As a romance, Anne Stuart’s Still Lake is the nifty story of an appealingly damaged hero and a slightly plump heroine with a Martha Stewart complex. As a novel of suspense, however, it’s less successful.

My problem with the latter is a bit difficult to explain without giving away spoilers. Let me just say that as a reader who’s not especially gifted at solving the mysteries around which plots hinge, I cracked this one far earlier than I normally do. And, while there was satisfaction in watching the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, some of my enjoyment in the book was definitely muted. However, as a romance, Still Lake is a good one.

Our heroine Sophie Davis is one of those long, flowing, flowery dress types who spends a lot of time baking delicious concoctions she can’t help eating. Tired of living in a small apartment in New York, she’s left her job writing a homemaking column to pursue her long-held dream of renovating and reopening a remote lakeside Vermont inn. Living with her at Stonegate Farm is her mother, a once vital woman now suffering memory loss and the possible onset of dementia, and her sullen teenage half-sister.

Onto the scene comes one Thomas Ingram Giffin, successful lawyer and major babe. He’s also a guy with a big secret. Twenty years earlier he was convicted of murdering three young girls while working at the same Vermont inn now being renovated by Sophie. Fortunately for our hero, his conviction was overturned after he served five long and painful years in prison for crimes he did not commit.

At least, that’s what he hopes. Unfortunately, even though he has no memory of killing anyone, Thomas did wake up from a drug and alcohol haze the morning after the murders, mysteriously covered in blood. And despite the fact that the answer may not be the one he wants, Thomas is determined to discover the truth. Of course, to do that he’s got to keep his identity from the real killer, so, to Sophie and the other denizens of the town, he’s known as John Smith. (I’d never suspect anything with a name like that, would you?)

Sophie’s irritation level with Mr. Smith starts high and stays that way due to both his abrasive manner and his occasional tendency to make cracks about her weight. But, of course, we know that he’s merely hiding his powerful attraction to Sophie, an attraction our heroine shares. And when the clues seem to point to the possibility that the killer has claimed far more victims than previously suspected and, terrifyingly, that the next targets could be our heroine and her family, Sophie and Thomas have plenty of time to explore their attraction as they work together to find the answers.

Sophie is a terrific heroine with real life foibles and insecurities. Thomas is a strong, stalwart guy with both a heart of gold and the strength of will to face his greatest fear. (That’s a quality you¹ve got to admire.) Their story is far and away the most satisfying aspect of the book.

Still, there is that problem with the suspense that really isn’t. And, while I feel a bit crabby saying this, I’m getting incredibly tired of those sullen teenage characters who seem to be showing up in far too many books these days. Hey, for my money, spending valuable reading time with a sullen teenager is just about as much fun as spending time in real life with a sullen teenager.

The bottom line? Even though the mystery is a bit on the light side, there are definite pleasures to be had in Still Lake so as an intriguing contemporary romance, I can still give it a “qualified” recommendation.