Genre: Mystery/Historical Fiction
This mystery is set in 1910 where a Viscount of an expansive estate believes that Halley’s Comet is going to obliviate life as they know it. So, he has his staff work tirelessly to seal up Tithe Hall in order to try and protect them from the tidal waves he believes are coming to destroy earth. As luck would have it, an underbutler, Stephen Pike, arrives the very day these preparations are taking place having been recommended by a family member. He does have a record and he is very concerned they will turn him away and he desperately needs work. However, the butler is very overwhelmed and decides to tell the Viscount that he requested an additional staff member in order to help seal up the Hall. After sealing up everyone in their rooms, Stephen is sent to check on Miss Decima, the prickly elderly family member who constantly terrorizes the staff. It is Stephen’s job to make sure she stays sealed in her room for the night, but Decima has other plans and they end up going outside to watch the comet. The next morning, Stephen notices that there is blood coming from underneath the study where the Viscount was sealed up alone. He rushes to get help and by the time they break open the door they find the Viscount murdered in a grisly manner. Since he is new and has been to prison (for a crime he was innocent of) all eyes turn to him, but Decima knows he was with her and could not have committed the murder. Plus, it seems impossible anyone could have gotten in and out of the room with it being sealed from the inside. Decima and Stephen vow to prove his innocence before he goes down yet again for a crime he didn’t commit. Can they find the real culprit(s)? More importantly, can they figure out how it is possible for someone to get murdered inside a locked room?
This fun mystery has a Gosford Park/Downton Abbey feel as the reader is introduced to the staff and their very particular jobs and rules they must follow. The pace of the story is not overwhelming, but does not lag behind either as Stephen and Decima strive to find clues that will not only exonerate him, but also let them know if the rest of them are in danger with a killer nearby. The dynamics of the manor are very interesting as every servant has a place and no one is supposed to mess with that. The family members staying at the house all have their own agendas for going along with the hysteria over Halley’s Comet, but are those agendas enough to kill for? Fans of British type mysteries will enjoy this title.
Young Adult Book Reviews 