Member Review

‘Dear Whoever Killed Jane Brinkwood,
Dear Jane’s Murderer,
Which do you prefer?’

Is there an award for the most attention grabbing open chapter? (If not there really should be!) Well, the opening paragraphs of 'The Couple at the Table' would be a likely contender for the award.
The story opens with Lucy Dean, one of our murder suspects, penning a letter to another suspect asking that they contact her and explaining why she would like to meet. Not exactly a typical start to a mystery but certainly an attention grabbing one.
Six months earlier, all of our suspects, along with our intrepid detectives Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse are on holiday at the luxurious Tevendon Estate in the Culver Valley. Grouped there we have the following:
(is an exclusive couples only resort)
Jane Brinkwood and William Gleave
Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse
Lucy Dean and Pete Shabani
Polly and Jack McCallion
Caroline and Harriet Moyles-Jones
Mick and Susan Henry
and Anite Khattou (manager)

Jane Brinkwood, a recent bride on her honeymoon. Jane and WIlliam are connected to Lucy and fiancee Pete and relations between the quartet are somewhat strained when they meet. Jane soon receives a series of anonymous messages warning her to 'Beware' and to 'Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours'. Her holiday is certainly getting off to an unpleasant start and then the murder occurs. But who is murdered and who could possibly be responsible? Especially as all of our potential killers can alibi each other so we have the 'impossible murder' typical of the classic Agatha Christie novel.
The timeline moves between events of six months ago when the murder took place and the current investigation. We are shown the events from the perspective of each group involved. In particular, Lucy and Simon. This does mean that a great deal of attention is required to follow the storyline and the clues (along with the occasional red herring) that are scattered throughout the story. This book is absolutely worth your time. I loved how the 'denouement' took place - it a a typical Poirot scenario and highly enjoyable. Read it!!!
I did not realise that there is a series of novels starring Simon and Charlie but I will be looking out for these now. However, The Couple at the Table works perfectly well as a standalone aswell as part of a series.