The Vanishing of Dr. Winter - A Posie Parker Mystery, Book 4

It's time to take another trip back to the 1920s to solve another mystery with that nosy little private detective, Posie Parker.  Four books in, and our intrepid sleuth is now having to face a mystery that is personal, as it reveals a part of Posie's past that readers have yet to learn about!   Author L.B. Hathaway takes Posie on a different kind of journey with this book, and I must say, it was a nice change of pace.  While I have thoroughly enjoyed the first three books in this series, this book really dove into just makes Posie tick - and there's a wonderful surprise at the end of the book that should have fans of this series smiling big-time!

The Vanishing of Dr. Winter opens up the door to Posie's past, when she served during the Great War at Casualty Clearing Station Number 8.  The crew at the station had formed a familial-type of bond, and she loved her fellow workers.  Until, that is, Felicity Fyne showed up and took over the role of Sister-in-Charge.  She was stern, she was cold, and she broke-up the engagement of one Dr. Winter and one Helena Llewellyn, a couple that everyone there was overjoyed to see happen.  Posie left the station, and eventually she heard that nearly everyone who had worked at the station had been killed.  Nearly everyone.  It seems that Sister Fyne was not one of them.  Because just as Posie is about to celebrate Christmas in 1922, Sister Fyne shows up, asking for her help.  It seems not only did she break up Dr. Winter's engagement all those years ago, but she ultimately married the man.  But he died in the explosion that ripped apart Station Number 8.  Or so she thought.  Because that very day she happened to see her deceased husband very much alive at the university in Cambridge!  Posie was already there looking into a mystery of her own involving her brother's past, so what's one more mystery along the way?

This story is filled with TONS of secrets, TONS of twists and turns, TONS of red herrings, and TONS of surprises!  Every time you think you have something figured out, Hathaway manages to throw a monkey-wrench into it and heads off in another direction.  Is Dr. Winter really alive, or did Sister Fyne imagine him?  And who is blackmailing Sister Fyne regarding her deceased husband's reappearance?  Has Dr. Winter's first fiance come back for revenge against the woman who stole her man?  And what about the mystery surrounding Posie's brother, who also died during the war...?  Why are the professors at the university so cagey about him?  Why is the porter at Trinity College so eager to help Posie?  Just how does he know so much?  And secret is the professor's wife hiding?  The ghosts of Posie's past are definitely back to haunt her in this mystery that is definitely worthy of Christie, Doyle, Hitchcock, and even a bit of Poe thrown in for good measure.

It's been a year since the murder at Maypole Manor, and this time around, instead of solving a murder, Posie must hunt down a man thought to be dead; stop a blackmailer who may not be who Posie thinks he/she is; uncover a secret about her brother that will bring about big changes for Posie; and figure out just how she is going to get all of this done by Christmas so that she can spend the holiday with Alaric!  Yes, Hathaway manages to sneak into the story some very touching moments in Posie's relationship with the dashing, continent-hopping man who stole her heart; but at the same time, she reminds us that Posie's feelings for her business partner/former almost-boyfriend Len Irving are not necessarily completely gone away.  And the adorable Mr. Minks manages to make an appearance or two, for all the cat-lovers out there!

Book four is another fantastic read, and I'm looking forward to reading the further adventures of Posie Parker as this series progresses!  Last book saw the end of 1921; this book sees the end of 1922; so we'll see how far into 1923 the next book takes us!

RATING:  10 black and gold-tooled leather boxes out of 10 for reminding us that not every great mystery needs to be a murder mystery!