Twilight at Moorington Cross by Abigail Wilson

Twilight at Moorington Cross
by Abigail Wilson

ISBN-13: 9780785253273
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Released: January 11th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Hospitalized by her new husband months before his death, Amelia Pembroke's transient sleeping spells are only getting worse. Still, Cluett’s Mesmeric Hospital has been something of a refuge for Amelia over the past year, even if it didn’t exactly improve her condition. When her doctor is murdered and her name surprisingly turns up in his will, her options take a drastic turn. She has thirty days to marry one of two named gentlemen—strangers to her—and she will inherit everything from her friend and doctor, Mr. Cluett. One simple decision and all her financial troubles are at an end. The only problem is it’s not a simple decision anymore. Not when she’s falling in love with another man.

Ewan Hawkins has received his first assignment as an apprenticed solicitor: to update a man’s will. Finally, a chance to prove to society that possessing a disfigured hand won’t hold him back. Of course, he never could have anticipated a murder, nor the strange clause added to the will—nor, most importantly, the charming widow who has found a way to capture his heart.


My Review:
Twilight at Moorington Cross is a romance set in 1819 in England. The author used a lot of incorrect words (like a woman referred to herself as a 'widower' instead of a 'widow'), odd phrases ("her voice a sickly gray"), and description errors (Amelia entered the library but left the drawing room). Some descriptions didn't clearly convey the scene. For example, three people read the discovery of the murder scene and we couldn't agree if only the head was underwater (with the man leaning over the edge of the bathtub) or his whole body. These many errors were distracting from the story. I'm hoping some of this was fixed in the final copy.

Further, some scenes didn't even make sense: They unlocked the doors to the unused, about-to-collapse east wing, entered, and then got locked into that wing. It didn't even occur to them to use their own key to get out (as the key was last in Ewan's hand). Trapped, they decided to abandon searching for the critical document in favor of chatting and making out. In the morning, they heard Amelia's maid's footsteps below them on the lower floor doing her normal routine...even though no maids go into the abandoned, dusty east wing. Hm.

The main characters were interesting enough but weren't very well developed. The mystery could have been solved rather quickly if they'd demanded answers from the people they knew had the answers. Which they finally do, after repeatedly abandoning their searches for clues in favor of chatting. The romantic bit was their falling in love as they learned to trust and respect each other. The forced marriage choice was much commented on but Amelia hardly spent any time with those men and didn't care for either. I'd guessed several of the twists, but there were so many at the end that it was nearly impossible to keep everything straight. There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.