Two interesting characters in this book. Berta and her hideous mother. I would have fled from the mother as well to be honest and went to London. The return journey after her death however is difficult - it has been 15 years since Berta was last year. When she meets the woman who looked after her mother for many years, all kinds of secrets come out. There’s a lot she has to do to come to her past and on that note, there’s a lovely little subplot involving Aris the cat who helps her do just that. Sadly, there’s a lot of thinking time in this book, a lot of hard emotions to face and Berta does seem to overthink things. The novel felt very drawn out and dark because of this and the ending, in contrast, a bit to fairytale-esque.

An interesting translated book to read though!

Great story line kept me gripped right to the very end. Berta arrives home to Madrid after a long time living in London. Her mother has died and she thinks she is there just to sign some paperwork and then return to her restaurant. She becomes caught up in a mystery surrounding the house, her mother, her sister and the long term family servant. Lots of twists and turns held my attention to the very end, but it didn't turn out as I had hoped and expected. I felt the end was rushed and there was no clear final closure. Perhaps there is a sequel planned to finish off the loose threads I was left with at the end.

I read this, but didn't really enjoy it. It didn't get going until about halfway through and by then I was not very interested in the outcome. Sorry, it was just not my type of book I guess.

Letters to a Stranger had so much promise, but it fell short for me. The self pity is so depressing and the book is a bit slow.

I was most enamoured by the title of this book (perhaps the draw of a book should not be based on title alone but it certainly helps!). Sadly, I did not enjoy this book personally as i found it a bit boring. Perhaps it is more suited to readers who have a preference for mystery novels.

Family of Secrets

Berta left home to start a life on her own in London and to get away from her controlling mother. Fifteen years later she receives a call from Theresa ,her mother's housekeeper, that her mother had passed away. She couldn't know by returning to Madrid and her mother's home the secrets that she would find, or that her life as she knew it would change.

The emotions this character felt and her interaction with the other characters in the book were so overwhelming that I could feel them along with her. I jumped when the phone rang, I could smell the French perfume in the setting room. I could hear the purring of the cat, and feel the softness of his fur. I was so intrigued with the story. I couldn't wait to see what was in the next letter from the mysterious Saul. I wanted to know everything Alphonso the PI found out. I couldn't make up my mind if Theresa was part of the secret in a bad way or if she was Berta's friend.

So many secrets, her sister, her mother, the father that disappeared never to be seen again. The man she learned was her real father who also disappeared. The young freeloading nephew of the housekeeper. They all had parts in this intriguing mystery.

I read way too long into the night as I didn't want to put the book down. The book was suspenseful right up to the ending. It was a great book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I will definitely recommend this book.

A great read which kept me reading to the last page. I was impressed that she merged a murder mystery with a love story.
I would like to read more by Mercedes.

I really wanted to like this book but felt it lacked any kind of cohesion. The main character constantly alluded to her sad childhood and her abusive mother, but I could never get a good feel for what happened to her. It was like the author was grasping at something and could not fully develop the sense of what was going on. The entire thing felt like it was a jumbled mess that had potential if it could have just been brought together.

Letters to a Stanger started out a bit slow, but got better as it went. While I did figure out the mystery I enjoyed another part of the ending immensely. While it didn't keep me up all night finishing it, I did find myself wanting to read it whenever I could. I would recommend it.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Overall this is a good read. The story itself is good but I thought that it was a bit long and rambling in places.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Unfortunately, this mystery was nit compelling enough to sustain my interests. I did finish the book, but the resolutions felt like clichès and were disappointing.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review and all opinions are my own.

Luanna

I'm completely baffled by some of the reviews on this page, as I really enjoyed this book! It's certainly more of a mystery than a romance, with the main focus on a murder mystery within the protagonist's family. I liked the air of suspense and supernatural happenings (explained away by psychology), and as the end grew closer, I found myself more and more gripped to learn the secret of what really happened. Fans of mystery novels, family dramas and Spanish soap operas will love this book!

Sad to say this book didn’t live up to the summary. It was far fetched and extremely boring. I actually skimmed alot of it just to get to the ending. Would not recommend. Thank you netgalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.

I wasn’t particularly impressed by this book. The first part of the plot is rather promising, with some element that the author might have developed a bit More. The end is not really credible, it belongs more in a fairy tale.

Sadly, this one wasn't for me. I was really excited by the summary, but it didn't really live up to it - Berta just felt too self-pitying, and it made what could have been a good book one that felt like the longest book in the world. Maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace for it, but for me it was just a bit of a disappointment.

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the eARC.
This is a tough book for me to review. On the one hand I liked the story, on the other it felt a bit drawn out by the musings of Berta, the protagonist. She's not totally likeable, because she feels a bit too sorry for herself, on the other hand I don't blame her for fleeing Madrid for London to get away from her poisonous mother and sister. After the death of her mother, she returns home 15 years later. Back at the home she left the only she is happy about is meeting the woman who looked after her mother for 40 years. And then there's Aris the cat; they become very close as Aris helps her emotionally and makes her feel calm. I liked the Aris angle, it was so sweet. The secrets she uncovers with the help of a private investigator, as well as her own snooping around, help her finally come to terms with her past.