Many thanks to NetGalley and to Storm Publishing for letting me see an advance reader's copy of Murder at Everham Hall by Benedict Brown.

This is the first book in a new (to me) series from an author (also new to me) who already has a solid track record in writing mysteries. I enjoyed meeting the characters and experiencing a 1920s festive season with them all in this ‘golden age’ mostly cosy mystery. It was a nice, gentle read that wasn’t too taxing. And it was a page-turner that kept me reading.

Marius Quin is a mystery writer with writer’s block, even though the phrase wasn’t much in use at the time. He’s suffering a bit from imposter syndrome. Plus, his first book was so successful, he isn’t at all sure he can carry it off a second time. His publisher is breathing down his neck and his bank manager is breathing down his bank balance. Marius Quin needs to earn some money quick in order to pay for the expensive lifestyle he finds himself living following his earlier triumph.

I found the opening chapters a little slow and thought we were going to get the entire novel of Quin's, chapter by chapter. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but I do think this could have been accelerated a little.

There were a couple of continuity issues, like one minute Bella was wearing a purple woollen coat but the next Quin was describing her jade skirt, then another she’s wearing a silk kimono over her dress and the next we can see the golden dress. The snow started to melt twice. And I was more worried about the whereabouts of the dog than the dog’s owner seemed to be at one point.

Names got a bit confusing, as there were a few starting with the same initial: Percy, Poppy, Philip, Perkins, Pemberton, Penelope; Cecil, Carl, Cavendish; Anton, Alec, Alma.

But once I’d got myself over all of that, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading more in the same series.

Four stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The first in a new historical cozy mystery series set in the late 1920s, this book introduces Marius Quin, a writer of mysteries, struggling to write his next book, who is forced by circumstances to become a real life amateur sleuth.

The novel is narrated in first person, past tense, by the protagonist; his voice is at once self-deprecating and self-aggrandizing; and, it turns out, he can be a less-than-reliable narrator when it comes to his own life.

I had never before read anything by the author, despite his more-than-respectable backlist. By all rights, given the setting, I should have loved this book and inhaled it in a few hours (after all, it’s well under 300 pages); instead, I soon found myself slogging through it.

The problem with first person narration is, for my money, that if you find the narrator annoying, it’s hard to enjoy the book: you are essentially stuck spending your leisure reading time inside the head of someone who, in real life, you’d go out of your way to avoid.

This was the case for me with Marius, who comes across very much like the Captain Hastings character in Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels: someone of medium intelligence and scant common sense who is never more sure of himself as when he’s arriving at the most contrived and erroneous conclusions, while loudly proclaiming them as unassailable fact.

And that’s even before we get to the dog.

The man is 28 years old, yet, to hear him tell it, he’s but an innocent, sheltered child, who really can’t be expected to understand–let alone shoulder–the consequences of his own choices:

"The problem with becoming a successful author at such a tender age was that I was old enough to spend a lot of money, but not clever enough to realize that it would soon run out. I would have to content myself with the knowledge that, if we learn from our mistakes, I was surely on the path to great wisdom." (Chapter 5)

After a rather slow start, during which we are presented with both far too much and too little information about his living situation and personal history, we finally follow Marius as he travels from his London flat to Hampshire, for what is supposed to be a “lavish New Year’s Eve party” in a ritzy country state.

For reasons that make absolutely no sense, Marius makes the trip with his elderly dog, and I’m still trying to figure out how any adult with common sense–let alone manners–decides to show up like this at a stranger’s house, on the strength of a second-hand invitation no less! Even worse is the fact that Marius only remembers his own dog’s existence when another character’s actions force him to do so.

Genre romance readers use the term “plot moppet” to refer to children written exclusively to further the main characters’ relationship along; this poor dog is the furry equivalent: for starters, after a long drive in the cold, Marius drags him up to the room he’s given for the night *without walking him first*, immediately after which, he leaves the dog locked in the room without food or water, while he himself hies himself down to have dinner and party.

It is true that the entire novel takes place in the span of less than 24 hours, but even so, I wonder how I am supposed to care for a pet owner who, after dragging his pet to a strange location full of new people, can go hours without giving said pet the first thought.

Marius’ cavalier attitude towards his dog was enough to predispose me against him, never mind how self-centered he is in the middle of all that’s going on: even in the process of finding his host shot three times on the forehead, he spends more time mooning over Bella and pondering the food offerings, than he does on the fact that he and Bella are trapped in a remote country property with a bunch of people he knows nothing about, at least one of whom is a cold blooded murderer.

So, by the time the others, through Bella’s manipulations, agree that Marius should try to identify the killer, I was already tired of what I assume were supposed to be endearing personality quirks, and had very little patience, and no charity whatsoever, left for how Marius and Bella bumble their way through the next twelve or so hours.

Beyond locking the victim’s rooms until the police can make it to the house, neither of them give a thought to anything as basic as fingerprints (already in use in criminal investigations at the time, and definitely well-known to a writer of mysteries), as they go around the house touching several of the many–many, many, many!–weapons at hand; they don’t even take the time to ascertain exactly who else is in the house aside from the handful of guests.

Mind you, Marius does make a point to note that it bothers him how often, in mystery novels, no one considers the staff as part of the cast who could have their own motives to commit the crime; at the same time, he takes Bella’s word for it that of course none of the staff could have a motive to kill their host, because he “treated them well”. I finished the book without knowing whether there really were only the four named staff in the house during the time in question, or what.

I found what passes for their investigation pretty painful; Marius keeps telling us how worldly and socially adept Bella is, but the dialogue doesn’t show that at all. And not only do they keep jumping from one person to the next without even the most basic plan of attack, they also jump from one emotion to the next like they were rolling dice: now they’re all enthused about their “case”, next they’re all depressed because of their personal history, then they’re angry at each other because whatever, and back to enthused and hyped again. *In the same scene.*

And it’s not even that they’re drinking or smoking something.

There is too much focus on Bella’s and Marius’ previous history, as well as far too many hints, but scant hard facts, about Bella’s family situation; these, I’m sure, would have been of more interest to me, had I cared for the characters at all. Sadly, not the case at all.

In the end, the solution to the murder is pretty contrived and the denouement quite underwhelming; there are a few clues throughout, but Marius’ narration makes it almost impossible to keep track of what is happening when and where.

Beyond which, there were several instance of poor copy editing: Marius thinks of a man as a woman’s “inamorata”, ignoring that this is a gendered noun, thus a man would be a woman’s inamorato, but more generally, most anyone would just say or think, “her lover”. Later on, another character says, “I went to perform my toilet”–meaning, washing up and so forth, also known as toilette.

At one point, Marius reflects that “I was far too direct, too honest, and it let the suspects off the hook; I’d believed every word that nice couple had told me, and I could do nothing to prove them wrong” –it’s not “wrong” you have to prove them, what you have to prove is whether they’re *lying* to you.

These rather basic errors were all the more jarring because there’s evidence of rather in depth period research, which is confirmed by the author’s notes at the end of the book.

Finally, I was quite annoyed when Marius reflects that, “It takes a certain kind of mania to believe that you have the right to deprive another person of his life.” (Chapter 33) I will never not be put off by the pretense that evil is the province of mental illness; most of the people enabling the death of people everywhere around us are not mentally ill, they are just evil.

When I requested this ARC, I was very much hoping to find another author to love, and one with a good backlist to devour while waiting for the next in the series; alas, not by far how this went.

Murder at Everham Hall gets a 6.00 out of 10.

Final note: as I read Marius’ descriptions and ruminations about the Hall, I marveled that the building on the book’s cover doesn’t resemble the text at all; I chuckled when I read the author’s note where it’s stated that his inspiration for the house was Elvetham Hall, because the photographs I found of it very much do.

I absolutely loved this book! A cozy mystery and something I couldn’t put down even if I wanted to! 4/5 stars from me!!

Great book.

Really enjoyed the characters, the story development and just the overall feel of the book.

The story was cleverly woven into a really great novel!

The start of the Marius Quin series is as good as the Lord Edgington series. An interesting group of characters make this a fun and fast read.

Murder at Everham Hall is the first book in a historical fiction mystery series. It centres on an endearing mystery writer, Marius Quinn, who has been invited to a New Year's party by his friend Lady Isabella Montague.

Set at an opulent manor in December of 1927, the party is an intimate gathering hosted by famous actor, Cecil Sinclair. Shortly after Marius's arrival, a murder occurs. Wintry weather conditions hinder the response of police and Marius, along with Lady Isabella, find themselves working together to solve the case. The storyline is filled with plot twists and makes for a cosy read.

Kind thanks to Storm Publishing, NetGalley, and the author for an advanced reading copy of Murder at Everham Hall. The ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Set in December 1927 Marius Quin a struggling writer, was invited by his old friend, Isabella Montague, to Everham Hall for the New Year's Eve celebrations. When the host is murdered the police are unable to travel to Everham hall due to the snow, Marius and Bella start to investigte.

I struggled with this book. All the ingredients are present for a great read, 1920s era, large country house, diverse cast of characters but I found it slow and difficult to engage with. The last third of the book does gear up for an eventful ending but it’s lacklustre. Not for me.

Thank you Netgalley

I love love a good murder mystery and this absolutely delivered. The writing was great, I felt carried along and even though I had suspicions, I was absolutely surprised by the ending.

I think my favourite part of the story is the murder mystery writer detective 😅

Love!

This is a review of the two novels I read in this series
I assume that Marius is inspired by some of the detective of the Golden Age and he slowly grew on me Bella is a cute, clever and strong characters. I also liked Marius' family and the dog, lovely.
These aren't the first books I read by Benedict Brown and always thoroughly enjoyed his mysteries.
These two books are quite enjoyable and I appreciated the setting and the solid mystery.
I'm not a fan of love triangle and hope there's will be a HEA for the characters.
I look forward to read the next novel
4.5 upped to 5
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This took me a while to get into it but once i did I loved it. I really liked Marius and Bella and the friendship between them. I really hope they do find their way to each other again and Bella moves away from the simpering Gilbert. The NYE setting was grey and I loved the sumptuous splendour of the hall.
This was a great book and I’m so glad I persevered. Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

First I must say that I loved the cover of this book and it is one of the reasons I wanted to read it. Not just that but the intrigue of a new series (A completely addictive 1920s cozy mystery - A Marius Quin Mystery Book 1) and the historical aspect made me want to read it more. And I do love a good cosy mystery for sure.

This one didn't disappoint. A mystery novelist, an indulgent party and a dead film star. What more could you want. Love the setting and the era of the book and found the characters wonderful. Snowed in and with a murder to solve our main character Marius sets out to solve this mystery with the help of Bella (his childhood sweetheart).

This was such a fun, charming and entertaining book to read. So easy and quick to read as well, it held my interest and had the quirkiness to make it even more enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Mystery writer Marius Quin is invited to a holiday house party at a manor in the British countryside, but the party soon turns to panic when the host is murdered. With the police unable to reach them due to the storm, the invitees look to Quin to solve the mystery.

I love good country house murder story and am a big fan of Agatha Christie and the like. But this book was not a great read---the writing style was dull, the main character unlikeable, and the entire thing felt like a slog. Not recommended.

A stimulating guessing game of whodunnit kept me riveted until the last page. The Murder mystery is a hard one to solve as everyone is under suspicion.

Princess Fuzzypants here; Have you ever read a book where you trundled along enjoying the historical fiction to its denouement only to find yourself feeling unfulfilled and somewhat disappointed. I did with this book but I should have known. There were more twists and turns to come and by the final page, there was a satisfactory resolution.

Marius is a one hit wonder writer who is blocked trying to finish his follow up novel. He has overspent all the money from his first success and it seems his good times are all gone. That is until he meets up with the love of his life whom he left behind when he went off to the trenches of WWI ten years before. Bella invites him to a New Year’s party at the swank estate of a famous film star. It will be a small soirée and when the host is murdered and a blizzard prevents anyone from coming or going from Eversham, it is up to Marius and Bella to unmask the killer and the motive. Since the deceased had caused heartaches for almost everyone there, and the suspect pool was small, everyone, except for our two intrepid amateur detectives, might have committed the crime.

By the time things are resolved, Marius’ writer’s block has vanished and he is able to complete his second mystery and will have plenty of material from which to continue his series. And, clearly, so has the author of the book. Four purrs and two paws up.

This was a historal mystery that reminded me of a locked room Agatha Christie novel. This was so good I enjoyed this very much and loved all the twists and turns. This was such a great book.
I just reviewed Murder at Everham Hall by Benedict Brown. #MurderatEverhamHall #NetGalley
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A cozy mystery perfect for the Christmas season! I don’t read many books set in this period but I found myself enjoying the vintage feel.

“Murder at Everham Hall” is book 1 in a new, cozy mystery series.

The book centers on Marius Quin, a best-selling mystery writer who finds himself thrust into a real life murder mystery.

Benedict Brown did an excellent job making this story entertaining for readers with plenty of twists and turns.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for gifting me this advanced copy. I enjoyed it.

Marius Quin has writer’s block, and his editor is not impressed that Marius has blown through his advance, is in his office to ask for more money, and hasn’t written anything for a year for his follow up to his first book.

His editor gives him an ultimatum—for every chapter Marius writes, he'll receive 100 pounds, otherwise, no more money. Knowing his new house and car are in jeopardy (he bought these with his advance), and his mother, uncle and aunt will be without a home, so Marius agrees, obviously.

Marius leaves the office and meets his childhood sweetheart Bella outside, who invites him to join her at a weekend house party.

Marius is thrilled to see Bella again, and looks forward to the party with her, despite his family's advice to guard his heart—they know Marius has been pining after Bella since before he left to the fighting in the War, and has kicked himself for not proposing to her before he left.

The party is hosted by Clifford St-Clair, a well known actor, who inherited the house and wealth from his wife. Clifford is mercurial, rude and difficult, and has planned a mystery party for his guests, who are a variety of people, such as Clifford’s father and his fiancée, a banker and his underling, a fellow actress, and various others. One thing Bella neglected to tell him was that her fiancé is there also (he’s the banker).

The weather is snowy, and the roads are poor and soon impassable, stranding everyone in the house. And Clifford is killed before dinner.

Marius, being a mystery writer, is nominated to find the murderer, and he teams up with Bella. She’s actually the brains of the operation, and moves the investigation along in a positive direction, though Marius does provide some needed insight occasionally.

By the time the police inspector arrives, who is a good chap, the murderer is revealed.

This is a super light mystery, with lots of melodrama and ridiculous situations and behaviour. It felt a bit like a Hollywood 1930s comedy, with fast pacing and broad characterization. Marius was often irritating and I think Bella should have been the main character. And not the focus of Marius’ ardour.

This is a quick read, and light enough to function as a chaser between heavier fare.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I'm afraid that I found the story to slow and kept losing interest. It felt very like The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, but lacking the pace and drama.