The Murder at World's End

by Ross Montgomery

Synopsis:

Secrets, murder and mayhem collide as this unlikely sleuthing duo - an under-butler and a foul-mouthed octogerian - hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world.

Cornwall, 1910. On a remote tidal island, the Viscount of Tithe Hall is absorbed in feverish preparations for the apocalypse that he believes will accompany the passing of Halley's Comet. The Hall must be sealed from top to bottom - every window, chimney and keyhole closed off before night falls. But what the pompous, dishonest Viscount has failed to take into account is the danger that lies within... By morning, he will be dead in his sealed study, murdered by his own ancestral crossbow.

All eyes turn to Steven Pike, Tithe Hall's newest under-butler. Fresh out of Borstal for a crime he didn't commit, he is the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. His unlikely ally? Miss Decima Stockingham, the foul-mouthed, sharp as a tack, 80-year-old family matriarch. Fearless and unconventional, she relishes chaos and puzzles alike, and a murder is just the thrill she's been waiting for.

Together, this mismatched duo must navigate secret passages, buried grudges and rising terror to unmask the killer before it's too late...

I’m fairly picky about my mysteries, often preferring to stick to stuff like the British Library Crime Classics series, and shying away from a lot of the attempts to set stories in the same eras: they just don’t end up with the right feel. Nor does The Murder at World’s End, to be fair: I was very aware of reading a modern novel with modern sensibilities, and was weirdly most reminded of Robert Jackson Bennett’s Ana and Din (though Miss Decima is far more dismissive of Stephen than Ana is of Din).

Still, it did capture a certain amount of the fun of classic mystery types, with both a locked room and a closed circle element. I thought part of the solution was obvious very early on, and the problem was just figuring out the details — and I missed a big part of the final solution, actually.

I thought the bumbling detective was a bit overdone, though I was amused to read in the acknowledgements that many of the things he said were actually quotations from an actual policeman writing at the turn of the century, Hargrave L. Adam. Sometimes real people are goofier than fiction, I swear: it felt overdone and silly, in the context of the story. At times, it felt like the whole thing was going to devolve into slapstick.

That said, it maintained just enough tension, mystery and atmosphere to hold me, and I sped through it. I’d probably read another book in the series, though I’d like to see Miss Decima show a bit more respect to those around her, especially Stephen. She’s a fun character, a quick-minded older woman who relishes a mystery and to cause a bit of mayhem, but does have a softer side as well, regretting some of her past actions and acknowledging her faults. There’s some good room for growth there. Stephen was less of a stand-out, since he’s kind of hapless, though there’s plenty of room for him to grow as well.

Overall, I had a good time!

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)