The Caretakers by Eliza Maxwell

Tessa is an award winning film maker. Her films are on very hard hitting events and people and the latest was a huge scoop. She firmly believed in a man's innocence and felt he was framed by a corrupt police administration. The man was subsequently freed in a huge blaze of publicity. She is naturally not the local police precincts favourite. The accolades and offers keep pouring in until the bubble bursts when her former accused abducts the chief police constable's daughter and then sends dire messages which are cryptic indicating that he has murdered the young woman.


Tessa needs a bolthole and despite estranged from her twin sister, her mother insists that it is now high time a reconciliation is done. Everything arranged to coincide with her mother's birthday, the sudden very shocking death of her mother unleashes a will which takes both sisters by total surprise. Her mother was adopted, the grandparents they loved and cherished are not their biological grand parents and there is a whole family, plus an inheritance of a substantial property and more relatives which are coming their way.


Family secrets like this make for intriguing stories and this was much more intriguing than most. A decrepit house, two elderly sisters, a really chequered family background all lead Tessa to not only a bolt hole which is very necessary right now to escape from the clamouring paparazzi but also a way of coming to terms with her sister as well.


The two stories - one of a personal nature and the other a professional one intertwine at the end. Each story was engaging and held enough interest for two separate stories. The only irritation was that the bickering between the two sisters was a bit too intense for me.


The book was sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Lake Union Publishing.