Publication Date: 04th Jan 2024
Genre: Historical Cozy Mystery
3.5 Stars
One Liner: Quite good and lighthearted
1924 Cotswold, England
Maybury-in-the-Marsh is a quaint little village with some interesting personalities. Amy Phelps of the Old Forge comes from old money and has a dominant presence. However, she has been uncertain the past few days and contacts Arbuthnot ‘Arbie’ Swift for help.
Young Arbie, though the author of the best-selling book The Gentleman’s Guide to Ghost-Hunting, wants nothing to do with hard work. He is happy to be idle and stay away from others’ lives. However, with Amy’s insistent appeal and Val’s (his friend and the vicar’s daughter) determination to help, Arbie has no choice but to do what is expected of him.
Soon, Amy Phelps is dead, and Arbie knows it’s not natural. Someone murdered her. Despite his reluctance, Arbie and Val join heads to solve the case and find the killer.
The story comes in the third-person omnipresent POV.
My Thoughts:
The book is written like it would have been in the 1920s. This works to an extent, and we get a more realistic feel of the setting, language, and people. However, a few phrases (old bean, stiff upper lip, etc.) feel repetitive. Still, I like that the book tries to recreate the Christie and Wodehouse ‘feel’.
Arbie and Val might give vague Tommy and Tuppence vibes, though they are very much different. Arbie is a typical 20-something lad who hates the idea of work. Val is the daughter of an impoverished vicar and a force of nature. Nevertheless, Arbie manages to create a better impression by the end. He is a bit of Bertie Wooster (with no Jeeves to help).
Though the mystery begins early, the murder doesn’t happen in the first quarter. But this adds to the intrigue as I wanted to see when it would happen. That said, waiting that long wasn’t a good feeling.
The suspects are easy enough to track and have varied personalities. However, they don’t get much character development. The setting and main characters have potential, so this could very well become a series. In fact, given the extent of detail we get, this is bound to be followed by more books (I’d be disappointed otherwise).
The (locked room) mystery is interesting, though I wish it was handled better. The middle has filler content, which I skimmed through. The story would read better if the whole thing ended in 300 pages or less.
You see a cat’s silhouette on the cover. That’s Empress Maud, a well-fed, fluffy black feline with tiger stripes. She has a role to play, though not much.
There are quite a few references to Christie and Holmes by the characters. Not that annoying for me, but others may not like it. Also, despite the references to ‘Victorian’ the book is more of a Golden Age mystery.
To summarize, Murder by Candlelight is an entertaining mystery with a good dose of humor. It would read even better if it were not buried under filler content.
This is my first book by the author, though I heard a lot about her mysteries. The book isn’t great, but I will happily read more books in the series.
Thank you, NetGalley and HQ Digital, for the eARC.
#NetGalley #MurderbyCandlelight
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