The Mystery of Love: "The Diary in the Attic" by DeAnna Julie Dodson (Annie's Attic Mysteries)

It goes without being said that falling in love with someone is as complicated as it is wonderful! By complicated I mean alllll the emotion when you meet someone and wondering if they like you. Then there is the task of digging up enough courage to even speak to them in coherent sentences without crying or passing out. Not a single one of us can read minds (damn it) and sometimes the most challenging and complicated part is knowing if it's even worth it to say you like a person to get the ball rolling. Love is a mystery. Men are a mystery. Women are a mystery. But, somewhere in there the moments of happiness seem to make up for it all. So, what if your true love was right there, but had to leave and never came back? How would that change the course of your life? Would it change it at all? All of these questions are presented in "The Diary in the Attic" by DeAnna Julie Dodson and I'm going to share some of my musings on love, mystery and a spot of good luck.

The Annie's Attic Mysteries series is an interesting one and I'm glad I found three of the books in my thrifting adventures.  I really debated if I'd share all three in this post, but I chose not to because "The Diary in the Attic" stands on its own just fine.  In fact, a person could pick it up and read it and not get lost in the characters and their roles in the series.

The entire premise of the series is pretty self explanatory in the title. Each book is solving a mystery about something that Annie has found in her attic of the house that used to be her grandmother's.  They are fun, beachy reads (definition can be found on my other blog) and I keep searching for them because they are great books to read at night before bed.  The one thing that is so very odd to me is the series is written by multiple authors. I have no idea why a franchise would do that to themselves, but alas, that is the fact. When I discovered this after reading the first book I was very skeptical that I would even enjoy other books in the series. Authors are still human (gasp!) and their voice in writing is detectable whether or not they like it.  For me it was very obvious in the second book, but this book was well-written, thus making it a positive experience.

The story is about a mysterious diary that Annie finds while searching for some of her grandmother's linens. Along with the diary is a shoe box of letters from 1943. As she begins to read the letters she starts to put the pieces together and realizes that the two lovers exchanging letters lost touch with each other during World War II. All the items in the attic are connected to Annie's grandmother somehow so she sets out to figure out who these two people are in the letters. As luck would have it (or just, plain cute storytelling) she finds the woman, named Lilly, in a nearby town at an assisted living facility.  She begins to visit with her on a weekly basis and the love story of Lilly and her sweetheart unfolds.

In the midst of learning about Lilly's first love, Annie is wrestling with her own feelings of loving someone new.  She is a widow and has struggled to know if she is capable of loving another man since her husband passed away.  Her love interest in the series is a widower so they share a lot with each other about their deep love for their deceased spouses. They also recognize that they care for each other a lot and it's adorable watching those trains-of-thought develop as Annie visits with Lilly.

This book was a total happy surprise for another reason.....it's written in different POV (point of view) and uses flashbacks to tell the story.  This style of writing is my absolute favorite! I loved that aspect and it kept me on my toes to follow who was talking in present day, who was talking in past tense and how they were connected.  Brilliant portrayal of WWII and the events following it; in addition to fantastic present-day plot line. 

Overall this was a different kind of mystery because it didn't involve murder, espionage or hiding in the forest to catch the suspect. I appreciated a more pleasant mystery centered around family history and young love. This was a great way to lead in to February and my personal focus each year on expressing my love and appreciation to those around me.

My recommended reading group would be age 12 and above.  It's a PG read with a refreshing group of characters and some interesting history of WWII and post-war Germany.

The moral of the story: Never give up on love. It may feel like the most unsolvable mystery ever, but if you're meant to be together it will happen.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

Other Annie's Attic Mysteries

Missed last week's book review? Click here to read it!