Helen NAYLOR (1999), IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAIN, Cambridge Readers level 5, C1, 2800 headwords

By Odile Liquete, 1º Bachillerato B    EFL

The book is about how the body of the climber Edward Crowe is discovered 74 years after his disappearance in Zermatt, Switzerland. His granddaughter Clare goes to Switzerland to recover the body and to investigate his mysterious disappearance. This trip will help her to discover her family’s past and it will make her rethink her future.

The part of the book I liked the best is when Ulrich Grunwalder, the guide who was with Edward Crowe when he disappeared, tells her that her grandfather had an affair with his sister (‘Your grandfather was in love with my sister, Marianne, he came back to Zermatt in 1924 to be with her’), the moment when she discovers that her grandfather had been unfaithful to her grandmother.

I recommend the book to all the people who like mystery novels. The book is easy and fast to read and that makes you take part in the investigation carried out by Clare about the mysterious disappearance of her grandfather.