A review by lindamarieaustin110159
The Captive by Victoria Holt

3.0

I found the very beginning of this book concerning the childhood of Rossetta Cranleigh to be very intriguing. The story then rapidly incorporates a sea voyage, shipwreck, capture and entrapment in a Turkish harem. I found these adventures to be interesting, but rushed and almost devoid of descriptive details concerning the setting, which would have added some color to the story. I thought the narrative was too focused on conversation. The last portion of the book, the solving of the murder of Cosmos was rather long and drawn out and not nearly as entertaining to read.

Additionally, I gave Captive *** because the storyline at times seemed a bit unbelieveable to me as there were too many coincidences and pieces that fell conveniently into place: Lucas Lorimer, Simon Perrivale, and Rosetta Cranleigh just happen to end up in the same lifeboat and stranded on the island alone together, Simon and Rosetta happen to escape the harem because of predictable alliances, Trecorn Manor just happens to be down the road from Perrivale Court. I would have to say however, that the identity of the murderer was a bit of a surprise to me.