Nicola Ferris, on leave from her job as a secretary in Athens, has been looking forward to a quiet week’s holiday in Crete, enjoying the wild flowers and the company of her cousin Frances. But before she even reaches her destination Nicola stumbles on evidence of a murderous crime involving a young Englishman and a group of people tied together by blood and the bonds of greed. For the first time … time in her life Nicola meets a man and a situation she cannot deal with . . .
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If you like to match your reading to the seasons, this is a great book to read in the spring at Easter: unspoiled Crete, wildflowers galore, and hidden danger in the hills above a sleepy fishing village. I rarely re-read books, but I’ve returned to Mary Stewart’s books again and again over the years and The Moonspinners is one of my favorites!
I found this book after the Halley Mills/Disney movie and became a fan of the author. I credit this book with launching my love of the romantic suspense novel and it is still a “comfort read” for me. They recently released the audio and I have found listening to the story has made me love and appreciate it all over again.
5 Stars
As a teen, I fell in love with The Moon Spinners, Madam, Will You Talk? and My Brother Michael. They are wonderful, adventurous, romantic reads. As an author, I appreciate her pacing, development and ability to make place a major character in her books. Mary Stewart made romantic suspense a genre. Everyone should read her. And, best of all, for the first time, these books are available as ebooks. Try one, you’ll love it.
I’ll admit that I saw the Disney movie first. When my mother gave me her copy of the book, I was hooked on Mary Stewart’s wonderful romantic adventures. She is the author who started me on my own path of writing.
I’m spending the coronavirus re-reading all my Mary Stewart books. She is as exceptional the third or fourth time as she was the first. (I often say everything I know about writing, I learned from Mary Stewart). This 1962 novel has aged reasonably well, with some sexism apparent but not so much so that it’s glaringly obvious. And the story is wonderful: a young woman alone in Crete on vacation sees something she shouldn’t have… but instead of being in over her head, she deals with the situation quite competently. And Stewart’s trademark descriptions make you feel like you’re walking the hills of Crete yourself! Just fabulous.
The Haley Mills movie made kind of a hack of the story, but it was good too. But then Hollywood almost always makes a hash of any story they make from a book. The better the book, the bigger the hack. Not that the movie was bad, it wasn’t, it just wasn’t the same story.
The book is chock full of beautiful scenery, muscled Greeks, stolen loot, a lovely intelligent heroine, a handsome hero, and all sorts of exciting adventures.
I love Mary Stewart. The Moonspinners is a wonderful adventure set in Greece. The characters are very well developed and the descriptions of the area are very well done. The mystery is superb and keeps you guessing while you weave your way through danger and a developing love. This is another hard to put down books that leaves you remembering it for years after. I read this years ago and loved rereading it on my kindle.
I’m old and I loved the movie when I was a kid. The book is fun and it brought me back to being a teenager. and that takes a lot of doing.