Mortal Fire

The Secret of the Journal

Fiction - Suspense
384 Pages
Reviewed on 10/06/2013
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite

Mortal Fire is the debut novel from English author C.F. Dunn. The story is the first in a proposed series entitled The Secret of the Journal and is a novel which will startle the reader into turning one page after another. Dr. Emma D'Eresby is a visiting professor from Cambridge whose specialty is Medieval and Early Modern history. She has agreed to lecture for one year at a prestigious university in Maine with the expectation of getting a close-up view of an ancient document mentioned to her by her grandfather, also a noted historian. But Emma gets more than she bargained for when meeting the faculty during a welcoming affair in her honor. She immediately feels strong negative influences from Professor Staahl of the English department who unkindly lets Emma know of his instant interest in her. Emma also gets immediate attention from another handsome professor as well - Doctor Matthew Lynes, a man who instantly draws her attention and admiration. It is this attention which is the focus of the first novel.

I found Dunn's character development to be unequaled in modern mystery writing. The plot development is likewise superior and something to be admired and emulated by first-time novelists. The reader is held spellbound by the riveting plot so that it is doubtful the novel can be put down in order to attend to current chores or the pull of sleep. Mortal Fire is a gripping piece of writing history that will surely leave readers searching for the next in the series.