Purchase your books on Bookshop.
The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery
“There was something in him that had been broken a long time ago, and he’d spent his life building over the ruin.” Stephen Pike has the worst luck. It’s spring of 1910. Fresh out of prison, Stephen lands a job on a remote estate named World’s End at the precise time Halley’s Comet is expected over the British skies. The country, the world, is full of enthusiasts predicting the demise of civilization. Meanwhile, Stephen simply wants to escape the halfway house and his unfortunate past. In Cornwall, his luck sinks from bad to horrible. The Viscount of World’s End belongs to a scientific community, the Cometary Cataclysm Society, which believes the appearance of Halley’s Comet portends death and destruction for those unprepared. Thus, the Viscount demands that the house be boarded up. Windows shuttered. All occupants, servants included, must barricade themselves in their rooms until the day after the comet’s arrival. What? Stephen is aghast, but what can he do. He walked ten miles from the train station. Besides, he has no money or place to go. So, he suits up, accepts the position of second footman, and joins the servants in securing the house. Unfortunately, the Viscount failed to appreciate the danger within his own home. Miss Decima rocks. An older, educated, eccentric woman with a penchant for cursing and causing drama. Her antics keep the plot moving. But even the old matriarch will have to confront her prejudices. Together, she and Stephen solve this truly British mystery. Montgomery delivers an entertaining, high-octane, closed-door mystery. Many authors glamorize the British aristocracy and Victorian traditions. Not here. Montgomery spotlighted the caste system of the era without becoming preachy. Each character had faults, but the reader could relate to them and their difficult circumstances. Good read.
“There was something in him that had been broken a long time ago, and he’d spent his life building over the ruin.” Stephen Pike has the worst luck. It’s spring of 1910. Fresh out of prison, Stephen lands a job on a remote estate named World’s End at the precise time Halley’s Comet is expected over the British skies. The country, the world, is full of enthusiasts predicting the demise of civilization. Meanwhile, Stephen simply wants to escape the halfway house and his unfortunate past. In Cornwall, his luck sinks from bad to horrible. The Viscount of World’s End belongs to a scientific community, the Cometary Cataclysm Society, which believes the appearance of Halley’s Comet portends death and destruction for those unprepared. Thus, the Viscount demands that the house be boarded up. Windows shuttered. All occupants, servants included, must barricade themselves in their rooms until the day after the comet’s arrival. What? Stephen is aghast, but what can he do. He walked ten miles from the train station. Besides, he has no money or place to go. So, he suits up, accepts the position of second footman, and joins the servants in securing the house. Unfortunately, the Viscount failed to appreciate the danger within his own home. Miss Decima rocks. An older, educated, eccentric woman with a penchant for cursing and causing drama. Her antics keep the plot moving. But even the old matriarch will have to confront her prejudices. Together, she and Stephen solve this truly British mystery. Montgomery delivers an entertaining, high-octane, closed-door mystery. Many authors glamorize the British aristocracy and Victorian traditions. Not here. Montgomery spotlighted the caste system of the era without becoming preachy. Each character had faults, but the reader could relate to them and their difficult circumstances. Good read.
.jpg "image title")
