Upon arriving at his former home, Kit has a few memories of his room as a child and of the smells of his mother when she was baking. He learns he was kidnapped at three years old while the family was on a trip to Sicily, but he is able to get little information from the police or newspapers about his disappearance. As Kit gets to know his older brother and sister, and his younger brother and their new families, he also wants to know more about the circumstances surrounding his kidnapping. 

His birth father is in a care facility and has no interest in getting to know Kit at all. While Kit’s family welcomes him and accepts him as Peter Novello, he is surprised to learn that his siblings have all but forgotten about him and he has not left a hole in anyone’s life or heart. As Kit looks into both his families’ histories, he learns that his adoptive father and birth father both once attended a conference where there was a confrontation between the two men. 

Kit continues traces his leads, and finds himself having to start with his grandfather’s activities during WW II and realizes he needs to learn more about his adoptive father and aunt’s trip from Germany to England on a Kindertransport train in order to solve not only the mystery of his kidnapping, but of his adoptive and birth family.  

A quiet, cleverly concealed mystery, Stranger in the Family seems very straightforward at first:  figure out who kidnapped Peter Novello and why, reunite Peter with his birth family, everyone lives happily ever after.  The more questions that are answered, the more questions Kit discovers.  Barnard’s writing is deceptively simple, but nothing gets wasted and readers may find themselves flipping back in the book to try and see what they missed along the way. 

Kit’s new/former family is an interesting bunch of people, much different than he has imagined them, making him wonder if perhaps he should give up his quest. There are many insightful observations about families and the secrets they keep, along with intrigue set in World War II Europe. This is a thoughtful, intelligent mystery with a quiet, determined hero.                                                                

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry