Carousel - Linda Crockett - DTB

This is one of the books I picked out for my 2015 challenge.  I found this book when I was working at a library many moons ago.  Anyone who knows me, or has walked in my house, knows that I am a total carousel nut.  I have carousel horses on the walls, porcelain carousel figures in my kitchen and numerous carousel art books.  I even tried to carve a small one out of wood once (I discovered I didn't have the natural talent for that). Also my childhood dog's name was Crockett.  It was like the book was meant for me!

Anyway, on to the review!

Meredith gets a call that a wealthy man has left her his estate and fortune.  She soon discovers that the woman she's called "mother" all these years isn't her biological mother, but is actually her aunt.  Her real mother was trapped in an unhappy marriage and disappeared.  It's believed that she ran off with the Gypsy man who was restoring a carousel for her.

Meredith is drawn to the story of her real parents and throws herself into the project that they started.  She brings in experts to help her restore the carousel.  As the group looks closer at the carousel, they're finding small details that can be disturbing and a little creepy.  They're also seeing how Meredith's father tried to counteract the bad vibes that were originally carved into the carousel.  The professor of the group is a little too enthusiastic about the Gypsy roots and the destiny he sees in the overall story.

The professor is willing to do what it takes to have this story turn out the way he wants it to.  He wants Meredith to turn her back on her family and fall in love with the artist in charge.  He does this with well-timed comments and drugs.  He becomes so obsessed with the story, he gets progressively more bold and disturbing in his manipulations.

This book was creepier than I remembered.  It's not scary in a way you would expect.  It's almost worse than the creepy monster under the bed types because the professor is someone the whole family sees as a friend.  They don't start seeing the darker side of him until much later.  He's the wolf in sheep's clothing that you never see coming.

Overall, this is a great book.  There's a ton of fine detail about carousel restoration, which appealed to me.  You're in the professor's head from the start, so revealing him as a villain isn't really giving anything away, but his character is creepy because of how well he hides his true nature.

Sadly, this book isn't available in ebook format.  It's not even in print anymore, which is a shame.  If you happen to see this book in a used book store somewhere and you love carousels, pick this up.  It's a great book that I plan on reading again a few years from now.