Michelle Griep: The Innkeeper's Daughter

By Kelly Bridgewater

Dover, England, 1808: Officer Alexander Moore goes undercover as a gambling gentleman to expose a high-stakes plot against the king—and he’s a master of disguise, for Johanna Langley believes him to be quite the rogue. . .until she can no longer fight against his unrelenting charm.

All Johanna wants is to keep the family inn afloat, but when the rent and the hearth payment are due at the same time, where will she find the extra funds? If she doesn’t come up with the money, there will be nowhere to go other than the workhouse—where she’ll be separated from her ailing mother and ten-year-old brother.

Alex desperately wants to help Johanna, especially when she confides in him, but his mission—finding and bringing to justice a traitor to the crown—must come first, or they could all end up dead.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

What is better than a historical suspense or historical mystery? In my humble opinion, I think just plain suspense. I adore historical romance and mysteries, so what is better than combining the two elements. With The Innkeeper's Daughter by Michelle Griep, this is my second introduction to her writing. The first book I read was 12 Days at Bleakly Manor. Another mystery with history woven inside. With a historical mystery, I am prepared for a historical time period and a mystery that is solved differently than a contemporary mystery.

Griep's writing is clear and concise. I had no problem imaging the inn that Johanna has to live in and work in. The point of view of the story was told from Johanna's and Alex's perspective. I had no problem disguising from each character as they shared their tale of woe. There was no head hopping or moving around from one character to another in the same paragraph.

Johanna is a survivor. No matter what happened in her home, she was determined to keep her family's inn. Even working in a horrible place that she escaped a long time ago because of the violence brought onto her. But she knew she needed to save her family's home. Johanna does learn to trust God with her circumstances after some hard lessons. While Alex on the other hand is a lying from the first page I met him. But as the story progresses, he falls in love with Johanna and changes his perspective on his goals for the future.

The romance didn't fit right. Alex fell in love with Johanna just because of watching her work in the taproom and her relationship with her family, but I don't think his reasons for helping her and falling in love with her were realistic. It just felt wrong to me.

The mystery was nicely held together. I enjoyed how Griep created a story inside a story and kept me guessing until I solved it. I'm good at solving mysteries, so I don't blame Griep for writing a mystery I solved pretty quickly. The mystery was non-stopped and kept me glued to the page. I really enjoyed the ending of the novel.

Overall, The Innkeeper's Daughter by Michelle Griep is a wonderful written setting with vibrant characters who fall in love too quickly for no reason, but the mystery imprisoning the characters brings the excitement to the plot.

I received a complimentary copy of The Innkeeper's Daughter by Michelle Griep from Barbour Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars