lover of old books, old wine, old things, and old men: The tale of Halcyon Crane

Good book. Halcyon Crane finds out that the mother she thought was dead has been alive the hole time.
Father faked there death to get her away from haunted house where a murder took place. She comes back and inherates the house and the mystery. I loved it

A young woman travels alone to a remote island to uncover a past she never knew was hers in this thrilling modern ghost story.

When a mysterious letter lands in Hallie James’s mailbox, her life is upended. Hallie was raised by her loving father, having been told her mother died in a fire decades earlier. But it turns out that her mother, Madlyn, was alive until very recently. Why would Hallie’s father have taken her away from Madlyn? What really happened to her family thirty years ago?
In search of answers, Hallie travels to the place where her mother lived, a remote island in the middle of the Great Lakes. The stiff islanders fix her first with icy stares and then unabashed amazement as they recognize why she looks so familiar, and Hallie quickly realizes her family’s dark secrets are enmeshed in the history of this strange place. But not everyone greets her with such a chilly reception—a coffee-shop owner and the family’s lawyer both warm to Hallie, and the possibility of romance blooms. And then there’s the grand Victorian house bequeathed to her—maybe it’s the eerie atmosphere or maybe it’s the prim, elderly maid who used to work for her mother, but Hallie just can’t shake the feeling that strange things are starting to happen . . .
In The Tale of Halcyon Crane, Wendy Webb has created a haunting story full of delicious thrills, vibrant characters, and family secrets.

Hallie’s father talks about seeing Madlyn at the nursing home the day before he died. Do you think he really saw her spirit, coming for him? Why or why not? Do you believe the veil between the living and the dead is lifted as a person passes from one life to the next?
Hallie has twice been sidelined by men she loved: her husband and her father both were different men than she knew them to be. How did their deception—nonmalicious though it was—affect her? Did she do the right thing by ultimately trusting Will?
Each child born of the spell from the Witch of Summer Glen has a special otherworldly ability or gift. With Hallie, her gift develops the longer she stays on the island. Do you think Hallie simply grew more aware of her innate talent, or did being on the island somehow change and enhance her abilities?
What is the significance of mirrors with respect to Hallie’s ability to “see”?
Why couldn’t Madlyn understand the danger the island posed to her young daughter Hallie? Was Madlyn a good mother?
Was Hallie’s father justified in taking his child away from his wife and their home? Did you think he could have handled that situation differently—perhaps more openly and truthfully?
Mira befriends Hallie, but she also harbors a great secret that isn’t revealed until the end of the book. Did you understand Mira’s decision to keep the truth to herself for so long, given that she barely knew Hallie, or should she have revealed it sooner? What secrets would you keep from a friend?
Did you enjoy the way Hallie’s “tale” is slowly revealed to her? Are there storytellers in your family who have kept family lore alive?
Forgiveness is one of the themes in this novel. Who most needed to be able to forgive? Who most needed to be forgiven?
Have you ever seen a ghost? Do you know anyone who has? What are some of the best ghost stories you know?