Liz Houton and her friend Maria find themselves investigating a murder that took place in the beginning of World War 2. three girls were evacuated from London and never heard from again. Can this connect to a murder in modern times London?

The latest standalone book by one of my favorite authors, Rhys Bowen, did not disappoint.

In London 1968, Liz Houghton is a reporter trying to redeem herself and get out of her position in obits. A young girl goes missing and it is the perfect story for her to follow, especially since her roommate and friend, Marisa, is a police officer on the case. While on a lead, Liz ends up unearthing more about past missing girls during World War 2 when many children were evacuated to the country.

As they continue to investigate, Liz and Marisa find an old village, Tydeham, that the army used to practice during the war and is now left in ruins. Liz has strange feelings she’s been there before while visiting and might end up finding more about her own past as she tries to find the missing girl.

Rhys Bowen is truly an amazing author who always leaves you feeling like you need to read “just one more chapter” to find out what happens! This one kept me guessing and even when I thought I had it figured out!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC copy of The Rose Arbor. All thoughts are my own.

3.5 Stars
Title: The Rose Arbor
Author: Rhys Bowen
A woman reporter trying to earn her way back to the main newsroom instead of working obits gets involved in an open investigation into a missing girl and learns about several more missing girls, a destroyed village, and her own personal history.
What I liked: That characters and the storyline. The main story was interesting, and the perspectives of the little girls (1 chapter each) added to our sense of urgency and empathy. The heroines were respectable as well as likeable. The family history part was something I was invested in until the end, but the resolution was weak.
What I didn't like: It felt like the author was trying to do too much. I wish we could have learned more about the other missing girls' cases. In one case the papers were missing and it was just dropped, and in the other they need to find a reason to check their hunch but don't before the book ends.


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I love me a story like this! It kept me captivated from the first chapter. I just think a wide variety/range of people will really enjoy this! I recommend.

historical fic is one of my fave genres and mix it with mystery thriller you have all of my attention and im glad to say that it was not wasted on this one. i did not have any high hopes so i went in with little to no expectation and i think that helped because even though the mystery wasn't really unpredictable or mind blowing, it did manage to keep me hooked till the very end even after i had already figured everything out halfway into it. The writing and descriptions paint pretty pictures and it almost seems like youre one of the detectives running around with the characters to figure mysteries from the past in the late 1960s in the spectacular London. Oh and yes the plot being set around wartime and an english village and London added to the charm i suppose as i really lovee london-
my freedom fighter ancestors must be so ashamed of me smh. lol.

This is the first Rhys Bowen that I’ve read although I know she well respected in this genre. I prefer more history in my historical reads than setting a piece in an historical context. There was some in reference to sending. Children away from the major cities during WW II but it felt more of an excuse for a potential love story with twists and turns.

Fun fact: Rhys Bowen is the pen name of Janet Quin-Harkin, and she published numerous young adult books (most paperback originals) back in the eighties and nineties. I read many of those books, and.I was surprised to learn that she now writes mysteries and historical fiction under the Rhys Bowen moniker. The books are so different than her YA books, which were mostly teen-driven romances.

Her latest historical mystery, The Rose Arbor, tells the story of Liz, a 1960's journalist who longs to write more than just obituaries. When she gets a tip about a missing person case, she goes rogue and starts investigating. This leads to many questions about her own home life, and she begins to question her own parentage after she starts having flashbacks based in a time and place she shouldn't remember.

Bowen's readers will enjoy this book. It's a fast read, and the characters are likable. There were enough surprises along the way to keep me engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my opinions.

I think the historical fiction books written by Rhys Bowen are always a quality read with impeccable research into the time periods.
I wasn't disappointed at all with this one, I thoughts it was engaging and thought provoking and it had the added bonus of a bit of paranormal happenings as well!

I loved the flashes of memory that led Liz into investigating so many things and every turn was met with a twist and vice versa. The characters were easy to like and follow, with the personality and characteristics of them all being more than first thought.

This book was a bit genre bending and had so many plot points and people to follow that there was never a dull moment. The book really makes you question the nature vs nurture element and probes into all sorts of relationships and feelings.

I thought that at the end Liz was a bit too forgiving of her father and the act of the letters too. Both of which I thought I, personally would have been furious at. Those 2 things made me think the ending may have been a tad rushed.

All in all, it was a book I found hard to put down and kept me guessing all the way through.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author and publisher for a temporary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Liz is a reporter in London in 1968 who got a scoop on a story involving an MP and a call girl. She was demoted from the news department when the owner of the newspaper revealed that the MP was a good friend. When her flatmate, Marisa, a member of the London Met, was sent to the south coast to follow up on a rumor of a missing child, Liz took some time off and went as well. They visited an abandoned village that had been shelled by the army in 1943 in preparation for the Normandy Landing. Little Lucy was nowhere to be found there but they heard about three little girls who went missing during the evacuation of children from London during the war. The body of one was found but the other two were still missing. Liz decided to look for them and see if there was a connection to Lucy's disappearance.
Bowen's character development is fantastic and I felt that I knew Liz and Marisa. The action moves along briskly so the reader doesn't get bored with the story and each of the new plot segments tie in well with the previous ones. There are some coincidences that seem to fit in a bit too well but I was prepared to suspend my disbelief and accept them. Her writing is a joy to read; I read most of the book in one day.
I look forward to reading more of Bowen's work and I'm happy to see that there is lots to enjoy. Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union for the ARC of this book; the opinions are all mine.

Unfortunately this book did not hold my interest. It was my first time reading this author. I would like to read another so I don’t rule this author out.

historical fic is one of my fave genres and mix it with mystery thriller you have all of my attention and im glad to say that it was not wasted on this one. i did not have any high hopes so i went in with little to no expectation and i think that helped because even though the mystery wasn't really unpredictable or mind blowing, it did manage to keep me hooked till the very end even after i had already figured everything out halfway into it. The writing and descriptions paint pretty pictures and it almost seems like youre one of the detectives running around with the characters to figure mysteries from the past in the late 1960s in the spectacular London. Oh and yes the plot being set around wartime and an english village and London added to the charm i suppose as i really lovee london-
my freedom fighter ancestors must be so ashamed of me smh. lol.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND THE PUBLISHERS FOR THE E-ARC. ALL THOUGHTS IN THIS REVIEW ARE MY OWN.

A village is demolished by the British as war-time practice, 3 young girls have gone missing when being evacuated during the war, and in 1968 another young girl is kidnapped. A young reporter is drawn to all of these cases and sets out on a quest to as least find closure for one of them. An excellent read!

I am embarrassed to say this is the first Rhys Bowen book I have read. It will, however, not be my last. I will be checking out some of her 60 other books. I really enjoyed this one. It is the story of a town taken over by the military during WWII and the secrets it holds. Liz is a reporter, demoted to obituaries and is desperate to be a real journalist. Her roommate is a police officer who is working on the case of a missing girl. Liz decides it would be a great way to get a real article written, if she could help find the missing child. She learns of three other girls that went missing over the years in the same area..Because children were put on trains by their parents to get them out of danger during the War, it is hard to determine where the missing children may have ended up. As Liz follows the leads, she has strange memories and becomes concerned that her own life might not be all that she thought it was. As all the stories come to conclusions, we find that families come in all different varieties and sometimes secrets are better left undiscovered.

The beginning is a little hard to stay with, but the more Liz got into reporter mode, the better it got! I especially loved the throwback chapters and the last few chapters! 😲‼️This is the first Rhys Bowen and historical fiction mystery I've read, and I will definitely be reading more!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the eARC.
In 1968 London Liz Houghton, a newspaper reporter, is eager to solve the cases of 3 missing girls from WWII and a little girl missing recently in London. Her roommate is a policewoman and the 2 of them, both of them risking their jobs, are determined to follow up any leads they find.
This is a great book, I loved it. It's an excellent mystery and has a great feeling of the time: no cell phones, no Internet, no Google - just dogged research, instinct and worn shoe leather. Plus, it's got a bit of romance too!
Don't miss this read, highly recommended.

I enjoy Rhys Bowen books. Her stories are usually pretty captivating. This book is no exception. It is about a little girl’s disappearance and then leads one of the main characters Liz ends up finding three additional children missing. These three girls were being evacuated from London. The story kept me very interested and a couple of nights I read later than I intended. It will not be long before I am looking for another Rhys Bowen books to get lost in. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

I devour each and every one of Bowen's books and this one was really good! It was a little different than her typical wartime reads. The Rose Arbor is more of a mystery and told in the present POV of Liz during the year 1968. I was expecting maybe dual timelines, but there were only brief mentions of the war and its destruction. The main focus of this story is discovering what happened to the missing girls from the past and little Lucy from the present. It was a fast, easy read that hooked me like a fish from the first page. Instead of trying to solve one mystery, Bowen served us up with quite a few. I felt like I was playing detective right alongside the characters. My only disappointment was that the story ended too soon without giving me the closure that I wanted. Not all of the mysteries were solved with finality, and I desperately need to know about Tottie's book and Ben. Despite the ending, this was an enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it.  

Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for granting me digital access in exchange for my honest review!

Liz is a journalist in 1968 London whose career is at a standstill. She decides to accompany her flatmate Marisa, a police officer, on the search for a missing child in an effort to find a good story and jumpstart her career. Their search takes them to a village abandoned after World War 2 when it was used for livefire military drills. Liz realizes several unsolved cases from the 1940s could be linked to the current missing child, and she starts to question her own family history.

The plot was well-constructed, with flashbacks to illuminate both the cold cases and the current search. The author included interesting details about life during WW2 and in 1960s London. There are several plot threads brought together neatly at the end, and Liz and her friends must confront moral dilemmas about how much of the past should be left undisturbed for the benefit of the living - questions with no easy answers. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC.

The Rose Arbor is a wonderful historical fiction. While a small part of it takes place during World War. 2, the majority of the book is set in the 1960’s. The story is about journalist Liz and her quest to figure out what happened to a missing child in London. This book is an excellent mystery that will keep you reading to see what happened to little Lucy.

The Rose Arbor is a haunting and suspenseful mystery spanning decades set in the aftermath of World War II in England. Following the disappearance of a little girl, Liz Houghton, a newspaper reporter, follows the mysterious story to the small village of Tydeham and uncovers a string of events that would change the course of her life forever.

Rhys Bowen’s writing is both engaging and entertaining. I felt myself instantly drawn into the mystery and character as we follow Liz on her journey. However, because there were so many intricate layers to the mystery, I felt that Liz’s development as a character was a bit sidelined. In particular, throughout the entire book, Liz’s relationship with her parents were hardly explored until the last third which felt odd as a reader and left me struggling to feel invested in some of the events that unfolded.

I would definitely recommend this book for lovers of historical mysteries mixed with a little bit of romance, and one filled with plot twists that will leave you eager to find out what happens next.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this eArc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.