1 September 2022.
ISBN: 978-1-80110020-5
The story is set in 1930 and opens in Blackstone Fell, a remote village in rural Yorkshire, not far distant from the wild and threatening countryside immortalised by Emily Bronte in Wuthering Heights. Nell Fagan is a journalist who is determined to retrieve her career, which stalled after she made a disastrous error and lost her position on a London newspaper. Now Nell is using a false name and chasing a new story, stubbornly staying on track, even though she feels menaced by her surroundings in a way that she has never felt in the roughest and most vicious parts of London. Posing as a photographer, Nell attempts, with indifferent success, to get on friendly terms with the inhabitants of Blackstone Fell. These include the hell fire vicar and his young, terrified wife; the genial young doctor who gallivants about the district in his fast car; the retired major who is still mourning his late wife; the elderly doctor of psychology and his son and daughter who run a sanatorium for people with mental health problems; and the curmudgeonly recluse who lives in the ancient tower that is such a scar on the landscape and evades all Nell’s attempts to talk to him.
Nell is nearly killed by a falling boulder, and it becomes evident that her disguise has been penetrated. Nell is a stubborn, abrasive personality but she has to admit, if only to herself, that she needs help. She heads back to London to ask her fellow journalist, Jacob Flint, to attempt to persuade his friend, Rachel Savernake, to listen to her story and consider assisting her. Rachel is a wealthy, beautiful, highly intelligent and reclusive young woman who is fascinated by murder, the more bizarre and complex the better. Unfortunately, some time ago, Nell had lost Rachel’s goodwill when she lied to her. However, Nell has a tempting bargaining chip to gain Jacob’s cooperation, she offers him a way in which he can attend a seance by an elusive medium that his editor is determined to unmask as a fraud.
Jacob brokers the meeting between Nell and Rachel, during which Nell tries to interest Rachel in the investigation by telling her about two mysterious disappearances that occurred in Blackstone Fell, three hundred years apart. However, it soon becomes clear that Nell is investigating a far more recent and potentially dangerous murder. Rachel is intrigued by the case Nell outlines but the journalist makes the unforgivable error of again lying to Rachel, claiming to have told Rachel everything she knows, but holding back an essential piece of information. Rachel’s analytical instincts tell her that Nell is being less than forthcoming, which angers her, and she refuses to help. Despite being warned of the risks any rash action will probably provoke, Nell returns to Yorkshire alone, but, as Nell intended, Rachel is intrigued by her story and she and her small and trusted team of helpers also head for Blackstone Fell.
In the meantime, Jacob’s incognito meeting with the medium ends in disaster when the medium outwits him and threatens to destroy his entire career. Luckily for him, Rachel’s incisive mind suggests a way forward by which he may retrieve the situation. By the time Rachel arrives at Blackstone Fell, Nell has disappeared. Now Rachel and her friends have the task of discovering Nell’s fate, as well as continuing to investigate the deaths that had aroused Nell’s suspicions and the unexplained disappearances of so many years ago. Rachel is convinced that the investigations are linked and is determined to move them forward, however dangerous it may prove to be.
Blackstone Fell is the third book featuring Rachel Savernake and her
companions. This is a fascinating novel, with an enigmatic protagonist and a
complex, intriguing plot. Rachel is an intriguing character, incredibly clever
and cold-blooded and ruthless to everybody but the few people she cares about. The
books have the authenticity of the author’s detailed knowledge of the period, plus
a darkly clever plot, set in a sinister, brooding landscape. Blackstone Fell
is a page turner which I wholeheartedly recommend.
------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
Martin Edwards was born 7 July 1955 at Knutsford, Cheshire and educated in Northwich and at Balliol College, Oxford University, taking a first-class honours degree in law. He trained as a solicitor in Leeds and moved to Liverpool on qualifying in 1980. He published his first legal article at the age of 25 and his first book, about legal aspects of buying a business computer at 27, before spending just over 30 years as a partner of a law firm, where he is now a consultant. He is married to Helena with two children (Jonathan and Catherine) and lives in Lymm. He is a member of the Murder Squad a collective of crime writers. In 2007 he was appointed the Archivist of the Crime Writers Association and in 2011 he was appointed the Archivist of the Detection Club. He is a former chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and since 2015, he has been President of the Detection Club. Martin writes three series. He has also edited forty-two anthologies.
www.martinedwards.com.
www.doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com
 |
Carol Westron is a successful author and a Creative Writing teacher. Her crime novels are set both in contemporary and Victorian times. Her first book The Terminal Velocity of Cats was published in 2013. Since then, she has since written 6 further mysteries. Carol recently gave an interview to Mystery People. To read the interview click on the link below.
https://promotingcrime.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/carol-westron.html www.carolwestron.com
http://carolwestron.blogspot.co.uk/
To read a review of Carol
latest book click on the title
The
Curse of the Concrete Griffin
No comments:
Post a Comment