The abduction of Ethan du Maurier, a millionaire’s young son is of little interest to Annie, until the FBI turn up at her restaurant opening following an anonymous tip. The abduction has its roots in a century-old murder scandal, and Annie finds herself drawn into the events as she works with the boy’s father to solve a murder one hundred years previously to save a child’s life in the present day.

There are two distinct plot lines, one set in 1905/06 and one in the present day, which interweave. The spelling and grammar are of a professional standard – I didn’t spot any errors. The plot is generally well thought out, although the ending feels a bit rushed as a lot of events happen at once with little set-up. While the chain of events is explained afterwards, the lack of foreshadowing makes it feel rather out of left field at the time. These flaws don’t make Continuance a bad book, but it is as well to be aware of them.

There isn’t anything I can point to with this book to say it is objectively bad, and there are many things that it does well – the linked plot threads, the writing style and the presentation. The problem is that I never felt particularly engaged with this story, or on the edge of my seat despite the subject matter.

This book does contain explicit material, which is a shame because it adds little to the story and does restrict readership of what would otherwise be a strong detective story suitable for mainstream readership. As it is, this is definitely adults-only.

For me it was a three, but its target audience – mystery, particularly historical mystery, and romance fans – should enjoy this.