The Sulphur Springs Cure
by Jeffrey Round
ISBN: 9781770867284
Format: Trade Paperback w/ Flaps
Size: 5.5" x 8.5"
Subjects:
-
FIC022040 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths
-
FIC080000 FICTION / Multiple Timelines
-
FIC043000 FICTION / Coming of Age
Price: $24.95
Publication Date: March 16, 2024
Synopsis:
In 1939, fourteen-year-old Violet and her parents arrive at the Sulphur Springs Hotel, drawn in along with other desperate guests by legends of the waters’ restorative properties. Here, curious young Violet strikes up an instant friendship with the hotelier’s worldly daughter, Julia. Together, they attempt to solve the mysteries behind the hotel’s luxury façade — including the cases of the brownie thief, the secretive hotel director, and the flirtatious gardener.
But when one of Violet’s investigations leads her to commit an act of treachery, she unwittingly aids a murderous plot. Seventy years later, the killer has yet to be caught.
In 2009, a widowed Violet returns to the hotel, now in ruins. Her intention is to solve this cold case. The scene of the crime reveals new clues and revives old memories, including that of her lost family and her own sexual awakening. Now, confronting her final years, Violet is desperate to make peace with her ghosts, even if she may be seventy years too late.
Review
“In 84-year-old Violet McAdams, The Sulphur Springs Cure has its own sleeping murder and its own Miss Marple — or an aged-to-perfection Nancy Drew, complete with faithful sidekick. Dusted with William Trevor and a dash of The Thursday Murder Club, it even sports an Old Dolls aquafitness group that helps Violet work out her clues. Long-buried surprises, dead reckonings — this is sulphurous ground for even Marple to tread, but it's just as much fun to watch Jeffrey Round dig it up.”
— Dawn Rae Downton, author of the memoir Seldom, chosen as one of the best books of the year by the Editors at Amazon
“Time and loneliness are dramatic agents in this mystery novel that grows in momentum and cleverness. A veritable page-turner from a versatile Canadian writer!”
— Keith Garebian, author of Three-Way Renegade
“In The Sulphur Springs Cure, Violet, an intrepid eighty-four-year-old woman, sets out to solve the mystery of a murder that took place seventy years ago, when she was only fourteen. Together with a favourite niece, she travels back to the scene of the crime, a health spa in Dundas Ontario, now in ruins from a long-ago fire. There, Violet embarks on a journey to recollect those weeks with her parents at the spa, introducing the reader to a wonderful cast of unique and engaging characters. As the ruins prompt old memories, slowly the layers of the mystery peel back to reveal a shocking truth that will satisfy readers like me, who love to follow the clues. With clarity and elegance, Round deftly moves between the past and present day, beautifully recreating the late 1930s time period leading up to WWII. A beguiling read.”
— Melodie Campbell, author of The Merry Widow Murders and The Goddaughter
“In The Sulphur Springs Cure, the past isn’t a foreign country but a knocking at the window, a plunge into deep waters, a forest fire raging ever closer. Jeffrey Round deftly intertwines a taut, provocative mystery with a story of kindled passions and lost innocence in a world on the brink of war.”
— Robert McGill, author of A Suitable Companion for the End of Your Life
“I have long been a fan of Jeffrey Round's elegant and thought-provoking novels. Round's latest novel, The Sulphur Springs Cure, is a welcome addition to the books on my ‘most-loved’ bookshelf.”
— Gail Bowen, author of the Joanne Kilbourn Shreve series
“It’s a brisk, fun read, and the overall atmosphere of the setting and the precocious characters reminded me of the movie Atonement. I enjoyed it, and you will, too. After all, who doesn’t like a good mystery?”
— Paul Bellini, My Gay Toronto
“While the story possesses the ingredients for a mystery, it’s also a coming-of-age as Violet wrestles with images from her childhood. Seeing them through the eyes of an adult allows her to find the truth. The Sulphur Springs Cure offers an opportunity for a woman to find peace after being haunted by what she thought was her role in a murder.”
— Amy Wilson, Novels Alive
“The author … does a great job at situating us in this really specific historical time period between the two Great Wars.”
— Anne Logan, The Homestretch
“The joys and pitfalls of both age and youth are cleverly unpicked here, with Violet the catalyst to everything that ensues as the pages turn and then turn again. This is an immersive read with a leading lady who stays wholly realistic, whatever her age. … Jeffrey Round is skilled at pacing, keeping the reader on tenterhooks as the pieces of this complicated jigsaw gradually fall into place and reveal a surprising final picture. Another author to add to the ‘to be looked out for’ list, methinks!”
— Crime Fiction Lover
“With wry humor and a distinct sense of time and place The Sulphur Springs Cure is not only a mystery, but an intriguing story of a woman's search for truth and redemption.”
— Cozy Up With Kathy