Better known for her two different series featuring Kate Powers and Sophie Rivers, Judith Cutler has based her second standalone novel around southern Kent. In Drawing the Line, we are introduced to Lina (short for Evelina) Townend, a young girl who has been fostered for most of her young life until she starts to live with Griff. Griff is a kindly old gay antiques dealer and a former actor who takes her under his wing and shows her the ropes of the antiques business. As much as she enjoys living with Griff, she still hankers after her biological father especially since she has a vague memory from her early childhood of an old house and a distinctive book. When she finds the frontispiece of the book at an antique fair, it triggers memories and a chain of events that even she could not have imagined.
Drawing the Line is an interesting novel with a believable story and some very handy tips on antiques. I enjoyed this novel a lot and have to admit that no matter how much I like reading the author’s two other series, I believe that her standalone books are much better. Her characters are energetic and vibrant and Cutler manages to bring out a sense of liveliness despite the tension that emanates from the book.
However, as much as I enjoyed this book - and I really did - I also had some
problems with it. At times, there was excessive detail, which the reader could
have done without. The novel could have easily have been reduced by thirty pages
without losing the essence of the story. It made me wonder what her editor was
doing. I was not too impressed by having to read half a page of Lina emptying
some sour milk down the drain. If you can ignore these annoying and somewhat
irksome aspects then you are in for a good read. Drawing the Line is well worth
reading
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Ayo Onatade
Judith Cutler is the author of two series, one featuring Academic Sophie Rivers,
and the other featuring Inspector Kate Powersl.