If you can swallow the idea of an Elizabethan research team and accept the fact that his book deals much more with marital difficulties than murder, then you might--I repeat, might--enjoy this book, but it is definitely not as good as previous offerings in this series. Either Ms. Emerson is running out of ideas, or she's cranking them out to make money...in either case, the reader ultimately suffers.

The Spanish have pulled untold wealth from the Americas and have prevented the English from doing the same. In response, Queen Elizabeth has tasked Susanna, Lady Appleton and her friend Sir Walter Pendennis to lead a research team to discover some valid English claim to have discovered the Americas before Columbus. The pickings seem slim, but when one of the researchers is murdered, Susanna wonders whether the Spanish have discovered their mission--and have taken steps to prevent success.

Susanna and Walter investigate the unlikely suspects--a small group of aging scholars from Cambridge and Oxford Universities. Yet what possible motives would they have for murder, and why would any of them be interested in supporting the Spanish claims? Still, there is definitely something going on beneath the surface--one of the scholars has been sneaking out of the manor at night and another has a daughter who has ended up in places a young and single woman shouldn't go.

Author Kathy Lynn Emerson writes convincingly about this critical period in English history. Elizabeth holds the crown but is surrounded by enemies abroad and by Catholic and extreme protestant enemies at home. Emerson personalizes the mystery making both Susanna and Walter fully developed characters with conflicted desires and motivations that go far beyond simply solving a crime.

Unfortunately for the novel, Susanna and Walter's personal lives are more interesting than, and not especially connected to the mystery itself. Indeed, the solution to the mystery comes as something of an anticlimax, not resolving the fundamental issues or advancing the personal goals of either primary character. FACE DOWN ACROSS THE WESTERN SEA is a pleasant read and contains intriguing history and historical speculation. Pretty good.

Sir Walter Pendennis is at Priory House in Cornwall on a mission for the queen. With him is Susanna, Lady Appleton, the woman who turned down his marriage proposal s well as a host of England's best scholars. Their job is to find England's claim, if any, to the New World and a faster waterway to the Asian Markets. Susanna is glad to find something worthwhile to occupy her time since her lover Nick Baldwin, a member of the Merchant's Adventures, is in Hamburg to advance England's cause in that port.

When one of the scholars explains to Susanna that one of the documents is missing, she intends to help him look for it. She is distracted from her mission when Sir Walter's estranged wife arrives on the scene causing emotional turmoil. In the meantime, the scholar who lost the document has been killed and Sir Walter and Susanna must find out who did it since England's interests are involved in the matter. When a second scholar disappears and is presumed dead, Susanna is determined to find out what is going on.

Every Susanna, Lady Appleton novel is a joy to read. In an era when a powerful queen ruled England, a widowed noblewoman has much power, especially if she has enough money to back up her desires. Susanna is a person of sterling character who wants to make the world a better place. That is why readers love her and the plot of her latest tale, FACE DOWN ACROSS THE WESTERN SEA, enhances her desire to leave a positive mark while also enhancing the reputation of author Kathy Lynn Emerson

Harriet Klausner

The heroine of this novel, Lauren Ryder, sees a painting at an art exhibit and becomes convinced that she is seeing herself in the painting. The incident triggers memories of a life lived in the 16th century.

Needless to say, Lauren's dreams/memories disturb her husband and her friends. As they intensify, so does the tension between Lauren and her husband.

While this is a entertaining gothic mystery, it's not nearly as good as some of this author's other books. The characterizations are rather thin and too many major developments are thrown into the plot in rather a hapahzard and unconvincing manner. For instance, Lauren's friend Sandra simply accepts the notion of past lives and/or visions without questions and goes along helping Lauren find the truth of her dilemma. The fact that Lauren suddenly, after five years of marriage, decides to tell her husband she has amnesia and does not remember the first 18 years of her life wasn't handled too well either.

Still, despite some glaring flaws, the story is a fun afternoon read.