Jude is an historical researcher for an auction house, but struggling with the loss of her husband nearly three years ago. However, her life is once again thrown into turmoil when she is asked to value and investigate an astrological collection at Starbrough Hall in her native Norfolk. When she returns there, it is less the astrological details that become intriguing but the story of Wickham's adopted daughter Esther, who assisted his research, but then seemingly vanished leaving only an incomplete journal. What is more peculiar still, is that Jude has begun dreaming once again and her young niece, Summer, seems to be having the same dream - a dream that could well reveal the true fate of Esther and her disappearance as well as the diamond seven star necklace that her grandmother has kept hidden for years. As the past and present collide, it becomes ever more urgent for Jude to discover the truth.

'A Place of Secrets' has much in common with the novels of Kate Morton and Kate Mosse in the manner in which it flicks between the past and present and uses the events of the present to shed lights on a mystery from the past that has not been solved for over two hundred years. It is a complex, multi-layered narrative and Hore builds tension throughout so the reader is also desperate to discover how the seemingly unconnected events of the present day could be linked to a mystery from nearly three centuries before. Hore has also brilliantly researched her subject matter and there is a great deal of information about Norfolk, the Romany lifestyle and early astrological investigations that is really fascinating. As a reader, you can hear her dedication and enthusiasm for the subject matter and the area in the descriptive detail of her poetic prose that is superbly interwoven into the narrative.

However, the novel is sadly flawed as well. There is far too much description and dialogue that is often unnecessary and so you feel as if you are wading through tracts of unnecessary (and rather dull) character interaction before reaching the more crucial and interesting parts of the novel. The best bits of the narrative are definitely those involving Esther's journal where Hore has created the innocent voice of Esther and her historical style of writing very effectively. Moreover, her relationship with her adopted father is far more moving than the more stilted modern day ones Hore portrays particularly Jude's relationship with the rather dislikable Claire (whom I struggled with as a character). The plot was cleverly created, but almost too clever for its own good: there are so many coincidences that even Dickens would have blushed. Magically, Jude's family are all involved in the plot in one way or another and everyone ends up getting together and being jolly happy ever after. It just didn't quite ring true. Everyone likes a sense of resolution at the end of a novel, but Hore has contrived to give everyone a perfect ending and tie it all together with a lovely pink bow that is so sweet and simpering, we feel rather let down and mildly glutted. Hore repeatedly refers to fairy tales in the novel, pointing out their rather disturbing true origins and yet does not allow her own novel to live up to these disturbing sources, which is a great shame as it would have made for a better read.

I know Hore has written other novels (this is her fourth) and I certainly admire her research, knowledge and aptitude for creating such a complex plot. Yet, this feels like the work of an inexperienced novelists who requires a sharper editorial hand to steer her. I did enjoy the novel and would certainly look out for her in the future, but unlike with Morton and Mosse, I wouldn't be rushing out to buy her next novel.