Death by the Book - a nice 1930s serial murder mystery

Death by the Book
By Julianna Deering

 

  This is the first book by this author I’ve read. I was given a copy for review by the publisher in return for my honest opinion. I give it 4-1/2 stars…somewhere in between liking and loving it. Parts of it I really loved. Other parts I merely liked. There was nothing I didn’t like about it.

I liked it a lot. I haven’t read the first book in the Drew Fathering series, Rules of Murder, but you don’t have to in order to enjoy this book. It's a great premise, and I liked it. It almost made me want to go back and read the first one. Maybe I will sometime. (Edit: I did get the first book, not as good as this one, but I can see how it set the stage for this one. A third book in the series, Murder at the Mikado, is due out this summer.)

What I look for in any story is character, action, romance, mystery, adventure and danger. This book has romance, but since it is book two, the romance should develop. All I saw of it was every once in a while, Drew persists in asking his girlfriend, an American who is the niece of Drew’s stepfather, who was murdered in the first book. He asks her to marry him, but she doesn’t answer him. Her maiden aunt comes for a visit, trying to chaperone them. Drew doesn’t get his answer until the end of the book. To give the benefit of the doubt, the mystery is the principal thing. The romance is secondary.

Death by the Book is more a traditional mystery, and not suspense, although there are two scenes with a little bit of suspense and danger. I liked those. The main character, Drew Fathering, the heir to an English estate (which he inherited in the first book after his mother and step-father are killed), his friends and staff, and a girl who’s not exactly related to him that wants to marry, figuring out the clues. He loves a good murder mystery. His nickname is Detective Fathering, given to him by the local chief inspector of police, Inspector Birdsong.

It’s important to know that the setting is 1930s England in a small town in the countyside. To know that helps. I did smile at English euphemisms, such as “deuced awkward” and such the like.

In this book, Drew is drawn into the mystery when he goes to meet his solicitor (that’s a lawyer in the king’s English) – and finds him dead. He’s the first, but not the last of the “Hatpin” murders – called so because the victims all have a poetic-type note attached to them by a decorative hatpin.

For quite a while, Drew gets nowhere in his investigations. There seems to be no direct connections between the victims or a solid motive for all the killings. A lawyer, a doctor, a shop girl and an American tourist are all victims of this serial killer.

As the murders seem to be occurring closer and closer to Drew’s home in the little town of Fathering St. John, then on his estate – maybe he’s the connection. But who? Why?

In most fiction, the villains have their say at the end. They’re “why we did it” speech, (called the villain’s aria) scene, or monologue. I will say, because it’s a traditional mystery, the clues were there, I just didn’t see them. That’s probably because I’ve been reading more suspense than mystery. There’s one great scene where the villain tells all. This murderer had a unique motive and isn't your garden-variety serial killer. That I liked very much, as well.

Does Drew survive the encounter? Certainly, but I do think he was a bit naive, and that nearly got him killed. He had a great reason when asked later why he thought he survived. I liked that a lot, too. There’s a third book on its way, to be released this summer, called Murder at the Mikado.

Julianna brings in faith and forgiveness, weaving it in the story without preaching. I liked that. Published by Bethany House, I accessed this through their blogger program and on NetGalley.