In 1923 flush with the success of their last sleuthing escapade Major Alasdair Charters, a blind WW1 veteran, and former intelligence officer and his aristocrat wife The Honourable Melissa, accept an invitation to a country house party on Somerset Levels in Winter. There they find a dysfunctional family all living in a huge old house on a hill. Overnight the storm brings with it the floodwaters and the house becomes surrounded and cut off from rescue just as a murderer begins to stalk the residents. An exciting murder mystery in the Golden Age tradition. Will our sleuths discover hidden secrets and unmask the murderer before anyone else is killed?
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The skulls grinned up at him, floating and bobbing like apples at Halloween. PROLOGUE
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(@VictorinaPress, 31 October 2020, 312 pages, ebook, #ARC from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 2 November via @RandomTTours)
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Blind Pool was a treat. I need to read the first book in the series. The book is very reminiscent of Agatha Christie and the like. I need to confess I haven't read much of Agatha Christie or historical detective novels in general so this was quite new territory for me, sort of Downton Abbey meets Miss Marple. First off, I was impressed by the author's writing style, the book is well written and the characters and setting really come to life, creating a real sense of place. I felt transported back into time to 1923. Blind Pool is a proper whodunit with Charters and Melissa struggling to solve clues before the next body turns up. Somerset Levels is cut off due to a storm so the trapped guests are all alone and easy prey. I had such fun reading this, wondering who the killer was, what their motives were and who else was going to turn up dead. This reminds me a lot of the recent film Knives Out as well. Highly recommended.