A Bend of Light

A historical mystery set in a coastal Maine village, 1950

"From the evocative opening sentence to the shocking conclusion, A Bend of Light is a thrill of a ride.... Joy Jordan-Lake's heartfelt and lyrical prose is paired with a mystery that won't let you go."

--Patti Callahan Henry, NYT bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis

“A Bend of Light is a glorious mystery

akin to Agatha Christie’s best.”

IRobert Dugoni, NYT bestselling author of The Silent Sisters

A photographic interpreter in World War 2, Amie Stillwell never meant to return to the coastal Maine village where she fled at eighteen and where her best friend, Jake, disappeared years ago. But now, the war over, Amie's position has been replaced by a returning GI. With no job, a dwindling bank account, and essentially no family, she drives north in a driving snowstorm with all her belongings crammed into her battered roadster, its canvas roof leaking ice.

Armed only with her old Deardorff camera, an artistic eye and stubbornness, she begins setting up a gallery for her own photographs and for a Jamaican friend’s sculptures, even as she settles into the village with all its quirks and charms. Pelican Cove just might be a good place to start fresh.

But for all its beauty, the village is no center of calm. An abandoned child, a Boston socialite found dead in the barn of an interesting young veterinarian, and the reappearance of a villager presumed killed in the war all might somehow be connected.

When a close friend is pushed from the fourth floor of the local inn, Amie must redouble her efforts to uncover the truth, even as she faces her own painful past.