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I liked David and his bond with his son Rory, and I was sad about how unworthy his ex-wife was, but at least in books, karma makes its appearance and I hope David's future is brighter than the present! And because mystery books were not her usual genre, I was not sure what to expect, but I certainly had a huge surprise as a worked my way through it. It is not long before another death occurs at the school. One of the masters, Hugh Daneman, is found dead in his study. This one is clearly a suicide but it is still unsettling. One of the younger pupils, Rory Millar, is clearly distressed and frightened. His parents have just divorced and Rory is desperate to see his father, David, who has embraced alcohol again. To top it all off, Julian Forbes, a lawyer who has moved in with Rory’s mother is found dead in the cellar at the school, the same cellar where a young boy killed himself 25 years ago. This one is clearly a murder and greatly muddies the waters! A cross between a police procedural and a murder mystery but not quite a Cozy, the likable characters out number the unappealing ones. No overt details or descriptions either. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a maze type book without much bloodshed and the parameters fit perfectly here.
The Murders at Fleat House: Riley, Lucinda: 9781952457838 The Murders at Fleat House: Riley, Lucinda: 9781952457838
As staff at the school close ranks, the disappearance of young pupil Rory Millar and the death of an elderly Classics Master provide Jazz with important leads, but are destined to complicate the investigation further. As snow covers the landscape and another suspect goes missing, Jazz must also confront her own personal demons . . .This isn’t exactly a cozy mystery or fully police procedural. It’s a blend of two, which I find very interesting.
Murders At Fleat House - Lucinda Riley The Murders At Fleat House - Lucinda Riley
The initial mystery element of Lucinda Riley’s first crime tale was presented well. This boarding house murder mystery was intriguing and the first few chapters played out well, casting plenty of suspicion. Riley does a good job of setting her scene in the Norfolk surrounds, this location had a misty and creepy vibe. Additional tension from bullying, allegiances, privilege, power, deception, betrayal, lies, the rumour mill and even ghost stories extend the conjecture element of this tale. Riley ensures that this book contains a distinct air of tension, suspicion and mounting danger. The characters appeared to be quite a troublesome bunch and they kept me on my toes. My sense of trust, concern and blame shifted as the novel made its way from the beginning through to the end. However, I did feel that the plot was slightly bumpy in places, unclear at times and complicated. A glance at the additional notes by the author’s son reveals that The Murders at Fleat House was left fairly unchanged, with the family opting to keep the novel as close as possible to original manuscript penned in 2006. I have the utmost respect for Riley’s family in keeping this novel as close as possible to Lucinda’s voice. I do wonder if this was ever intended to be the start of a possible series continuation for Detective Jazz, who is quite an engaging lead character. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review. I am so glad The Murders at Fleat House was published posthumously . It's one of my favourite reads and I will certainly be buying a hard copy to sit beside Lucinda Riley's other books on my shelves. Reunited with her loyal sergeant, she enters the closed world of the school, and as Jazz begins to probe the circumstances surrounding Charlie Cavendish’s tragic death, events are soon to take another troubling turn. Then a particularly grim discovery at the school makes this the most challenging murder investigation of her career. Because Fleat House hides secrets darker than even Jazz could ever have imagined . . .
The other two books were The Butterfly Room, and The Olive Tree (which is also called Helena’s Secret), and both of those books have also been released. These two books were released before Lucinda’s death in 2021, and in fact, Lucinda herself apparently did extensive rewrites of her own work before they were published. In the case of The Olive Tree and The Butterfly Room, Lucinda undertook extensive rewrites (as any author revisiting a project after a decade would wish to). Mum has not had that opportunity in the case of The Murders at Fleat House. As such, I faced a quandary when taking the decision to release this book. Was it my responsibility to edit, adapt and update the text, as she would have wished to? After much contemplation, I felt that preserving Mum’s voice should take precedence. With this in mind, only the bare minimum editorial work has been undertaken. The death of Lucinda Riley from cancer at the age of only 56 last year truly is a tragedy - not just for her family, but for the Bookloving World - she was at the height of her success with the Seven Sisters series, and who knows what else she would’ve gone on to write. This, her only crime novel, was written in 2006, and while complete, was not “finished”. Her son, Harry Whittaker, a writer himself, explains in the foreword that his dilemma was whether to publish it as it was, or rewrite and update it. He chose to honour his mother by leaving it unchanged, which I respect, but it means that this is not as good as it could’ve been with comprehensive editing and correction of various mistakes. She was such a compelling story-teller however, that this was still a very enjoyable mystery. Sadly, Lucinda passed away before she could finish the eighth and final book in her Seven Sisters series, and so entrusted its secrets to her eldest son, Harry, who completed Lucinda’s final novel to ensure her fans could complete the journey they embarked upon with her. Charlie is exposed as an arrogant bully and those around him had both motive and opportunity to switch the drugs he took daily to control his epilepsy.
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