Book Review: In the Name of Rose by E.M. Walton

In the Name of Rose

By E.M. Walton

Publisher: E.M. Walton

Published: Sept. 29, 2013

ASIN: B00FJFHEY6

Amazon Synopsis:

Jay Gilligan is a powerful politician, businessman, widower and philanthroper. He is also the father of Rose Gilligan, a little girl who was kidnapped and presumed murdered at the age of 3½. Rose’s story tugs at the heartstrings of anyone who has ever heard it...but it all happened so very long ago. 

To a reporter named Clare Palmieri, Jay Gilligan is simply another jerk, a wealthy politician whose policies are hurting the little guy. Clare first hears about the honorable mayor while working at her lackluster job at the local newspaper, doing “soft news” 

stories. But when a chance meeting with a handsome stranger gives Clare a suggestion for an interesting story, she starts researching an intriguing mystery from Mayor Gilligan’s past. She suddenly realizes that she is starting to unravel a carefully woven, decade’s old, web of lies, lust, and deceit that threatens to change the lives of everyone she comes into contact with.

Book Links

Amazon  *  Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Written in present tense mainly from the first person point of view of a reporter researching a possible story of a 25-year-old unsolved kidnapping case, this story intriguing, but kept on the lighter side of things. There are a few chapters written from the narrator’s point of view which tell the tale as it happened in the past to various characters.

This book falls into the mystery/romance category. There is very little offensive language in the text. The romance element between Clare and Neal is clean (even if due to the flu) but the affair between two of the other characters is graphic in two or three scenes, so I will put this novel in the romance category rather than clean romance.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery in this novel. There were no gruesome images, or dead bodies to dig up. The pacing was excellent. I did figure out the answer to the mystery before the book ended, but that didn’t make me want to put the book down. There were still a lot of loose ends that I wanted the author to tie up, and she did that quite nicely.

I liked the main character, Clare. She is not a perfect beauty, but just an ordinary person, with an ordinary life, like the rest of us. I liked how she took her measure of people by how they treated her dog, especially if that person might play an important role in her life.

This was a good first novel from a new author and worth reading. I’m looking forward to more of E.M Walton’s books in the future. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to the author, E.M. Walton, for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

About the Author:

E. M. Walton lives in a country farmhouse in Virginia's Tidewater region on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. She has a knack for crafting intriguing stories about real, albeit flawed, women who are both strong and vulnerable. 

Her debut novel, "In the Name of Rose," captures the essence of her writing talent as you delve into a carefully woven, decade's old, web of lies, lust, and deceit. 

When she's not writing, she's probably painting, cooking, reading, or taking care of her two children, two dogs, two rabbits...as well as her husband of over 20 years.

Contact the Author

Goodreads  *  Amazon