The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen Historical fiction, multi-time line. A child disappears in 1968 and the city is captivated, worrying about their own children’s safety. Liz Haughton is a reporter wasting her skills assigned to Obituaries. Tired of being treated as if she has no skills, Liz follows a friend and police officer to Dorset. They find a history of missing children and Liz is plunged into personal memories and a compelling need to find answers about the ruins of the village of Tydeham. An intriguing mystery investigation without the benefit of today’s technological advances. It’s also many years into the past and finding the right questions and people to talk to could be like a drop in a bucket of water. Maybe it’s small town or sheer luck, but she finds the first answer which makes her keep following any connections she can find. Luck or skill? You’ll know the answers before Liz does, but the story is still skillfully crafted and worth reading.

I'm a huge Rhys Bowen fan. I have all of her books and was looking forward to this new one. I was disappointed. More than three-quarters of the way through I still was ready to just chuck it. I didn't think the main character was likable at all. And it took way too long to really get to any of the real mysteries. I agree with other reviewers that there were too many contrivances. Nobody can remember what they saw as a one year old. The romance fell flat too. The whole thing with her parents seemed to just jump out at us at the end. Her other books are so much better.

I appreciated the well developed characters and smooth writing style. Great plot that built to a believable ending. Fun read!

Rhys Bowen's latest standalone mystery spans time and space with story elements set in 1943 Tyneham (a village in Dorset) and 1968 London. Reporter Liz Houghton struggles to solve the mystery of a missing child in 1968 that might be connected to missing children who disappeared in 1943. Led by information from her policewoman roommate, Liz begins exploring Dorset for clues about Little Lucy that lead her to suspect the missing child might be held in the ruins of Tyneham, a village requisitioned and destroyed by the Army in 1943. What unfolds are parallel tales of villagers displaced from homes their families had lived in for generations, children displaced by the war, and displaced children lost in the wartime shuffle from city to country. During her investigation, Liz meets the son of the displaced Lord of the village manor and together they explore surprising yet believable clues that tie Liz to Tyneham. The Tyneham-during-the-War part of this story really intrigued me. I've heard of noble families whose manor houses were requisitioned but I'd never really thought about ordinary people displaced by the war or how terrifying relocation must've been for children being sent away from the Blitz. They were put on a train by their parents and traveled without supervision. Many simply wore a name tag for identification, like Paddington Bear. At each stop, some children were claimed by local families and given shelter. Those who weren't taken in stayed on the train until the next stop. Imagine being a child in that situation, wondering who would take you in, what life with those strangers might be like, and not knowing if you'd ever see your parents again. Then there are the children who disappeared along the way. What happened to them? Bowen does a masterful job contrasting three disappearances. Like Bowen's other books, the complex characters are realistic and interesting as they deal with unexpected challenges in their lives. The story is complete but leaves the reader hoping it’s the beginning of a new series so one can see what happens to the characters after the resolution of the mystery. The 1968 setting is interesting because from a 2024 perspective, it is a historical mystery. Even if the reader can't remember 1968, the descriptions of fashions and society leave the reader wanting to spend more time in 1968 England with those characters. It would be fun to watch Liz live through women's liberation the other huge cultural changes that were just starting in 1968. One can only hope that THIS will be the standalone that becomes the first in a new series.

This is an interesting novel that bounces back and forth a bit between WWII and the 1960s. It is well-written, perhaps a hair too coincidental, but definitely interesting, perhaps especially to someone who only remembers the 60s through a child's eyes, WWII, not at all, but whose childhood still has some ties to that time, through family and adult friends of family. It's interesting, how our parents' past experiences form us, how we remember little things from early childhood and as adults, can see how we were influenced by a war that ended many years before our own births. The novel isn't perfect but I'm very glad to have read it.

Rhys Bowen never disappoints! This book has multiple mysteries covering decades. The way the author puts it all together works quite well. The main character is well developed. The combination of the horror of destruction of entire villages, the loss of families, the missing children, and secrets creates a book that is a pleasure to read, even with the sadness. There is hope, and found answers in the book that covers 1943 and 1968.