Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this ARC! The book cover is gorgeous and what drew me in. Love the aromatic this book

Well done, Rhys Bowen deliver another intriguing story
Due to personal issues cannot write a proper review now
A more extensive review will follow. Many thanks to the publisher

Rhys Bowen is one of those authors who's been on my radar for a good while now, having seen her recommended frequently for historical mysteries. Rather than dive into one of her series, I decided to give this standalone a try, and I'm so glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed this dual-timeline story about a young woman trying to revive her once promising career as a serious investigative journalist in London in 1968. Having been banished to the obituary desk after one of her stories went wrong, she becomes obsessed with investigating a current-day missing child story, which leads her to another missing child story from WWII London. I enjoyed both timelines, both stories were well-paced and the characters were interesting. This was an excellent standalone mystery that almost left me wishing it were a series so I could spend more time with the characters. Lucky for me, I have a nice backlog of Rhys Bowen's series and characters to get to know.
Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing a digital copy for an unbiased review.

The Rose Arbor is an evocative historical mystery alternately taking place in the 1940s and the 1960s.

The story kept me on my toes as the mystery unraveled between the timelines, and I appreciated the author's depiction of each time periods. The characters felt genuine and realistic.

I look forward to reading more from the author!

The author has a skill in bringing ordinary, or seemingly ordinary plots in historical settings. There are a few authors who seem to enjoy choosing such settings. I haven’t anyways liked the overall stories or hers that I’ve picked up, but each time I enjoyed the setting and/ or the writing enough to pick up the next book that she’s written.

This story starts with establishing the location around which much of the plot would centre. Then we move onto the central plot timing of 1968. Two women who are friends and have different occupations are going to budge each other into figuring out long dormant issues.

Interspersed are unnamed girls whose lives we get to watch a page of and try to guess where they fit in the bigger picture. I think I was a little annoyed by the one hanging thread the author decided to leave without finishing. If not for that mild dissatisfaction, this would have been a five star read for me. Even now it is a petty point to quibble over but I’m sticking with it.

The main story begins with a completely different tone than it takes later on. There’s a lot of good detective work, which involves a lot of actual leg work throughout the book. Some things might have been the occasional coincidences, but it was a solid mystery.

I know I’m being a little more vague than even I’m used to being. This is in part on purpose, the format and the introduction of the smaller plot points was part of the joy of reading and I would hope most people who pick the book encounter it the same way I did.

I would highly recommend the book to fans of non- war based historical fiction.

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I enjoyed this well written, evocative historical fiction book that begins with a quiet English village that’s used for invasion practice during WWII. The residents are given a few weeks to leave, not realizing that live ammunition will be used on their village. The book turns into a search for a missing child that involves the former villagers and a reporter, 30 years later.
Liz is an obit writer who’s bored with her job. Her roommate is with the police, and they’re investigating a missing child. At the same time, Liz hears about 3 children who were evacuated out of London during WWII and were never heard from again. She starts her own investigation and eventually discovers facts about her own personal history.
This is an engrossing read that I highly recommend, 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In The Rose Arbor, Rhys Bowen tells a gripping historical mystery set in two timelines: the 1940s and 1968. The story follows Liz Houghton, an obituary writer who dreams of becoming a reporter. When a 15-year-old girl goes missing, Liz and her flatmate Marissa decide to investigate.

As they dig into the case, they find a link to three children who disappeared during WWII. The way the past and present connect adds excitement to the mystery, keeping readers guessing as Liz and Marissa gather clues.

Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Rose Arbor.

This standalone book by Rhys Bowen is a gem! I love the way that Rhys weaves a fictional mystery with true occurrences from WWII. I really feel as if I learned a bit more about WWII while reading this interesting mystery.

This book was a DNF for me. I got to 30% and decided it was not for me. Hopefully it will be a good fit for someone else!

I was unable to get myself into this story. Normally I love historical fiction and maybe I would’ve had an easier time getting into it if I had listened to an audio version instead of trying to read the ebook.

The year is 1968, and obit writer Liz Houghton seizes a chance to break back into the newsroom when a young girl’s disappearance captures the city’s attention. Partnering with her best friend/roommate, Marisa (who is also one of the officers on the case), Liz uncovers a chilling link to an unsolved mystery from WWII, when 3 girls went missing during an evacuation. As Liz digs deeper, she is drawn to the abandoned village of Tydeham, linked to the girls' disappearance, and begins to unravel disturbing secrets that suggest a connection to her own past.
***
... If my OCD would let me DNF books, this would be a STRONG contender. What the F did I just read? What was the point of this book? I'm so shocked that such a beloved and renowned author wrote this? The plot fell so utterly flat, and it really did have potential. And the ending - my GOD, that ending - made me batty. I thought the story started off slow, but I kept with it because I thought it would take off, given the premise... And that ended up being a big, fat NOPE. There was too much going on with this book, I don't understand what was trying to be accomplished because it wasn't even particularly entertaining for the majority of the story.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book inreturn for a reviw based upon my honest opinion.

Liz writes obituaries and comes upon a story about an incident decades before during an evacuation when two girls go missing. She decides she wants to look into the missing girl and the story takes her to Tydeham, whwre she finds more than she thought she would. This was a wonderful book. It had a great characters and storyline. I look forward to more books by this author

Journalist Liz has been banished to obituaries due to being too good an investigator and she is desperate to get back to real news. When her room-mate, a detective at the Met, is sent to the south to follow a lead in the disappearance of a young girl, she decides to tag along. The older male cop is not happy, especially when Liz suspects there is a connection to a series of missing children during WWII. It has haunted him that he and the other cops were unable to solve the mysteries.

What shocks her is when she gets to the abandoned village that was destroyed in the prep for D-Day, she has a strong and inexplicable memory. She is told by her father that she has never been there so is she suddenly channeling ghosts. The son of the destroyed manor meets her and the two form a bond. She is convinced there is a body buried on the grounds. When it is dug up the question then becomes who was she and how is she connected to Liz. What she discovers will turn her entire life upside down as well as answer many questions that had remained for over 20 years.

The twists and turns in the story will knock you off your feet as much as they did her. It is not until the end that she will get closure but her world will never be the same. Five purrs and two paws up.

This dual timeline historical fiction mystery was intriguing and multi-layered. The story is mainly set in 1968 where Liz Houghton, an obituary writer is hoping to crack the case of a missing girl and earn her way into the newsroom. Flashbacks to 1943 occur throughout the book creating further curiosity about a possible connection between Lucy's disappearance and the disappearance of girls from London during the evacuation. This one definitely kept me on my toes, and although I had a suspicion about one part of the mystery, I definitely didn’t have it all figured out. There is also a dash of romance in this one, which was fun, and I can see the potential for future books involving these characters. This was my first book by this author, which is surprising because she has several others out that I hope to check out at some point.

Pick this one up if you enjoy:
-dual timeline
-historical fiction
-strong female MC
-crime/mystery
-sweet romance
-villages in the UK

Rhys Bowen always writes the best historical fiction ever!. Smooth, concise, beautiful and always with the perfect character development.
First, special thank you to Netgalley for the gifted e-copy in exchange of my honest review. The Rose Arbor is a heartwarming and captivating story of suspense and mystery wrapped in a very intricate historical fiction element. The plot focused on a young girl during the WWII time who disappeared. Her story inspired Liz, an aspiring young writer and Marissa her flat mate who is a police officer to follow her story, dug up the forgotten leads and eventually took them to a small village where they worked to uncover the secrets and mystery from years ago.

True to Rhys Bowen's nature, this was beautifully and delicately crafted. I was having fun reading the whole thing and was very invested in the outcome. I have read multiple reviews "hinting" for it to be a series. If that is true, I would not miss the sequel and will be looking forward to more of Liz and Marissa's adventure!

This was a very creepy and somewhat disturbing story. I've read a few of Rhys Bowen' s books before and this one definitely has a darker tone. It was very fascinating to learn about the abandoned city of Tydeham. Thank you to netgalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

I did receive an advance copy of The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen through Net Galley, and it is a delightful book. Liz Houghton is a young newspaper reporter who has been assigned to write obituaries and knows she has more interesting stories in her. Her roommate is Marissa, and she is a police officer who has been assigned to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. It is a dual timeline with 1943 and 1968. It's a mystery not just about this little girl, but three other little girls who disappeared when they were sent out of London to safety during WWII. Even Liz discovers her life may not be what she has always known. Far-fetched, yes, but sometimes that is what makes an interesting story. It's four stars and worth the read.

An obituary writer turned investigative reporter stumbles onto a connection between the disappearance of a little girl and a cold case of three missing girls from twenty-three years earlier. The secrets uncovered leave a variety of lives upended as the mysteries unfold. Set in London in 1968 with a glimpse at life in England during WWII, The Rose Arbor is a recommended read for Rhys Bowen fans, new and old alike.

This was my first read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I appreciated the dual timeline, as it’s one of my favorite things in any book. Liz was such a strong female character, which I also admire! This was a well-written book that I’d recommend to anyone seeking a good historical fiction mystery.

Not sure what it was about this but it failed to hold my interest. It sounded interesting and I love Rhys Bowen’s various mystery series but I couldn’t connect with Liz and found the story to be a bit dry. The premise was fascinating but it was very slow moving and, while it was tied up nicely in the end, it was too little, too late for me.