The Last Anniversary

 I enjoyed Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, both written by Liane Moriarity so this time I chose The Last Anniversary. I enjoyed the first two books more than this one and that makes sense because The Last Anniversary was only her second book. No doubt she becomes a better writer with practice. This story is set on Squibbly Gum Island which is an island in a river near Sydney, Australia. The island is owned by the Doughty family. At the beginning of the story Rose and Connie are the teenaged daughters during the depression. Their father cannot work because of his war wounds. Their mother does work until she succumbs to pneumonia. The girls end up getting jobs to support their family. On the other side of the island is a house where their grandparents used to live. The house is rented out to Jack and Alice Monroe. Jack and Alice are expecting a baby. Connie and Rose visit the Monroe's one day only to find a marble cake cooling on the table, the tea kettle boiling, and the newborn baby girl asleep in the crib. Jack and Alice have disappeared. This mystery gets into the newspapers. Connie and Rose keep the baby girl and name her Enigma. Thanks to Connie, Squibbly Gum Island becomes a tourist attraction. Visitors visit the house of Alice and Jack Monroe while Connie and Rose explain the mystery, and sell tarts and coffee and tea. A piece of marble cake comes with the price of the tour. This story has many characters in it. Enigma grows up to have two daughters and three grandkids.  By the time the grandkids come around the Doughty family has become wealthy. Every year they have an anniversary celebration of finding baby Enigma and they make a lot of cash. Solving the mystery would be bad for business. The mystery does get solved which is why this is the last anniversary. The ending of the book has a jaw dropping "never-saw-that-coming" ending that will really surprise you.