I was invited to read the second in this series because I read and reviewed How To Solve Your Own Murder previously. So thank you very much to Quercus Books for the chance to read and review this one. I was provided with an electronic copy of this book for review purposes, but was not otherwise compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
We're back in Castle Knoll for this book, a few months after the events of the first book. Annie is getting used to living in the huge manor by herself, but she hasn't really put her stamp on the place yet. She's living a nice enough life, Archie is living in his family's farmhouse on her land and is doing a good trade in restoring old bangers. Her friend Jenny is coming to stay, and she's still in touch with Detective Crane from the police station.
She's out for a walk one morning when she bumps into Peony Lane. She is the woman who gave Great Aunt Frances her fortune all those years ago, telling her that she would be murdered. She tells Annie that she has a fortune for her, but Annie refuses it. Annie carries on to visit Archie, where she finds a dagger stuck in the waterwheel near his house. It has something to do with the crash that took the lives of Olivia, Edmund and Harry, three of the toffs that lived in the manor house. Frances was married to Edmund's brother Ford, who brought up his nephew after the deaths.
Annie takes it back to the house. Jenny has arrived so they go to eat lunch in the solarium and then they find Peony's body. She has been stabbed and the dagger that Annie found is stuck in her back. They obviously have to phone the police. Crane turns up and so does his new boss, Tobias Marks. It looks like Annie is a suspect, but of course, there's more to it.
There's also the dual narrative of Frances' diary from the late 60s, about the aftermath of the crash and about what happened then. Annie has to piece everything together and solve the murder, but in that she uncovers a lot of stuff about the past and the crash.
I generally liked the book and was happy to be back with Annie and the inhabitants of Castle Knoll. I felt like there should be some of this stuff which had come out in the first one, but I'll allow the artistic licence. I also thought it was again just a bit complicated with a couple too many characters. I am looking forward to another instalment in this series. I like Annie and I think there'll be more to do with her family and past.
I'm giving this four out of five.
No comments:
Post a Comment