Seal Island

     Cecil Hargrave is shocked when she inherits a house on an island in Maine from an "aunt" she barely remembered.  But she decides a vacation could be a good thing and goes up to the Maine coast for the summer.  The small town life is new to NYC girl Cecil. 

     The story picks up an old-school gothic feeling when Cecil finds her Aunt Allegra died violently in her home and the murder is unsolved.  Strange things keep happening there which scare Cecil, but she's a tough girl and won't be chased off.  The strange and amusing cast of townsfolk -- including a delightful seal named Ragnorok Aunt Allegra raised from an orphaned pup and my personal favorite aspect to the book -- take to Cecil and she is surprised to find how much this place grows to feel like home in no time.  She's powerfully drawn to two very different men, a rough fisherman Tom who is much more than what he seems and a sweet but socially inept drifter named Ronan.  The book follows as Cecil gets more involved with the town, finds the friends and family she's always lacked and the ominous signs of what happened to Allegra grow progressively worse. 

     I thuroughly enjoyed the book, the look at life in a small tourist town, the friends Cecil makes and especially the cute seals.  The characters are engaging, all more complex than what they seem, though none moreso than the dark, troubled, mysterious and sexy Tom.  The mysteries weren't too tough, as I figured one out just by reading the back cover blurb, and the other at the character's first appearance in the book.  But the suspense was well drawn and everything was so vivid, you felt like you knew all the characters and were personally invested in making it all work out.  This is Brallier's first novel and I believe it bodes well for a wonderful career ahead.

Rated: * * * * very good

Laure
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