Diamonds In The Dark By Melissa Tilley Hall

Diamonds In The Dark By Author Melissa Tilley Hall

Genre: Romance/Fantasy

Having learnt that her fiance, Edward has been cheating on her, after confronting her treacherous ex, Gwendoline goes to talk to her boss, emparts the news of Edward's deceit and calls her best friend Bec. Together they proceed to head over to Edward's condo. They collect Gwen's belongings including her cat Sam, & do a little 're-decorating' as they go. They then head to Gwen's condo, which thank God is still her's despite being up for sale and she goes about the business of somehow trying to settle back into her old life. Over the next few days, she works on cleaning her condo and visits the store for provisions, but most importantly, she takes flowers that have been languishing in her car to her late mother's grave. Whilst there, she spots a man staring intently at one of the other graves. Her hat gets caught by a gust of wind and lands next to the stranger, giving Gwen an excuse to speak to him. Not much is said, but they both feel an inexplicable connection as if they already know one another.....

So, this novel had been on my TBR list for a while. Another Author whose book I'd already read & who I knew to be a supporter of Melissa's was what drew me to read 'Diamonds In The Dark'. When I was coming to the end of my last read, this other author posted about this book, I commented saying that I was planning to read it, she assured me that I'd love it. So I had my next read & review decided.

The writing drew me in from the start. I loved the strength conveyed in the actions of the central character Gwendoline, once she was aware of what Edward had been up to. Her practical, unemotional single mindedness to extinguish him from her life was impressive.The way in which Edward attempted to defend himself when confronted made me despise him & wonder what Gwen was doing with him in the first place.The unquestioning loyalty shown to her best friend in the actions of Bec showing up to help Gwen, I thought was wonderful. Every girl should have a 'Bec' in their lives. With that & the way that Bec is also there for Gwen later on in the story when Edward shows his true colours is so heart warming. When Gwen meets Asher & it becomes obvious that there is something out of the ordinary about him, I started to look for clues as to what that might be. When he goes to his parents house for the usual Thursday night dinner, and he doesn't exchange any dialogue with either his parents or his wayward sibling, together with Zach's reaction when Asher taps his fingers on the table, fuelled my existing suspicions. The phone call to Gwen from the library was when it all fell into place for me, and so therefore I uncovered the mystery fairly early on. When the identity of the grave that Asher had been staring at was revealed, that was unexpected. The author very cleverly throws you off the scent in Asher telling his story to Gwendoline. I hadn't realised how well done that actually was until writing this. The last twist in the tale is undoubtedly the best. As someone with very little imagination, it was not the conclusion to the story that I had perhaps been expecting, and whilst I am a boring realist when it comes to literature, it was the perfect ending.

The narrative is strong and creative with likeable, believable characters.The mix of the two genres gives the story two different levels which draws you in as you want to discover how these two worlds co-habit whether you are a contemporary 'real' fiction reader or prefer a more fanciful read.

Having read a novel by the other author to which I referred to at the beginning of this review, I can now see why she is a fan of Melissa Tilley Hall's work, both as an author and a reader. I shall be intrigued to see, the no doubt, wonderful works that Melissa produces in the future.