The Hanging at the Hollow Tree- A Journal Through Time Mystery

I really love historical set books. This book actually takes place between two time periods, 1897 and 2017. This is the second book in the Journal Through Time Mysteries series and I am excited to read the first one and any other ones to come.

The main story takes place in the past. A body is found at a famous landmark in Vancouver, the Hollow Tree, in Stanley Park, a large tree you that is hollowed out and attracts many tourists. A prominent businessman, Arthur Peirce, looks to have committed suicide. Detective Jack Winston is on the case with his assistant Constable Thomas Miller. As the case begins to unfold, and it is revealed that he has been murdered, they soon discover that Arthur Pierce was not who he represented himself to be and may have been pulling a Ponzi scheme. 

The second part of the story takes place 100 years later and involves a museum curator named, Riley Finch. She and Jack solve cases together through a magical journal they are able to communicate through by writing each other. In the present day, Riley is investigating a financial scheme her mother has gotten involved in. 

Throughout the book we see Jack and Riley communicating through the journal. Jack asking if she has any information on the death he's investigating and her giving him advice on how Ponzi schemes work. Riley has also managed to track down one of Jack descendants and she sees him on occasion.

I love the idea of being able to communicate with person from another time through a journal. We find out that the book has magic properties so there is a little suspension of belief but for me that doesn't affect the story. This being the second book in the series, I am most definitely looking forward to more mysteries with these two. The book is well written and clever in the revealing of who the murderer is. I can tell the author did a lot of research involving the history of the time and the setting of the book. The descriptions of the setting are vivid and really take you them. Specifically, the area surrounding the Hollow Tree, which is a real landmark(https://sites.google.com/site/historyofstanleyparkhollowtree/gallery/).

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this series and very much look forward to more of Jack and Riley and their time traveling adventures. I received this book free from Booksirens for an honest review.