystery set in Regency-era England. It follows Rebecca, who is a travelling companion to a lady. She returns to her childhood village to visit her brother, a struggling author. He wants her to pass his latest manuscript to a famous author, staying at the nearby hotel, Swanford Abbey. Whilst Rebecca is there, one of the guests dies, and her childhood crush Frederick is the one who has to solve the mystery.

This book is a genteel murder mystery. All of the guests are hiding secrets. I particularly enjoyed following the side character’s mysteries.

I loved the romance, the slight references to Jane Austen novels, as well as the main characters, Rebecca and Frederick.

The main characters are clearly Christian, but their faith is not the main point of the plot.

Carol Gilbert

this is a good book to settle in and read

Reviewed in Canada on December 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

I liked this book a lot of twists and turns...well written and I would recommend it. I like the character building and the characters themselves.

MARILYN

Intrigue and romance beautifully written!

Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2022

Verified Purchase

My favorite author! And this new novel didn’t disappoint. Intrigue and romance set in historical England. I loved it!