Mystery-cum-horror novel set in World War II England, in a small country village near Wales. A retired American professor, Edwin, with an interest in folklore arrives in the village to study standing stones and barrows which are nearby. He takes a room at the house of Grace Baxter, whose grandmother is a follower of the Old Religion and a "wise woman". Since it's wartime, children have been evacuated from cities and now live in villagers' homes. First there's the disappearance of the young daughter of the blacksmith, then other children, mostly the evacuees go missing. Bizarre murders of adults take place. Edwin and Grace become "detectives" and work together to solve these puzzles; practically everyone in the village is suspected at one time or another. The novel ended on a shocking note!

The author showed great originality and creativity in the deft crafting of his story. I was on tenterhooks. ( )

3.5 stars

Eric Reed's' The Guardian Stones was not what I expected from Poisoned Pen Press, a publisher I associate with standard mystery series centered on a single detective. In The Guardian Stones, the "detectives," if I can call them that, are Edwin Carpenter, an American professor who has inexplicably decided to go to England in the middle of World War II to investigate the titular stones (think Stonehenge on a much smaller scale), and Grace, a resident of the village those stones "guard." A series of disappearances and other crimes has followed the arrival of several children who have been evacuated from Birmingham to the village as part of Operation Pied Piper, which was intended to protect England's urban children from bombing attacks.

I found the clashing interactions between the street-tough children and their resentful (though mostly well-intentioned) hosts to be one of the most emotionally engaging aspects of the book. I also enjoyed the way in which Reed teases the reader with a variety of possible solutions to the crime wave, including a supernatural explanation, before the final reveal, which I thought was excellent. What brought The Guardian Stones down from 4 to 3.5 stars was its slow beginning, which might well have discouraged a less determined reader. I'm glad my persistence paid off in the end.

I received a free copy of The Guardian Stones through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

By Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, authors of the wonderful John, the Lord Chamberlain series, THE GUARDIAN STONES is set in a small Shropshire village with a prehistoric stone circle. Set in 1941, a widowed American professor comes to study the stones and find more than he bargained or as city children, evacuated to the country to escape the bombings may be in more danger than from German bombs. Something or someone evil is stalking the village and the professor and his young landlady attempt to stop whoever or whatever is responsible. ( )