"Ladies and gentlemen, the Magnificent Bowyers are, I'm afraid, quite counterfeit, they are in fact Detective Chief Inspector Elliott Caine, and Detective Sergeant Abernathy Thorne, the third guest is Mlle Giselle Du'Lac, they are investigators who work on behalf of the Empire, and they have absolute jurisdiction to investigate this brutal slaying."
Death in the Sound - book 2 in The Versipellis Mystery Series by Rhen Garland - is a heady blend of historical and supernatural. It's a Victorian murder mystery, with the strands of paranormal.
I enjoyed the first book in the series, called A Portrait of Death (<--- a full review appeared on this blog last year), and was looking forward to the next instalment, especially that the first book has finished on a cliff-hanger.
In these days of doom and gloom it makes a great, entertaining read and will provide you with a thrilling escapism.
I do think it would help, if you start with the first book, as it introduces the main characters and their supernatural abilities.
The villain of the series named Phoenixus has an ability to absorb the memories, thoughts and emotions of their victims, as well as acquire their appearance. This entity is dangerous and horrifying.
"The gentle smile widened and twisted slightly as the devious mind of Phoenixus sifted through their victim's memories, discarding happy thoughts and memories for the hidden depths of greed, social climbing, and sexual intrigue their victim had taken great care to hide but that were utterly exposed by their murderer's invasive perusal of their most personal inner thoughts.
Yes, this body had definite.. possibilities."
We meet Detective Chief Inspector Elliott Caine and Detective Sergeant Abernathy Thorne in A Portrait of Death, where they investigate a series of gruesome murders and hunt for their devious enemy.
Death in the Sound will bring them all together again in the most unusual of locations, aboard a luxurious paddle steamer Taniwha, where they are invited by millionaire philanthropist Octavius Damant.
Damant organises a big party for his daughter Merry's twenty first birthday. High society guests and entertainers are invited aboard Taniwha, moored in the ink-dark waters of Milford Sound.
Among them, there's Sir Wesley Eade, a society lawyer, and his mistress Lady Leonora, an extravagant dancer Dona Carla Riva, Damant's viper of a sister-in-law Carolyn Nolloth and her lover.
Elliott, his wife Giselle and Abernathy with his faithful but utterly spoilt dog Veronique travel to New Zealand to help Octavius Damant to find a writer of anonymous poisonous letters, threatening the life of his only daughter. The letters accuse him of murdering his own wife and her lover.
The trio of detectives travel under disguise, but have to reveal who they are, when the first murder is committed on board of Taniwha.
All the guests are trapped aboard the Taniwha with the killer who has damaged the engines and the radio transmitter, so that the ship is being pulled by the tides to sea, and they have no means to call for assistance.
As the body count rises, Elliott, Giselle and Abernathy have to work against the clock to piece together a devilish puzzle and find the killer on board.
Death in the Sound is a fast-paced mystery, which will appeal to anyone who enjoys Victorian mysteries with a twist. Bring on the next book in the series!
Many thanks to Rhen Garland and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book.
Purchase Links:
Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082Q39R3H
Paperback https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1674868367
Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082Q39R3H
Author Bio:
Rhen Garland lives in Somerset, England, with her fold-singing, book-illustrating husband, approximately 4000 books, an equal number of ancient movies, and a large collection of passive-aggressive Tomtes.
She enjoys the countryside, peace, and Prosecco and the works of Ngaio Marsh, Gladys Mitchell, John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson, Agatha Christie, Simon R Green, and Terry Pratchett.
"I watch far too many old school murder mystery films, TV series, and 1980s action movies for it to be considered healthy."
"Death in the Sound" is a murder mystery thriller with paranormal touches set in late Victorian England and is the second book in the Versipellis Mysteries Series, book one "A Portrait of Death" was released in 2018.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: htttps://www.facebook.com/RhenGarlandMysteries
Instagram: @rhen_garland
Twitter: @RhenWitch
https://rhengarlandkdp.wixsite.com/rhengarland
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rhen-garland
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18718625.Rhen_Garland
This post is part of the blog tour, you can check out the other reviews:
No comments:
Post a Comment