Review Tuesday: "Newport" by Jill Morrow

It's Review Tuesday again and today I bring you a novel that I read last year during the great review drought of 2015.

Newport is a riveting historical fiction with elements of romance and mystery set in the early years of the Prohibition era, the novel unfolds over a couple days in the summer colony of Newport. Bennett Chapman has called his attorney Adrian De la Noye to his waterside mansion in order to re-write his will. Chapman is on the cusp of marrying Catherine Walsh, a woman half his age.

Adrian and legal assistant Jim arrive to discover many guests: Nicholas and Chloe, Chapman’s spoiled children, and Amy Walsh, Catherine’s niece. But Adrian is stunned to discover Catherine is the lost love he has done everything to forget. As Adrian and Jim sift through dark secrets, they must determine if Chapman is being directed by his long dead wife or just demented.

Newport is a richly drawn novel of changing social mores where the past has everything to do with the present. The characters are well-drawn, while the present action unfolding against past deeds effectively tells the story. The plot does lag a bit in the middle before picking up steam to the conclusion. Nonetheless, lovers of well-crafted historicals will enjoy Newport.

**I reviewed this novel for the San Francisco Book Review.