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The Missing Page is the second book to feature country doctor James Sommers and spy Leo Page, whom we first met in Hither, Page, a cosy mystery (sort of – true cosies aren’t supposed to include sex or swearing and there’s a little bit of both here!) set in a sleepy English village a few years after the end of World War II. That book came out in 2019, so we’ve had a bit of a wait for this sequel, but it was worth it; The Missing Page is a charming, clever and none-too serious riff on the classic Country House Mystery in which we learn more about James’ past when he visits the childhood home to which he hasn’t returned in twenty years.
By the time the book begins, Leo has been ‘lodging’ in James’ house in Wychcomb St. Mary for over a year, and they’ve settled into a kind of domesticity neither had ever thought to have, although Leo’s job as a government agent takes him away fairly often. James is eagerly awaiting Leo’s return from his most recent mission – but shortly before he’s due back, James receives a letter advising him of the death of his uncle, Rupert Bellamy, and asking him to be present at the reading of the will at the family home in Cornwall. James spent many summers at Blackthorn as a child following the death of his parents, but was whisked away following a family tragedy in 1927 and was never invited back.
James is greeted by his cousin Martha, who had kept house for their uncle for as long as James can remember, and finds Rupert’s surviving daughter, James’ cousin Camilla, her husband Sir Anthony – a Harley Street doctor – and their daughter Lilah, whom he’s surprised to recognise as a famous actress, already gathered together, as well as a woman he doesn’t know at all, who is introduced as Madame Fournier. The bequests are surprisingly small, until the very end, when the family solicitor reads the final appendix stating that the bulk of the estate will go to whoever can discover what really happened to Rupert’s other daughter Rose on 1st August 1927. Rose is widely believed to have drowned that day, although there were lots of other rumours in circulation – she took her own life, she ran off with the chauffeur or the vicar, she was murdered – among them, but Rose’s body was never found and nothing conclusive was ever discovered.
When Leo – exhausted after a very long journey – returns to Wychcomb St. Mary to find James gone, he pays a visit to their friends, former spies Cora and Edith, hoping that perhaps he’ll find James there. When the ladies tell him where James has gone and why, Leo becomes concerned, especially at learning James had been present on the day that Rose Bellamy is thought to have died, worried at what memories being back there might stir up. Leo wastes no time in following James to Cornwall, determined to do whatever he can to help.
Cat Sebastian has crafted an intriguing story full of difficult family dynamics and long-held secrets, and she sustains the mystery right up until the last moment; I certainly didn’t work out the truth until just before the reveal. There’s a strongly defined set of secondary characters, from Martha the drab poor-relation, to Sir Anthony, the know-it-all who clearly looks down on James, and the mysterious Madame Fournier – and James and Leo themselves continue to be easy to enjoy and root for. James is a genuinely good man, quiet and easy-going, happy with his quiet country life after the horrors of war and with Leo, while Leo operates more in shades of grey than in black and white and has been struggling more and more to reconcile the life he has with the life he wants. Leo still finds it difficult to credit that a man as good as James could actually want to be with someone with such a murky past as his, but the obvious care and affection they have for each other permeates every page, and I loved watching them working together on the investigation, their different approaches and outlooks complementing each other. The author cleverly explores James’ past through his interactions with his family members, and I particularly enjoyed Leo’s typical cynicism and the way he’s so protective of James. As far as their relationship goes, they’re at that awkward stage where both of them want more but aren’t sure what the other is willing or able to give, but thankfully, there are no silly misunderstandings and they both realise that although they still have issues to work on, they want to work through them together.
The Missing Page is one of those books that’s easy to sink into and feels almost like a warm hug, but I do have a few niggles. It’s generally on the slow side and doesn’t have the same kind of forward momentum as Hither, Page and while I did like the mystery, it’s not very high-stakes, especially not for our heroes. As with the last book, the author has done a very good job with the English setting, but the odd Americanism still creeps in (“muffler” instead of “scarf” for example). Finally, I was confused as to the timeline; Hither Page takes place in 1946 and the date for this is given as 1948, but then I read James thinking of Leo: “They had only met a little over two months ago”. To be fair, I did have an ARC, so I’m hoping this will have been corrected/clarified in the finished version, but it did make me scratch my head.
All in all, however, The Missing Page is an easy, enjoyable read featuring two engaging leads, and I’m pleased to recommend it to anyone who likes their mystery with a side of romance. I hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of Mr. Page and Dr. Sommers.
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Grade: B
Book Type: Historical Mystery
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 23/01/22
Publication Date: 01/2022
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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Interesting! I’ll be reading this soon.
Thanks for the review! I’m looking forward to this one coming out on audio (I hope!). I enjoyed Hither, Page on audio and hope Joel Leslie narrates this one as well. Sometimes a (sort of) cosy mystery is just the thing.
I’m still hoping for Josh Lanyon’s latest Secrets and Scabble book to come out on audio.
I’m sure I’ve read that audio for both books is under way. I confess I haven’t read the latest Lanyon yet – I’m kinda cosied out.
I haven’t read the Lanyon, either. I’m waiting for the audio. I think I’ll relisten to Hither, Page while I wait for this one.
I think I’m going to be doing a lot of rereading this year, since several books are coming out that have previous books I’ll want to revisit first, like The new Adhara, The Long Game, The King’s Falcon, and a couple of others. (Rereading the previous books before The King’s Falcon could take a while. That’s three long books, four if you include A Splendid Defiance, and why wouldn’t you!)
These events definitely seem to happen just a few months after the first book, so I think that they happen in February 1947, not 1948 as printed. I read it that the books were set either side of one Christmas and hadn’t noticed a timeline problem until I read your review, Caz. I read, “By the time the book begins, Leo has been ‘lodging’ in James’ house in Wychcomb St. Mary for over a year”, and thought ‘No, he hasn’t’!
One of the things I really liked about the book was that it seemed to be covering the early days of James and Leo’s relationship so well…………
I enjoyed this book and the world that the author has created around James and Leo, and I love the relationship between them that she depicts. I didn’t mind that it wasn’t very high-stakes – on reflection, I think that’s what gives these books their charm.
I worked out what had happened to Rose before the half-way mark and enjoyed how the plot was played out to get to the resolution.
I was pleased to have far fewer mentions of the dreaded ‘muffler’ than in Hither, Page, where it was mentioned repeatedly, also fewer ‘gotten’s so I think she has tried to cut the Americanisms.
I’d like to see more books about James and Leo too, and would probably give this one B+.
The muffler! Yes, I had to grit my teeth, but CS does seem to have tried to get rid of some of the ones that kept cropping up before.
The reason I said “over a year” was purely because that’s what the dates indicated; I hope the error has been picked up and fixed.
I waffled over the grade a bit, but in the end decided I liked the first one better (I gave that a B+) and went with the B for this.