Review: Cedardale Court
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 4, 2012
I was contacted by the author himself to give the book a chance then to post my thoughts, whether I loved or hated it.  I have to admit it has taken a while to get around to reading it due to the influx of books I had received, this week being a 'work free week' gave me time to sit and read some books and try to make my way through the ever growing pile.  From the moment I started Cedardale Court I had one thought, why didn't I start this sooner??Cedardale Court introduces us to Canner and his daughter Chloe as they are moving from their previous home, to go to move in with Uncle Henry.  Their first day there is full of surprise, when a car crashing into a water hydrant results in bones and body part being unearthed.  The police are quickly involved and we get to follow different characters as they tell their own stories that all meet up in the final chapters to conclude with a great ending.  Occasionally Cedardale Court goes back to 30 years prior, to Jane and her husband, and we get to watch their story unfold and find out what happened to him.I really liked getting to see into the lives of other people and not just Canner, Chloe and Henry, and seeing how their story started and how it links and intertwines with others stories.  I enjoyed seeing the plot slowly unravel, with false hints and clues thrown in to distract me from finding out who did it and I was kept guessing right to the end about who it was and was surprised by the result.Throughout Cedardale Court you get to see new bonds formed between relatives that end up being strong and secure, and tentative bonds formed as a last resort between neighbours.  We get to see the relationship between Canner and Chloe develop more and I feel like although moving wasn't the best thing for them to begin with, by the end of the book I felt they were much closer and understood each other more.I really enjoyed reading Cedardale Court and look forward to reading more of Nathan's work.My favourite quote had to be this, I actually laughed out loud reading it."I'm starting to see how life isn't so much about success as it is about sucking just a little less than everyone else."