WHEN Digby Coombe-Watson – the reluctant owner of his odious Victorian ancestor’s crumbling museum of purloined colonial ‘horrors’ – is found murdered, Met Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp is soon on duty and unravelling a case that has ties uncomfortably close to home.
If you like your crime mysteries to have all the complex
detective work and exquisitely drawn characters of Agatha Christie but with an
original and insightful voice, an acidly satirical edge, and a decidedly 21st
century vibe, then treat yourself to the fourth book of Charlotte Vassell’s
fun, quirky and entertaining whodunit series.
After the runaway success of The Other Half, The In Crowd and A Deadly Inheritance, award-winning Vassell (below) delivers another gripping, high-energy police procedural set within the upper echelons of London’s rich and powerful milieu, and exploring contemporary issues like fame, celebrity, online dating and the deadly dangers of obsession. It’s a tale with disparate plot threads which draw almost magically together and unfold against an intriguing murder case littered with wickedly incisive social commentary, plenty of twists and turns, and a cast of captivating characters who could only have been conjured up by a writer who also trained to tread the boards.
His milliner girlfriend Callie’s ex-boyfriend turned up
drunk as she was filming and started a fight with handsome hunk Caius, all of
which had since gone viral on social media and was causing ‘a collective swoon.’
Fortunately for Caius, his chirpy fellow officers, DS Matt Cheung and DC Amy
Noakes, are distracted from their teasing by reports of a murder at the Horatio
Combe Institute in Camden.
Owner and curator Digby Coombe-Watson has been found
poisoned by hemlock on the floor of the institute that houses his 19th
century adventurer great-grandfather’s motley collection of, among other grisly
displays, dead animals and shrunken human heads garnered from gallivanting all
over the empire.
The unsuspecting Digby’s demise began when he fixed up an
online candlelit dinner date for two with a mysterious woman called Isolde at
the institute despite those important rules about first dates… don’t talk about
your ex, ask lots of questions, and always meet in a public place.
Digby, who regarded himself as ‘an intellectual who only
cares about the pursuit of knowledge and the preservation of history,’ didn’t
think the rules applied to him. And he had other worries, chiefly how to get
rid of his great-grandfather’s dilapidated emporium, and whether his family
would let him. So he ignored the rules, and invited someone in. Now he has been
murdered…
Armed only with a PO Box address for the visitor calling
herself Isolde, and a case that involves false identities, costumes, and
catfishing, Caius and his team have a sinister murder to solve… and Digby’s
death won't be the last.
Vassell’s addictive murder mystery plunges readers into both the moneyed world of the present and into some unexpected corners of medieval history whilst fearlessly puncturing the pretensions, entitlement and conceit of the British class system, and exquisitely nailing the faux manners and mores of the rich and famous. And what a clever, complex story it is as Caius pursues an elusive killer and Callie’s work sees her tangled up in some ghostly goings-on, all brought seamlessly to life by the sharpest writing and an entertaining blend of descriptive language, lively dialogue and an irresistible brand of sardonic humour.
As Caius and Callie’s romance moves into new territory, Vassell’s
refreshingly different series continues to serve up familiar tropes like red
herrings, intriguing suspects and page-turning plotting with wit, style and
moments of high drama. Add on Caius’s team of charismatic detectives, a fine
line in banter, and a tantalising twist in the tail, and you have a clever
concoction of crime fiction with a delicious side serving of satire!
(Faber & Faber, paperback, £9.99)
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