“Nobody owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death.”
―
Reading Prompt: ‘Books with “Murder” in the title’.
In this post we’ll solve a closed-room mystery with the crime-fighting duo Frey & McGray; discover clues to hidden keys to win our share of a deadly inheritance; and read along to save the future of Christmas Town from greedy shareholders!
Two of the books reviewed have very festive vibes, however can and should be read any time of the year.
As we all know, Murder is not just for Christmas.
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Happy Reading, Friends!
“Jonathan Strange meets Jonathan Creek in this blistering crime debut set in Victorian Edinburgh.
Edinburgh, 1888. A virtuoso violinist is brutally killed in his home. But with no way in or out of the locked practice room, the murder makes no sense.
Fearing a national panic over a copycat Ripper, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Ian Frey to investigate under the cover of a fake department specializing in the occult. However, Frey’s new boss, Detective ‘Nine-Nails’ McGray, actually believes in such nonsense.
McGray’s tragic past has driven him to superstition, but even Frey must admit that this case seems beyond reason. And once someone loses all reason, who knows what they will lose next…”
This is the first book in the Frey & McGray Series, and I had a lot of fun!
Side note – does anyone else immediately compare every crime-fighting, puzzle-solving duo to Sherlock and Watson? That’s always my starting point. Good characters will quickly carve out their own path, but I definitely (and discretely) put a deerstalker cap on the lead detective until they do. Fashion.
I enjoyed the dynamic between Frey and McGray. Their bickering is funny, and still leaves room for an underlying respect for each other’s ability to help solve the murders before any other hijinks ensue. They’re on the same team, but can’t fathom how they arrived on the same side. Frey feels he’s been demoted through no fault of his own, and McGray is wading through the world of the occult to try to help his sister recover.
Supernatural elements are hinted at in the story, which I enjoyed, but don’t detract from the main investigation.
This first book was a strong foundation for the characters, and I’m excited to continue with the series. At this point in time, there are about 7 books in the series – so lots to crack on with if you enjoy the ride.
I also appreciated that the crimes that were being investigated were happening at the same time that the Ripper was in London – however we didn’t get bogged down in that search at all, and kept to our own lane.
Readers who like this book may also like:
” Twelve clues. Twelve keys. Twelve days of Christmas. But who will survive until Twelfth Night?
Lily Armitage never intended to return to Endgame House – the grand family home where her mother died 21 Christmases ago. Until she receives a letter from her aunt, asking her to return to take part in an annual tradition: the Christmas Game. The challenge? Solve 12 clues, to find 12 keys. The prize? The deeds to the manor house.
Lily has no desire to win the house. But her aunt makes one more promise: The clues will also reveal who really killed Lily’s mother all those years ago.
So, for the 12 days of Christmas, Lily must stay at Endgame House with her estranged cousins and unravel the riddles that hold the key not just to the family home, but to its darkest secrets. However, it soon becomes clear that her cousins all have their own reasons for wanting to win the house – and not all of them are playing fair.
As a snowstorm cuts them off from the village, the game turns deadly. Soon Lily realises that she is no longer fighting for an inheritance, but for her life.
This Christmas is to die for … Let the game begin.”
“Fear and excitement are twins, they live on opposite sides of the same door. It’s up to you which room you live in.” (p100)
In this story, Lily has to take part in a Christmas game of riddles – along with her cousins – for a chance to win the deeds to ‘Endgame House’ (which she doesn’t want). Lily’s mother was found dead at the centre of a garden maze when she was young, and that has tainted her view of the House ever since. For some reason, Lily’s departed Aunt is also teasing her niece with the backstory to her mum’s death, as part of this game. If she’d told Lily upfront, everyone could have just has a lovely Christmas with their weird family. Oh well – on with the murders!
Quick note to my family – if we’re ever battling for the deeds to a manor house, let’s keep the communication channels open. I think that will save a lot of unnecessary stabbing and mucking around. Also, if you lock me in an ice house, we WILL be having words.
I’m a sucker for a book with a game in it – though I knew from the outset that the wordplay in this book was beyond anything I would be bothered with. I did get one clue early on, and felt like a genius briefly at the end. Briefly. The clues in the book are revealed on each of the 12 days of Christmas, and the author has scattered anagrams for the reader to find in each section of prose. There is a second game – to find the titles of 12 country house mysteries. Reader – I didn’t find any anagrams or titles. What I did find were a LOT of clunky metaphors and phrasing that pulled me out of the book.
Some of the wording was so strange that I kept reading quotes aloud to my husband. For example:
Early in the story, we’re also made aware of a loop hole that means one of the characters has a right of appeal no matter who wins the game – which kind of lowers the stakes. All the family members are pretty toxic though, so I wasn’t ever too fussed on who’d be left standing at the end.
This story did hold my interest, but not sure I’d seek out another book by Benedict.
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“It’s Christmastime 365 days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen.
With Jack’s health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn.
But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods.
When Gord is found stabbed to death, there’s an entire town of potential suspects-and it’s up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays …”
“Who didn’t want to kill Gord Olsen? He was a thoroughly unlikeable man” (p123)
Our lead character, Merry Wilkinson, thinks everyone in her town has motive to kill – which I think speaks of a bigger issue than just the death she’s ‘investigating’.
This is Book 2 in Vicki Delany’s year-round Christmas mystery series. The small town of Rudolph, New York is decked out for xmas all year round and takes great pride in its community and Christmas spirit. When nasty old Gord comes in and just wants to pad out his inheritance, it spins the town into festive chaos.
The lead detective on the case deserves a gold medal for putting up with all the ‘tips’ Merry was providing. Merry called the detective all the time with obvious suspects (the wife or the business partners). Merry has no investigative training and no skin in the game other than her dad is briefly a suspect & she’d prefer the hotel wasn’t sold. At one point, Merry gets a threatening message, and her would-be boyfriend says “… (this) tells me you’re getting closer to the truth than she (the detective) is.” (p222). I can’t possibly see how anyone would be threatened by Merry when all she’s doing is making a list of people she knows and crossing off her family members. She didn’t ‘dig into the case’ at all haha.
Also, why would Merry keep her assistant Jackie on in the store? The back-talk would have me looking for a new employee in no time … “For heaven’s sake, Merry, do you work here or not? … Must be nice to be a boss.” (p209). Merry also spits coffee out at Jackie on accident at one point, and (while admittedly it was gross) Jackie makes a whole to-do about Merry paying for her shirt. No thanks, you’re fired. Later in the book this is addressed – Merry keeps her on because … “she (Jackie) was an excellent salesperson. She had a way of delighting the men with her pretty looks and flirtatious charm that somehow didn’t turn their wives off.” (p252) Gross. You’re both fired.
Anyway, I’ll read Book 3 because I’m keen to see who else is murdered by the awesome power of Christmas.
