by Jan Eriksen
The main character in this story is Julia Wells and she is an extremely likeable person – well drawn and with a personality that is endearing. She is a teacher and loves her job but after losing her husband she is lonely and is looking for some special relationship. She believes the best in people and so does tend to be taken in by some very dodgy characters. She has some apartments which she rents out and is lulled into believing that her tenant Dieter a South African is a person who will look after the place and who may be someone she would like to know better. Sadly she is misled and eventually she has to ask Dieter and his friend Al to leave.
One of the good attributes of this story is the setting. Coromandel and the small township of Thames are where Julia lives and the descriptions of the bush and the surrounding areas are well done. There are some mysteries inherent in the story and when a particular ring is found in the apartment after Dieter leaves this brings a new dimension to the story. When Al’s murdered body is found the plot thickens.
Something I didn’t understand because I saw Julia as a sensible woman was her relationship with Ken. He is a farmer and has little to say, has a lifestyle that is foreign to anything Julia has known – which could be the attraction – but he is so lacking in any social niceties it stretched my credibility to understand why an intelligent woman would have anything to do with such a dull person.
The book would have benefitted from editing. Description, action and dialogue could be tightened. I would also implore writers to be fussy about their covers. This book has a wonderful strong title in gold but the background picture does nothing to entice the reader and make no mistake a book is judged by its cover.
That said the descriptions of the Goldmines and the tourist business surrounding the goldmines is interesting. It is a story with plenty of twists and turns and has an exciting outcome.
Publisher: Archway Publishing
ISBN-10: 1480800767; ISBN-13: 978-1480800762
Available as both a paperback and an ebook from Amazon, Goodreads, other online retailers, Archway Publishing.
For more details see website www.goldmineexperience.com