Felt like a cheesy murder she wrote episode where everyone is a suspect. I stuck with it and the last third was better. ( )

Plot: When Juliana's family (minus dad, due to her parents trial separation) move to Blackthorn Village in England, she is forced to c confront her forgotten past when a suspicious death occurs in teh village.

Why I picked it up: I'm on a committee in my library system that plans a "one county, one book" type of program for late-elementary/early middle school students. This is one of the books on our long-list.

Why I kept reading: Outside of the fact I needed to read the whole book in order to make a fair assessment of it's potential for the reading program, I was drawn in by the suspense. For the most part, Reiss does a good job planting clues and suggesting suspects. This part did drag on a bit too long for my tastes, but when the mystery was solved, I admit I was taken a bit by surprise. When I finished the book, I felt like I'd been on Juliana's emotional roller coaster right along with her. It was a great ending, very satisfying. ( )

I read Blackthorn Winter for my world literature genre. It is about a teenage girl who moves to a really small town in England with her mom and younger brother and sister. She slowly gets used to the town, the culture like drinking tea in the afternoon and doing things she has never done before. They move because her mom is an artist and looking for work. This book is also a mystery because it turns out that soon after they move to Blackthorn a friend disappears. The book is really well written and it is good because the ending is quite a surprise. I would recommend this book to anyone from 12 to 16 years old. While it is written from the girl’s perspective I think boys would like it too. This book also has a message about believing in yourself because no one else believes her for most of the book. During the book and being in a new town she also realizes something about her past she didn’t know about.

Reviewed by coollibrarianchick for TeensReadToo.com

Fans of the Nancy Drew stories will enjoy this latest book by Kathryn Reiss. BLACKTHORN WINTER is a well-written "who done it?" mystery that leaves you wondering until the very end.

Blackthorn is a perfect place for a mystery to take place. It is a damp, gloomy town in England, an artist's colony with some very interesting residents. All the residents seem to be busybodies, knowing a little too much gossip and happenings in the town. It's a far cry from sunny California, where Juliana and her family used to live.

Her mom, facing a crumbling marriage and wanting to explore her artistic roots further, made Juliana and her brother and sister move to England with her. The adjustment wasn't easy - she was away from her Dad, her friends, and everything else she knew. England, at least where she was, didn't look like any of the pictures in the calendar Mom bought her. Even worse, Juliana had a constant nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

The book has two mysteries intertwined together. The first mystery that has to be solved is finding the murderer of Liza Pethering. As you delve further into the book you will discover that finding the culprit is easier said than done. The person arrested is the easy choice, but not particularly the right choice. The second mystery has to deal with Juliana's past, which has to be unraveled so she can move forward. At five years old, Juliana joined the Martin-Drake family. Ever since she was little, Juliana has had trouble with recalling memories of her past. It seems that she can't remember anything before she was five.

Did something happen to her to make her repress the memories? Are the two mysteries tied together somehow? All she knows is that she must solve both of them before another person, maybe herself, becomes the next victim. ( )

ORIGNIALLY POSTED AT--> www.yabookrealm.blogspot.com

I found this book during the time of it's release date (January 2006) through Amazon and I immediately went to the my local library to order a copy. It sounded like an amazing mystery book and I loved that it was set in England. After a good amount of time waiting for the library to make the order and process it, I finally got and read the book in June. As soon as I read it, I remember being engrossed with the novel. It had the whole murder mystery suspense vibe and not to mention Duncan, a very cute red head, English boy as a potential love interest. I highly recommend this book. ( )