I am a big fan of Ross Montgomery’s books for children and when he announced his debut adult fiction, I was intrigued. I love mysteries and from the cover reveal and premise, I knew it was a book I needed to read. Luckily, a browse on Netgalley had me downloading and reading quicker than I could have hoped.
It’s 1910 and Stephen Pike, a young man from London, has his sights set on World’s End, a large estate detached from the world by a causeway that floods with the tides daily. Carrying a letter from one of the family who own the estate, he is keen to re-build his life and start fresh. The head butler gives him a grilling but eventually agrees to hire him, as the house is in chaos.
The current Lord, Conrad Stockingham-Welt, believes that the imminent arrival of Halley’s Comet is going to cause the end of the world. Locking and sealing everyone in the house into separate rooms is his grand plan for survival.
The butler, Stephen and the first footman, Lowen, are ensuring that doors and windows are sealed and that locks are filled with wax. Lord Conrad will be the last to be sealed inside. Stephen is to stay with Aunt Decima, an elderly relative who has a reputation for cruelty towards the servants. She takes a liking to Stephen and they ignore the “lockdown” and head into the gardens to watch the comet. Decima is a scientist and disagrees wholeheartedly with Conrad’s belief in the world ending, she has rather scathing views of the entire family!
That very night there is a murder! It’s the quintessential locked room murder only it takes place on a stranded island in a house where all the inhabitants are locked away- so who committed the crime?
This was a formidable debut and the first in what I hope to be a brilliant series featuring Decima and Stephen, an unlikely but perfectly matched pair. Decima bowls off the page with her cursing, firm views and opinions. She likes to shake things up like hornets in a jar! She is absolutely fantastic. Stephen has to atone for his own sins and history and begins to do so with the help of Decima.
There are twists and turns to keep readers guessing and guessing again. There is so much more to the story and I was hooked from the beginning. Cleverly woven in are parts of history around this “world ending comet” and some of the beliefs as shared in reports from that very year.
It’s a masterful mystery! Bet you can’t guess whodunnit!
My Shelves Are Full 