Category: Blog Tour

Book Review – Hemlock Bay by Martin Edwards @HoZ_Books @AriesFiction

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Hemlock Bay by Martin Edwards, the latest book in his Rachel Savernake historical crime series. My thanks to Andrew at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Sarah and Joe at southseareads

About the Book

Book cover of Hemlock Bay by Martin Edwards

Basil Palmer plans to murder a man called Louis Carson. The problem is he doesn’t know anything about his intended victim, not who he is nor where he lives.

After learning that Carson runs a hotel in Hemlock Bay, a playground for the wealthy and privileged, Palmer invents a false identity. Posing as Dr Seamus Doyle, he journeys to the coast plotting murder along the way.

Meanwhile, after hearing a fortune teller has predicted a murder in a place called Hemlock Bay, amateur sleuth Rachel Savernake rents a cottage there, determined to discover for herself the serpent that has slithered into this idyllic Eden.

Murder does occur at the resort, and after meeting a mysterious doctor called Seamus Doyle, Rachel finds herself entering a maze of intricate mysteries – just where she likes to be…

Format: Hardcover (384 pages) Publisher: Aries Fiction
Publication date: 12th September 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

Find Hemlock Bay on Goodreads

Purchase Hemlock Bay from Bookshop.org [Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops]

My Review

Hemlock Bay is the fifth in the author’s historical crime series featuring amateur detective Rachel Savernake. The publishers are keen to stress the books can be read in any order and it’s true you don’t need to have read all the previous books in the series to enjoy this one. (I’ve only read books three and four.) There are passing references to previous cases (but they don’t amount to spoilers) and to Rachel’s past but, as it happens, she remains a bit of an enigma to even keen followers of the series.

Just what was it about her childhood growing up on the remote Gaunt Island as the daughter of the infamous Judge Savernake that has made her so impenetrable, has given rise to her sudden changes of mood and occasional bursts of anger? All we do know is that it’s inspired a liking for puzzling mysteries – the more impenetrable the better – and a burning passion to see justice done. If that means being a little bit ruthless, employing a good helping of subterfuge or stepping a teeny bit outside the letter of the law – well, the end justifies the means surely?

Rachel may seem a little unapproachable but that doesn’t mean she lacks for admirers, notably crime reporter for the Clarion newspaper, Jacob Flint, although he fears he may have a rival in Inspector Oakes of Scotland Yard. And she has inspired the utmost loyalty in the other members of her household – the Truemans – who act less as servants and more as companions, and as assistants in her crime-solving activities.

I don’t know about you but the name Hemlock Bay gave me negative vibes from the start, hemlock being a deadly poison. Although created as an upmarket resort, there’s something not quite right under the surface. Perhaps it’s the stories of wreckers luring sailors onto the rocks that surround the bay in olden times or a recent tragedy that took place. Or perhaps it’s the fact it’s a place where people can indulge in activities they wouldn’t want made public. Whichever, it’s not long before deaths start occurring, the suspects pile up, alibis are tested, timelines are calibrated and possible motives explored.

Fans of ‘Golden Age’ crime mysteries will love the intricate plot, the murders that seem impossible to have been committed and the familiar tropes of the genre such as the gathering together of all the suspects to reveal the solution. Oh, and the surprise you weren’t expecting – except you were expecting it because there’s always a surprise you weren’t expecting in this sort of story. The cluefinder at the end of the book lists 47 hints in the text that point to the solution. I spotted a couple of potential clues but was way off when it came to working out their relevance. Luckily, Rachel Savernake is on hand to piece it all together for us. Until then, sit back and enjoy being completely bamboozled.

In three words: Ingenious, entertaining, assured
Try something similar: Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead

About the Author

Author Martin Edwards

Martin Edwards has won the Edgar, Agatha, H.R.F. Keating, Macavity, Poirot and Dagger awards as well as being shortlisted for the Theakston’s Prize. He is President of the Detection Club, a former Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and consultant to the British Library’s bestselling crime classics series.

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Book Review – Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead @AriesFiction @TomMeadAuthor

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Blog tour banner Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead

Welcome to the the final day of the blog tour for Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead which was published on 1st August 2024. My thanks to Poppy at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Head of Zeus for my review copy via NetGalley.

About the Book

Book cover of Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead

Hampshire, 1938. When prominent judge Sir Giles Drury starts receiving sinister letters, his wife suspects Victor Silvius, a man confined to a sanatorium after attacking Sir Giles. Meanwhile, Silvius’ sister Caroline is convinced her brother is about to be murdered… by none other than his old nemesis Sir Giles Drury.

Caroline seeks the advice of Scotland Yard’s Inspector Flint, while the Drurys, eager to avoid a scandal, turn to Joseph Spector. Spector, renowned magician turned sleuth, has an uncanny knack for solving complicated crimes – but this case will test his powers of deduction to their limits.

At a snowbound English country house, a body is found is impossible circumstances. Spector and Flint’s investigations collide as they find themselves trapped by the snowstorm where anyone could be the next victim – or the killer…

Format: Hardcover (320 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 1st August 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

Find Cabaret Macabre on Goodreads

Purchase Cabaret Macabre from Bookshop.org [Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops]

My Review

Cabaret Macabre is the third book in the author’s series of ‘locked room’ mysteries featuring illusionist and private detective Joseph Spector. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the two previous books – Death and the Conjuror or The Murder Wheel – because Cabaret Macabre can definitely be enjoyed as a standalone. Plus the good news is that although there are references to events in the earlier books, these are not spoilers so you could still go back and read them.

Marchbanks, the country home of Sir Giles Drury and his wife Lady Elspeth, makes the perfect location for a murder mystery. Set in large grounds, there’s a lake, a boathouse and a bedroom in which a previous (and unsolved) murder took place. There’s even a housekeeper who gave me Mrs Danvers (from Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca) vibes. As Spector remarks, ‘It was a place of secrets… Secrets, and death’.

Perhaps the best way to give you an idea of the complexity of the plot is this quote from Inspector Flint who for much of the time is just as baffled as the reader. ‘The whole thing feels like a jigsaw with all the wrong pieces. They should fit, but they don’t.’ But don’t worry, although even Spector acknowledges the challenge, you just know he’ll be able to unravel all the threads to reveal the full picture… eventually. ‘A puzzle. An enigma. A conundrum. But never impossible, Flint. Nothing is impossible.’

When it comes to inventive – and, yes, macabre – ways for people to meet their end, Cabaret Macabre absolutely delivers with scenarios worthy of an Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers crime novel including, of course, the obligatory ‘locked room’ murder.

I’ll say it now, don’t even attempt to work out who did it, why they did it and how they did it because the effort will make your brain spin. Just sit back and enjoy the ride and wait for Spector to explain it all at the end. But give yourself a pat on the back if you spotted any of the clues (although helpfully the author does occasionally point you in their direction) but award yourself a ‘How clever am I?’ prize if you managed to work out their relevance. The barometer anyone?

Cabaret Macabre is another fiendishly intricate and skilfully plotted murder mystery that fans of Golden Age crime will absolutely love.

In three words: Clever, intricate, entertaining
Try something similar: Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang

About the Author

Author Tom Mead

Born in Derbyshire, British author Tom Mead is the author of the critically acclaimed crime thriller novels Death and The Conjuror and The Murder Wheel. His debut novel was selected as one of Publishers Weekly’s Mystery/Thriller Books of the Year. Mead has been critically acclaimed by the Guardian, Sunday Times, New York Times, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly amongst many others.

His Joseph Spector Locked-Room Mysteries have been critically acclaimed and longlisted for the Capital Crime and Historical Writers’ Association Awards. Tom’s fiction pays modern homages to the Golden Age and is filled with references for golden age crime thriller fans to pick up on in this 21st century take on classic crime fiction.

Connect with Tom
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