It's always a pleasure to read a Kate Morton book. I try to space them out to "make them last," rather than reading one right after the other, as she's a relatively new author with just 5 books to her name. That being said, her stories have never read as though they're written by a "new" author, in my opinion, and the same holds true for "The House at Riverton," which was her debut novel.
Certain elements of the plot are reminiscent of Downton Abbey: the British aristocracy at the dawn of WWI through the 1920s, the details of and differences between the lives of the wealthy and pampered peerage versus the lower-class servants who kept the estates running smoothly. Being a Downton Abbey fan, I loved this part of the story.
A "whodunit" of sorts is at the heart of the plot. For decades, the world has believed that a famous poet and friend of the Hartfords committed suicide during a party at Riverton in the midst of the Roaring 20s, but Grace, the narrator and a former servant at Riverton has been keeping the family's secrets for over 70 years. She's flooded with a rush of memories when contacted by an American producer who is planning to turn the Riverton tragedy into a film, and the story alternates between Grace's flashbacks and the present day. While the characters experience heartache and loss throughout the story, it's still a great read and one that left me guessing what had really happened at the Riverton party until the end.
"The House at Riverton" is available from Cloud Library through the State Library of Kansas.