"The Serpent’s Fang" By Matthew Booth: Review/Giveaway

Reviewed by J. M. Landon

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

This is the first Matthew Booth book I have read, and I’m hooked! He covers many of my favorite authors’ styles including Agatha Christie (Poirot) and Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes). Matthew Booth has produced another winner in The Serpent’s Fang, the fourth book in the Everett Carr mystery series.

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The Everett Carr character is much like Christie’s Poirot in that he is a “funny” yet distinctive little man. Carr’s wardrobe is always that of a black suit with a white shirt and intensely colored tie with matching pocket handkerchief. He always wears a stick pin of a silver skull with ruby red eyes. (I’ll have to go back to the first Carr novel to find out the significance of this.) Carr has white hair, including an oversized moustache and an imperial beard. He speaks quietly and carries a silver headed cane to assist him with lameness caused by a shattered knee. Quite a charming character, he is knowledgeable, compassionate, and advanced well beyond the social norms of the time. To him, “love is love,” referring to love within the same gender, which was illegal during the timeframe of this novel.

As for the mystery, there are numerous plot twists and suspects. and all are relevant, distinct, and memorable. He also pens elegant descriptions. For example, in chapter thirty-eight he writes: “The skies had been blue for much of the day, but they had now turned to a dull orange, as if the moisture in the air had caused the cold blue of their steel to rust.” It is well worth the reader’s time to take in every word and savor being in the hands of a skilled narrator.

As well as contributing to anthologies, Matthew Booth has written ten books: three in the Everett Carr Series, one standalone novel, four in the short story collections, and two in the MX New Sherlock Holmes Stories Series.

I am looking forward to diving into all of them.

To enter to win an ebook copy of The Serpent’s Fang, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "fang,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen May 3, 2025. US residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. 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.

 

J.M. Landon is retired and blissfully at work on the ‘great American novel.’ She’s worn many hats through her career including: wife, mother, piano teacher, middle school teacher, university professor, painter, jewelry maker, and dragon tamer. She has eight published short stories.

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.