About the Book:
(from Exclusive Books SA)
The sudden death of a pupil in Fleat House at St Stephen’s – a small private boarding school in deepest Norfolk – is a shocking event that the headmaster is very keen to call a tragic accident. But the local police cannot rule out foul play and the case prompts the return of high-flying Detective Inspector Jazmine ‘Jazz’ Hunter to the force. Jazz has her own private reasons for stepping away from her police career in London, but reluctantly agrees to front the investigation as a favour to her old boss. Reunited with her loyal Sergeant, Alastair Miles, she enters the closed world of the school, and as Jazz begins to probe the circumstances surrounding Charlie Cavendish’s tragic death, events are soon to take another troubling turn. Charlie is exposed as an arrogant bully and those around him had both motive and opportunity to switch the drugs he took daily to control his epilepsy.
As staff at the school close ranks, the disappearance of young pupil Rory Millar and the death of an elderly Classics Master provide Jazz with important leads, but are destined to complicate the investigation further. As snow covers the landscape and another suspect goes missing, Jazz must also confront her own personal demons . . .Then a particularly grim discovery at the school makes this the most challenging murder investigation of her career. Because Fleat House hides secrets darker than even Jazz could ever have imagined . . .
My thoughts:
(always spoiler-free)
Let me start off with a confession – this is my first Lucinda Riley book. I have numerous book buddies who are absolutely obsessed with her mega-popular “Seven Sisters” series, and this series has been on my TBR-list for way too long.
Lucinda sadly lost her battle with cancer last year. Her son, Harry Whittaker, explains how the publication of “The Murders at Fleat House” came to be. This book was written in 2006, while her kids were still quite small.
“In the case of The Olive Tree and The Butterfly Room, Lucinda undertook extensive rewrites (as any author revisiting a project after a decade would wish to). Mum has not had that opportunity in the case of The Murders at Fleat House. As such, I faced a quandary when taking the decision to release this book. Was it my responsibility to edit, adapt and update the text, as she would have wished to? After much contemplation, I felt that preserving Mum’s voice should take precedence. With this in mind, only the bare minimum editorial work has been undertaken.
All that you will read, therefore, is Lucinda’s work from 2006.
Mum was hugely proud of this project. It is the only crime novel she ever wrote, but loyal readers will instantly recognise her unrivalled ability to capture a sense of place.”
So, from this snippet, it is clear that this book is quite different to her other books. Maybe I don’t need to feel THAT horrible that I haven’t read any of her other books yet. It is a clean slate. Moving on.
I found the milieu of a boarding school quite fascinating. I spent my first year of high school at boarding school, so I could very clearly picture the scene. “The Murders at Fleat House” is filled with intriguing characters, engaging writing and mostly unexpected twists and turns. It is like peeling an onion – more to be unveiled at almost every chapter! I found this book hugely enjoyable, and apparently it was meant to be the first in a series of crime novels featuring DI Jazz Hunter. What a pity that it wasn’t developed further at that stage, I can’t help but wonder why.
What to look forward to:
- British cozy mystery
- multilayered characters
- page-turner
- numerous plot twists
- atmospheric setting
Thank you to Exclusive Books for the opportunity to read this book, in exchange for an honest review. “The Murders at Fleat House” also features on the June 2022 #EBRecommends (Exclusive Books Recommends) Fiction list. Exclusive Books Recommends: Fiction to Look out for in June