BOOK REVIEW 2

‘The Cheesemaker’s House’ by Jane Cable

Published by Matador, part of Troubador Publishing Ltd

This book won the Suspense & Crime category of The Alan Titchmarsh Show’s People’s Novelist competition in 2011 and I am not surprised as it has several merits in its favour.  Jane Cable has written her story in the first person, present tense, which draws readers into the story so that they feel involved with the characters and the situations in which they find themselves.  The chapters are also very short and the main characters few, which is always a good thing for anyone who is unable to read a book all in one go, though an added plus is that it can be read in a long afternoon if one has nothing else to do.

The fact that it won the Suspense & Crime category is in fact a bit misleading as there is no great criminal activity and the suspense element of the story is very quietly portrayed.  Alice, the storyteller, has recently separated from her husband and moved up north to live in their holiday cottage in the hope of building a new life, but finds herself entangled in a mystery surrounding both the cottage and a coffee shop owner who, whilst being a perfect gentleman, is also acknowledged as being a bit of a ‘charmer’ in several meanings of the word, by some of the other villagers. 

Alice is attracted to him, but is also worried by sightings of him in unexpected places and it is this aspect that provides most of the suspense.

I enjoyed it and it would be a good book for the holidays.  Reading groups might enjoy it, though it is not particularly thought-provoking and they might struggle to find much to talk about afterwards.