I received an invitation to review The Key in the Lock because I previously enjoyed The Witchfinder’s Sister (link to my Goodreads review). To be honest, even with such a positive experience, I almost DNF-ed The Key in the Lock because it wasn’t quite what I was expected. But I’m glad I decided to give it another go because it turned out to be a very captivating read.

The Key in the Lock starts with Ivy losing her son Tim in war. His death isn’t clear cut or honourable – why did he suddenly stand up while in the trench? While she’s mourning the loss of her son, she’s thinking of her past, when William, the little son of Edward (the man she has a crush on), also died under mysterious circumstances.

With two deaths being revealed so early on, the book should have gripped me from the start. Instead, I found myself feeling rather disengaged and confused. I think it’s because Ivy’s narrative style is the same in the two time periods, and if you miss the year at the start of the chapter (or if you forget the year), things can get confusing quickly. Plus, I did not understand how William and her son’s death were related, that one brought back memories of the other.

But for some reason, I decided to go back to the beginning of the book and try again. This time, I managed to read a good portion of the book and about a third of the way in, I started getting interested. Who really killed William? Why would Ivy think that she caused her son to die? The questions started getting more insistent and the information was slowly being revealed.

Once the book found its stride, it was absolutely captivating. I didn’t think of this book as a mystery at first, but the last half of the book was filled with enough revelations that I started thinking of this book as having two mysteries. I went from wanting to stop reading to being unable to put down the book.

Even the fact that Ivy wasn’t the most sympathetic character did nothing to slow me down. While I occasionally found Ivy’s rose-coloured view of Edward and her coldness to her husband to be irritating, because I didn’t share her view and because I thought she was old enough to know better, I appreciated the fact that it led to a natural character growth for her. For her sake, I wish that she learnt this lesson earlier, but at least she learnt it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! While the starting was a bit slow for me, I am glad that the story paid off and that I didn’t give up on it.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Featured Image: Photo from Canva