"The House on Graveyard Lane" By Martin Edwards: Review/Giveaway

Review by Terrance McArthur

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase it.

Journey back in time to England and the Slump (what Americans called the Great Depression), which is also considered the Golden Age of mystery fiction, where Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh ruled as the Queens of Crime. Martin Edwards studied the writers and fiction of the era, and he writes non-fiction about it and fiction in its style. Case in point, his latest effort—The House on Graveyard Lane.

Meet Rachel Savernake. She’s fabulously wealthy, even in an economic downturn. She’s beautiful; men are drawn to her. She’s smart, and Scotland Yard’s Inspector Oakes is amazed by her detecting prowess. At an underground art gallery that is tunneled under the ground of a railroad track, she meets Damaris Gethin, an avant-garde/surrealist artist who challenges her to solve a murder . . . hers . . . but she isn’t dead . . . yet. Damaris takes care of the not-dead-yet part of the mystery by decapitating herself on a guillotine.

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Image Source Poisoned Pen Press

Now that her client is dead, Savernake begins her investigation with the help of the staff of her home—Trueman (chauffeur and guard), Hettie (cook), and Martha (Trueman’s wife)—and Jacob Flint, head crime reporter of the Courier, who is highly fascinated by Ms. Savernake. Some of the guests at the fatal gallery show become persons of interest:

 ·         Captain Roderick Malam, a multi-sport daredevil whose get-rich opportunities enrich him, but not his investors;

·         Mrs. Kiki de Villiers—a glamourous jet-setter before the age of jets, she is married to an aged invalid, and spends much of her time with her devoted maid;

·         Evan Tucker—a once popular songwriter (whose 1920s-1930s songs bear titles of little-known Bacharach-David songs from the 60s-70s);

·         Nurse Wardle—widow of Captain Malam’s brother, she keeps her late husband’s practice going as a clinic for rich women.

Another fly in the ointment is Marcel Ambrose a French-born gangster. Other threads weave in and out of this cloth of lies, making a tapestry of deceit . . . and Rachel Savernake solves it all.

Edwards’ story exudes the style and trappings of the past, but it crosses into territories and subjects the Grand Dames of murder fiction never touched. The upper crust meet the demimonde meet the criminal class . . . and die.

To enter to win a copy of The House on Graveyard Lane, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "graveyard,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 21, 2024. US residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. If entering via comment please include your email address so we can contact you. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section in Kings River Life and in our mystery category here on KRL News & Reviews. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. And check out our new mystery podcast which features mystery short stories and first chapters read by local actors! 

You can click here to purchase this book.

Terrance V. Mc Arthur is newly retired as a Librarian in Fresno County, California. He is also a storyteller, puppeteer, magician, and maker of pine needle baskets. On top of that he writes stories that range from rhymed children's tales to splatterpunk horror. He's an odd bird, but he's nice to have around.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.