Book Review: Best Kept Secret

Best Kept Secret is the third book in the Clifton Chronicles by award-winning author, Jeffrey Archer.  As with the first two installments in this series, I remained on the edge of my seat throughout the telling.  Archer is truly a gifted storyteller.  Once again, I listened to the audio version and reveled in the wonderful British accent (although I will say the narrator, Alex Jennings, tends to provide a whiny voice for every single American accent he delivers - are we really that whiny sounding?).  I'm going to be anxiously awaiting the final two books in this series, since Archer always manages to end with a cliff-hanger (this time, someone dies, but we're not sure who yet).

In the previous book, the cliffhanger involved a decision pending from the House of Lords.  With a tied vote, the Lord Chancellor must make the deciding vote and it will have long-reaching ramifications for the Clifton and Barrington families (deciding which of the two will inherit the Barrington estate, "and all that therein is").  Harry Clifton navigates the labyrinth of a best-selling author and Emma decides to attempt to adopt the young girl who was left behind when her father was killed.  But the bulk of the story centers around Giles Barrington, with his political aspirations, and Sebastian Clifton (son of Harry and Emma), with his educational worries and his unwitting involvement in an act of international art fraud.  As always, there is a final twist in the tale, and in the end, we are left to wonder whether the criminal's son or Sebastian Clifton has died in a horrific traffic accident.

The author has done a superb job of crafting a highly involved plot and peopling it with interesting, well-rounded characters.  The reader ends up hating the bad guy, rooting for the good guy, and waiting with bated breath to discover the final outcome.  I relished hating Sir Giles Barrington's scheming and conniving wife.  I equally despised Sir Giles Barrington's political opponent (and lifelong foe).  I was thrilled to see the story weave in another generation and can only hope for more interesting storytelling in the final two books.