2 May 2023.
ISBN: 978-1-80314-939-4 (PB)
When Eve Mallow moved from London to live in the beautiful village of Saxford St Peter her main motive was because she had fallen in love with the village, but it was also to get away from her ex-husband, who felt he had retained the right to interfere with her life even though he had left her for another woman. That decision was the best one that Eve could have made. She loves her cottage, adores her faithful companion, her dachshund, Gus, and has continued successfully with her profession as a writer of obituaries. As the income from freelance journalism is sporadic, Eve also works for her best friend, Viv, in her tea shop, a job that Eve finds very satisfying. Viv is a superb baker but lacks organisational skills and Eve thoroughly enjoys creating order from chaos.
Eve has also started a new relationship with Robin, the local freelance gardener, but this has to be kept secret because Robin is living in Saxford under an assumed identity. He was a police officer who revealed corruption amongst his colleagues and his life could be in danger if his true identity became known.
When the people Eve is writing about have died by violence, she often finds herself interviewing the same people that the police are talking to as part of their investigation. Much to the annoyance of Detective Inspector Palmer, who is both incompetent and lazy, Eve has often discovered the culprit when the police have failed to do so.
At the start of this story, Eve is on a very different journalistic mission to her usual obituary writing. Against her better judgment she has yielded to her editor’s persuasion and agreed to write about the new writers’ retreat that is opening close to her village. Eve has good reasons for her doubts: the new venture is being set up by three celebrities and Eve only likes writing about celebrities when they are dead and can’t interfere with what she writes. The new owners are Nate Marchant, a wealthy financier who is funding the purchase and upkeep of Farfield Castle; Nate’s sister, Kitty, who is a successful wellness coach and Kitty’s husband, Julian Fisher, an acclaimed author. Apart from Eve’s magazine, only one other publication has been invited to send a journalist and, despite her editor’s reassurance, Eve is certain that the new owners will want her to write a ‘puff piece’. Eve’s other reason for being uncertain about her new commission is that the purchase of Farfield Castle has angered many people in her village. The villagers have grown used to being allowed access to the grounds by the previous owners and had planned to buy Farfield Castle for community use; a lot of effort had been put into achieving the necessary funding but, in the end, Nate outbid them.
The villagers have fond memories of the owners before last, Nate and Kitty’s grandparents, who were kind and generous people who opened their home to anyone in need. Unfortunately, they trusted the wrong person, lost almost everything and had to sell their property. Those in the village who remember the grandparents, can forgive Nate, despite his purchase of Farfield Castle, because he stood by his grandparents, but the villagers hold a grudge against Kitty, who accompanied her father when he abandoned his parents and walked out on them.
Eve was not sure what to expect at Farfield Castle but she finds the atmosphere a lot stranger than she had anticipated. She likes Nate and, to her surprise, also finds Kitty likeable but is unimpressed by Kitty’s husband, whom she considers phoney and pretentious. The only other magazine journalist who has been invited to review the new retreat seems to have a strangely strained relationship with Nate and Julian.
Things become even more stressful at the party the new owners hold in the hope of placating the people of the village, although one or two people are susceptible to Julian’s flattery most of the villagers are still angry. Kitty argues with several people and is visibly upset. Then she disappears and is discovered dead in the old ice house.
Eve’s commission changes from reviewing the new retreat to writing Kitty’s obituary but as so often happens, her interviews about the dead person’s life are also designed to discover who caused her death, even though her hunt for the truth grows increasingly dangerous the nearer she comes to the truth.
This
is the tenth book in the series that features Eve Mallow. It was a series that
was excellent to start with and grows stronger and more engaging all the time.
Eve is a delightful character and is complemented by the lively cast of her
village friends. The plot is interesting and cleverly crafted, as are the psychological
insights into domination and victimisation. Mystery at Farfield Castle is a
very enjoyable read, a page turner, which I recommend.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron
Clare Chase writes fast-paced romantic mysteries, using London and Cambridge as settings. Her influences include JD Robb, Janet Evanovich, Mary Stewart and Sue Grafton. Brought up in the Midlands, she went on to read English at London University, then worked in book and author promotion in venues as diverse as schools, pubs and prisons. More recently she’s exercised her creative writing muscles in the world of PR and worked for the University of Cambridge. Her current day job is at the Royal Society of Chemistry. Her writing is inspired by what makes people tick, and how strong emotions can occasionally turn everyday incidents into the stuff of crime novels. It would be impossible not to mix these topics with romance and relationships; they’re central to life and drive all forms of drama. When she’s not reading or writing, Clare enjoys drawing, cooking and trips to the Lake District. Closer to home she loves wandering round the pubs, restaurants and galleries of Cambridge where she lives with her husband and two teenage daughters.
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
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