Take The North Country Confessional By Craig C. Charles Released As Hardcover

feel as if you are actually part of the story, absolutely awesome book, which I found very hard to put down, War hero Darby Stickney Weeks returns with a fanfare to the North Country, the region where he grew up, He falls immediately into a centuriesold feud between his prosperous family of which he is the sole heir to the fortune and the notorious and very dangerous Marsh family.
Darby fails in his attempt to call a truce between the families, instead igniting it and putting his life and others, in danger,

In order to uncover the secret history of his family and end the feud, he must solve a series of bizarre riddles left behind by his father, which will uncover once and for all the truth.
In doing so he must traverse New England, all the while tolerating Silas a local elderly knowitall, and also slowly restoring a forgotten romance with Emily, the woman who broke his heart many years previously.


Meanwhile, a company called AquaNord threatens the environment of the North Country with their nefarious plans for expansion, and will stop at nothing to ensure they get their way.
Local nature enthusiasts have a fight on their hands to save the natural beauty of the area, but it is a fight which could prove fatal for those involved.


This novel was a bit of a mixed bag the historic nature of the blood feud between the Stickney/Marsh families was palpable every time the families came together, and Darbys quest to solve the riddles was genuinely exciting.
I loved the characters of the hotel owned by the Stickney family and all its quirks, from the haughty maître d of the luxurious restaurant, to the barman creating fantasticallynamed health cocktails, drunk in copious volumes by various characters.


Silass lengthy adhoc history lessons in which he seems to have known every famous person ever were amusing, lending comic relief to the impending danger, The trip to the rare books library was a treat, and there was great chemistry between Silas and Horatio, the librarian,

However I never really believed in the Darby/Emily relationship, as the surface on their back story was barely scratched, There was so much more to be learned about Emilys departure all those years ago, and also how she came to return to the North Country, The supposedly dangerous Pickford Marsh also didnt appear often enough to impose himself as the antagonist, in spite of the mentions of his notorious past,

It was a good novel in places, but not a great one overall, and probably could have been longer, I felt there should have been a lot more focus on the importance of the riddles and Darbys family history, as well as more development on Emily, and less on the AquaNord subplot which in my opinion added little to the story.


I received this book for free as part of the Goodreads First Reads giveaway, in exchange for an honest review, This was quite an interesting read, The characters are very real and so believable, Silas was a hoot. He was junk mail personified, Such a character. The author wrote

this story in such a way that he draws you in right away with some questions who really is Darby Why such strong reactions to him Why was he really returning Craig C.
Charles amps up the mystery by doling out information just enough to wet your appetite and keep you reading, It's really quite an intriguing story that will keep you guessing, Definitely a book for riddle lovers, There were interesting riddles that Darby has to unravel to figure out the truth of what happened in his family, years before, Definitely worth reading. For more reviews and all things bookish go check out sitelinkFor The Love of Fictional Worlds

The author shared a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

I didn't realise how much I missed a good old mystery thriller book till I got a chance to review this one.
I have been a part of fantasy and science fiction world way too long and this book was a perfect escape for that just for a little while at least :P

This book has a hero an actual war hero! who ran away from his past but has now returned like the prodigal son.
It has heroine who has lives and works in grey and that made her hardened and cynical, We have a psychopathic villain who will most definitely not turn out to be the good guy oh how I have missed thee :D and we have dark dirty secrets just waiting to come out.
We have a man who made mistakes yet is always considered to be the bad guy by everyone including the cops,

And we have a mystery clued up in riddles,

All this should have made this book, soo predictable that it wouldn't have even been funny, But damn, if it didn't take me back to my days of gorging on James Patterson, Jeffrey Archer books that I stole from my father, These things should have not worked together and yet it did,

The writing is wonderfully imaginative and the scenery so vivid that I could actually imagine all the gory details yes I missed that too!,

There were a few things that rankled me though not enough to make even dislike this book, Darby's emotional responses seemed a little flat, Since majority of this book was in his POV, I expected a lot of reflection from someone who is the protagonist in his position, Also, some of the methods used to kill/torture/maim the victims in this book, seemed a little far fetched, but I was actually okay with that!

Beyond this, this book was a perfect reminder of how much I missed a little bit of mystery genre in my life.
I can't wait to get more from this author, cause I absolutely loved the gruesome way he killed people off :D
I enjoyed this book, once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.

Darby returns after many years of absence in his hometown, Bretton Woods, His family is one of the city's most important but years ago he gave up everything to live life in its own way, wanted to prove he can do it alone.
He's always been crushed by the power of his family, he tried to use his mother's surname to go unnoticed, His return home, however, reopened the wounds of the past and also rekindled old rivalries, Here he meets Emily Baines, reached Bretton just for him, .
Darby is a strong character, honest, courageous, tormented by his past and eager to finally put it behind, Emily, however, is a superficial and childish woman, doesn't deserve Darby's love,
Original and exciting history, well written with a fast and addictive pace, full of suspense, Very beautiful descriptions of places and landscapes,

I recommend it to those who love mystery and thrillers,

I received a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review Tense, Pulled me and and kept me turning the pages, A cracking good mystery

I loved this novel, filled with wonderfully eccentric and wellrounded characters and beautiful descriptions of the Great North Woods, The authors word paintings of the elegant Mount Washington Hotel made me want to visit it immediately,

Medal of Honour recipient, Darby Weeks, comes home to New Hampshire, but he does not feel like the hero he has been decorated to be, He is haunted by secrets and unfulfilling relationships from the past, One character and relationship I particularly enjoyed is with Silas, who sounds like hes around a hundred years old and has lived a madly glamorous life, I would love to meet him and have a chat about his experiences that included rubbing shoulders with some very famous artists,

The novel drew me in right from the start as the suspense starts early, It is a pageturner to find out what happens next, It also left me wondering what comes next, I hope theres more as I cant wait to read it,
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