Books
Mortmain Hall

by Martin Edwards
Poisoned Pen Press, September 2020, $15.99

Mortmain Hall is the second book in Martin Edwards’ historical series about amateur criminologist Rachel Savernake and reporter Jacob Flint, the admirer she keeps at arm’s length. In this outing, once again set in 1930s England, Rachel interests Jacob in a series of apparently unconnected murders. In every crime a seemingly obvious killer is saved from conviction by the late-in-the-game discovery of a different guilty party.

While doing the investigative legwork, Jacob meets the mysterious Leonora Dobell, a woman just as self-assured as Rachel who is researching the same cases—but who has a completely different agenda. The intersection of the three—and other members of the large cast—occurs in a dramatic and violent climax at Mortmain Hall itself.

Edwards is an expert on Golden Age fair-play detective stories, and he liberally sprinkles clues throughout, and then ups the ante on his tribute to the form by including a Cluefinder. These were used at the end of some 1930s novels to point out clues to various aspects of the plot. In the case of Mortmain Hall, you will find the clues have been fairly placed, indicating, among other things, the identity of the (perhaps too well obscured) murderer and the cunningly hidden motive. Even the book’s title conceals a faint hint at the solution, only apparent at the end.

Readers hoping for some development in Rachel and Jacob’s relationship may be disappointed—and possibly even surprised at her lack of concern about Jacob and another character’s well-being—but that's something Edwards appears to be saving for future entries in what will no doubt be a long and successful series.

Brian Skupin
Teri Duerr
6993
Edwards
September 2020
mortmain-hall
15.99
Poisoned Pen Press