Fabulous Fiction Firsts #839, Murders Most British

Sun, 06/09/2024 - 6:16pm by muffy

R.J. Rozen (of the Lydia Chin/ Bill Smith series) teams up with comics exec John Shen Yen Nee to bring us the ”bewitching series kickoff that cleverly riffs on the Holmes/Watson dynamic,” (Publishers Weekly) in The Murder of Mr. Ma * *  (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook). 

London, 1924. When Chinese scholar Lao She was summoned by mathematician Bertrand Russell to take part in a dangerous bait-and-switch operation to free his friend Judge Dee Ren Jie, mistakenly arrested as a Chinese agitator, Lao was swept up in Dee’s murder investigation of  a Chinese merchant who served with him in the Chinese Labour Corps during WWI. Then more bodies turned up, all pointing to a killer using a rare butterfly sword.

“The intricate plot, which is bolstered by vivid period detail and playfully riffs on real-life figures in Chinese history (including Lao), is enhanced by healthy doses of humor and well-orchestrated action. Readers will be clamoring for a sequel.” (Publishers Weekly)  

“Fans of the Sherlock Holmes canon will appreciate this fast-paced, exciting novel.” (Library Journal)

 

How to Solve Your Own Murder * by Kristen Perrin (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) opens in 1965 as 17 year-old Frances Adams was told by a fortune-teller at an English country fair that one day she’ll be murdered, and one year later, her best friend Emily disappeared. The two events caused Frances to spend a lifetime compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. 

60 years have gone by, Frances, now an enormously wealthy woman, summons her grand-niece Annie, an aspiring mystery writer to the sleepy village of Castle Knoll. When Annie arrives she finds Frances dead in her library - murdered.  France’s will dictates that she will leave her entire estate to Annie, but only if Annie solves her killing. Thanks to Frances's lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. 

“Perrin juxtaposes timelines, detailing Frances's provincial life in the 1960s while Annie's investigation grows increasingly treacherous in the present. The pace is quick, the red herrings are plentiful, and Annie's growth from timid wannabe writer to confident sleuth is beautifully rendered. Combining elements of Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz, and Midsomer Murders, this is a richly entertaining whodunit from a promising new talent.“ (Publishers Weekly)

 

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder * by C. L. Miller (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook)  exposes the dark underbelly of the antiques trade. Forty-something Freya Lockwood is at a crossroad - a divorced empty-nester about to lose her London home, when the news reaches her that her estranged mentor Arthur Crockleford has died under mysterious circumstances. Returning to the quaint village where she was raised by her Aunt Carole upon her parents’ accidental death, she finds out they are to inherit Arthur’s antique shop,  thus thrusting her back into a life she had sworn to leave behind. 20 years ago Arthur was implicated in the death of Freya’s boyfriend when the two of them were investigating stolen artifacts and antique forgeries in Cairo. 

“A trail of clues left by Arthur leads Freya and Carole to an old manor house filled with antiques and populated by various mysterious guests, all of them with hidden agendas and exuding varying degrees of menace. The author, daughter of Judith Miller (Miller's Antique Price Guide), draws on her own knowledge of antiques to develop the backdrop of the mystery.” (Library Journal)

 

For Your Listening Pleasure

The Other Half, a “crackling debut” (Publishers Weekly) by Charlotte Vassell (also in downloadable eBook) which The Guardian called “smart, pacy and good fun.”

When Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp discovered the body of Instagram influencer Clemmie O’Hara on his morning run at Hampstead Heath, attention was immediately drawn to her boyfriend Rupert Beauchamp,(no relations to the detective) heir to a baronetcy, who the evening before, threw himself a tawdry black-tie 30th birthday bash at a London McDonald's, where guests washed down their fries with champagne and cocaine.

Clemmie’s death couldn't have been more timely or convenient for Rupert who was ready to dump her for Nell Waddingham, a publishing assistant. Friends since their uni days, Nell is still traumatized by what happened to her on their recent trip to Greece, and wants nothing to do with Rupert. 

“His (Caius’s) search takes him through a web of over-privileged suspects on whom the detective casts a half-contemptuous, half-envious eye, and eventually delivers him to the doorstep of a murderous, elite conspiracy.” (Publishers Weekly)

 * * = 2 starred reviews

* = Starred review