An intriguing story and a slow burner. For me it was not so much a murder mystery but a great introduction to Charlotte Blood, which as this is the 1st book in the series it served its purpose.
Very atmospheric, you can almost feel the mist on the moor.

I look forward to catching the next adventure.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Death in the Aviary.

Thank you Netgalley and Datura Books for an ARC of this book!


If you like Agatha Christie, Sir Dole , etc, you're definitely going to want to add this to your TBR. This has everything you expect in an "old school" British mystery. The setting is just right, the one-liners are on point, the story itself was solid. This was a really good time. It's also a plus that the physical book is gorgeous! I will definitely be purchasing and recommending!


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Thank you so much to NetGalley and Victoria Dowd for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Death in the Aviary coming out September 9, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I’m obsessed with murder mysteries and this one sounded right up my alley. I love the old dark house theme mixed with the dinner guests and chaos. It felt very Agatha Christie. I loved it! I would definitely check out more books by this author!

I badly need a new instalment in this series that mixes impossible crime, a sassy heroine, and gothic elements.
A very entertaining novel, plenty of fun, and a solid mystery thakt kept me hooked.
Well done, highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

On New Year’s Eve 1928, an heir is found dead in a stalled elevator at Ravenswick Abbey. A year later, investigator Charlotte Blood delves into the family’s secrets, uncovering a web of suspicion and a dark truth connected to her own past.

This Gothic mystery is atmospheric and intriguing. The writing is beautiful, and the characters are quirky and well-developed.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

A promising setup. 1929, a family manor, a locked-lift murder. The book fits somewhere between cosy and Gothic. The atmosphere was strong, with some element that left my feeling unease, and Charlotte Blood proved an engaging protagonist. And I do enjoy the other characters in the story, some more than others, depending on the care with their development. Through them you do feel a sense of constriction in the large house, a sense of menace as an undercurrent. And that adds to the atmosphere wonderfully. It made me wonder what could happen next.

Despite all the promising aspects of the book, the structure was uneven. Slow stretches dulled the momentum, and while the strong scenes hit well, there weren’t enough of them. The family inviting a journalist into their secretive world never quite rang true, and by the end I felt that element undercut some of the better aspects, including the Golden Age–style reveal of gathering suspects in a room. I do wonder sometimes if that gather and reveal element hits well with modern readers. But if the story is good, who cares?

A lighter touch on historical detail kept the story moving, which was fine for this type of story. Some darker or more shadowy hints about Charlotte’s late husband didn’t quite hook me completely, though they may develop in future and there's enough there to draw some interest. The book carried a certain charm and I do look forward to book two.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Death in the Aviary is the first installment of a brand spanking new Golden Age mystery series. The post-war World War I world is a much different place, including England. Journalist Charlotte Blood is grieving the loss of her husband. Her boss sends her on a fascinating assignment, one which could be her big break in a man's world. Ravenswick Abbey was the scene of an unsolved murder a year earlier. On a crowded lift, a shot rang out, hitting its mark. Charlotte becomes a temporary ornithologist on a pretense of studying the home's ravens. She inveigles the desolate Dartmoor manor and household which are both cold in equal measure. While Charlotte learned about ravens, so did I which was fun.

The atmosphere has a brilliant gothic feel, dreary and damp but hauntingly beautiful. My favourite aspect is the writing which is vivid and fresh and enabled me to easily visualize the characters and story. What didn't appeal to me are the spiritualist bits and implausibility. There is too much telling as well. Folklore and superstition contribute to the eerie atmosphere. The novel pricked my sense of curiosity about future novels in this series.

Thanks to Datura and Net Galley for this ARC. I was really looking forward to reading this after reading the blurb. The start was great, a proper page turner and there are some sections that the writing is so good and so sad i was in tears but then it slowed right down and became a bit repetitive but i ploughed on and i'm glad I did. The ending is brilliant, once you get past the completely unbelievable entrance of the landlady. That was really out of the blue and a bit confusing. I think more clues could've been dropped earlier in the book so it didn't feel like jumping the shark but that aside they make a great team and i'm actually looking forward to the next installment.

The first in the Charlotte Blood Chronicles, Death in the Aviary introduces us to the world of 1920s England after the war. Charlotte Blood is a journalist whose husband, Archie, died after the war. She comes from the English gentry but left that world when she married. She's sent on assignment to uncover a murderer under the guise of writing about the famous ravens kept by the Ravenscrofts.

There are a few stories being told here - Charlotte's backstory and the characters there (Archie, her landlady Mrs C) and then the story of the Ravenscrofts intertwined. It's obvious that a lot of research has gone into this story and if that's your thing, this is right up your alley!

I found the resolution a little far-fetched but it fits within the genre and sets up the next book very well. If you're looking for a 1920s' cozy murder mystery series, look no further!

Charlotte Blood (Charlotte is a widow who lives her landlady, Mrs C, in London) is given an assignment by her Editor in Chief, J H Fulman, The Daily Comet, to visit Ravenswick Abbey on Dartmoor in Devon, and to write an article for a bird magazine about the infamous ravens. However, Charlotte cannot resist looking into the mysterious death of the heir, Charles Ravenswick. The story is set in the Golden Age, where we have upstairs and downstairs and never will they mix! It was well written and very descriptive in particular the house and the surrounding areas especially the aviary with the ravens. It was entertaining, full of twists and turns, with a bit of the locked room vibe and the ending was completely unexpected. It was an unputdownable read!! More please.

I have always loved locked room mysteries! And this one also had a spooky and mysterious atmosphere in the form of an old manor on the moors.
I found the writing pleasant to read but at times a bit repetitive. The story has a slow start but picks up pace after a few chapters. I found the ending a bit far fetched.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest and personal review.

Very spooky. Very mysterious. The Ravens provide a greek chorus at the background of the family mystery. Charlotte Blood is a journalist looking to make her career by determining who murdered the lord of the manor. Family jealousies, spooky corridors, and weird people all populate the world Charlotte finds herself in. Definitely a good gothic mystery for those fall nights.

Death In The Aviary is the new Golden Age inspired mystery from Victoria Dowd (The Smart Woman's Guide To Murder). I had not read any of Road's previous novels but I am definitely going to exploring her backlist while waiting for the next book.in this series.

The story focuses on Charlotte Blood, a gossip columnist and aspiring investigative journalist. She's been struggling to make a go of it in her career after leaving behind her wealthy, controlling family. To make matters worse, she also is a widow. For a young woman living in the 1920s, these are difficult obstacles to overcome.

Charlotte is given an assignment that could make or break her career: investigate the Ravenswick murder case. New Years Eve 1928 the Ravenswick family are gathered at the family estate. The ailing Lord Ravenswick has decided to change his will and has asked the family and household staff to come to his room so that he can share the new terms of the will. Everyone climbs into the birdcage-shaped lift when the power goes out. A shot rings out and when the lights come back on, Charles Ravenswick, heir to the family estate, is dead. It is this puzzle that Charlotte must solve.

Fans of Golden Age detective fiction will, of course, immediately spot some of the familiar tropes that are found throughout the genre. Does manages to construct a fresh and baffling puzzle. More importantly, Charlotte Blood is a character of great emotional depth. In the early pages it felt as if I was finding out everything I needed to know about her backstory too fast. It was only when I reached the end that I realized there was far more to be discovered about Charlotte, her marriage, and her family.

Death In The Aviary marks a solid debut in a new Golden Age style mystery series. I can't wait to see where Charlotte Blood's adventures take her next.

Thanks to Datura Books and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book for this review. No other consideration was received in exchange for this review.

A perfect love letter to the golden age of crime, Death in the Aviary is a fresh take on the old genre that has us joining 29 year old widow Charlotte Blood, as she goes undercover to unearth a year old cold case of a dead member of a prominent family, killed in a locked lift.

Remarkably well plotted, the characters, love them or hate them, leap off the page (Especially young Celeste) and their mysteries and actions are believable.

Thankfully, as I neared the end, everything felt logically sound with the events, and I look forward to giving it a little time before I re-read, to see if I spot any breadcrumbs Victoria Dowd could have placed.

I found myself unable to put this tale of murder, family ties, and loss after the war down, as it makes the point on how far some folk are willing to go for a family name.

I'd recommend this for all fans of the golden age, and perhaps, some who have found the works of A. Christie a little too dated, or played out with the numerous adaptations.

Victoria Dowd is an award winning genius. This is a brilliant read. It's a very atmospheric gothic drama with creepy characters and "mimiking" ravens, who are always there lurking in the shadows. I loved it. A who done it, locked lift drama!
I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series.

Just when you think it couldn't possibly get more wild than a locked room mystery, dowd astounds with a locked in elevator murder and trying to get to the bottom of this with journalist charlotte blood will keep you engaged from start to finish in this unputdownable novel.
Set to the backdrop of the foggy moors, our mc miss blood goes undercover as an ornithologist/journalist with a true mission of trying to solve a newspaper heirs murder before its year anniversary comes round.

I was happily surprised by the various twists in this book and truly considered it to be completely unpredictable right through to the very last page. The way this finished left me with more questions than answers when it came to some of our central characters and I cannot wait to see where this series expands to, though ultimately this was an amazing start to get you hooked in.

overall, while I have read mysteries I have loved more, this was still an amazing read. not too complex nor too hard to follow, surprising but engaging, I think many will be like me and plan to return to return to the charlotte blood chronicles for more.

I think this book was well crafted and described! I did not anticipate the ending and appreciated the layers of the clues. The author did a great job casting plausible suspicion on multiple characters, representing the sleuth’s task of solving the mystery whilst unraveling her own history, and describing a delicious gothic setting.

There was one error: at the end Charlotte responds to Elizabeth about her husband’s death. It is not Elizabeth’s husband who died, but Rachel’s.

Creepy gothic setting? -Check
Mysteriously appearing clues? - Check
Dangerous near misses? - Check
Crazy impressive deductive reasoning? -Check

Victoria Dowd’s Death in the Aviary promises readers a locked-room mystery that should keep them guessing and on the edge of their seats. But the problem is that she creates such an interesting main character that none of the potential villains can come even close to competing.

For me, the highlight of the story is really Charlotte. A grieving widow with a streak of fierce independence, Charlotte is struggling to make her way in a world where women are expected to be seen and not heard. As she slowly reveals details about her family and her marriage, the mystery at Ravenswick unintentionally seems to take a backseat to the mystery of Charlotte herself.

As the first book in the series, perhaps this approach was needed to lay the groundwork for the future, and I hope that in doing so, it will allow Charlotte’s story and the featured mystery to achieve a better balance.

3.5 stars

Thanks to Datura Books and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Death in The Aviary is a multi-layer murder mystery with a nostalgic old time who-dun-it feel, perhaps with a bit of Hitchcock macabre feel.

The setting, atmosphere, twists, and most of the characters were all very enjoyable. I did not expect the final reveal, and the twisty bits were also unexpected. Definitely enjoyed the ending.

The pacing was a bit slow to start, and I felt that the books revelation of one character being there mayhaps could have had more insights to them on the premises.

While bits of the story may have been rough around the edges, I would def recommend this as a slower paced, twisty, and mood mystery book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book before its release.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

I was definitely drawn to this book by the title. Birds are always fantastic additions to books, particularly when they tend towards the darker side. This is a historical murder mystery. It’s set post World War One. We follow a journalist posing as an ornithologist with the aim of investigating a stately home and the resident family and the death of their heir.

The birds were my favourite part of the book, there is an aviary filled with ravens beloved of the lord of the manor. They’re less popular with other family members, but we do get to learn more about them and their taciturn keeper.

The main character suffers a tragic loss, and we hear a lot of reflection on this event from years earlier. I did find this became a bit repetitive, however it meant we got to see more from the main character’s landlady who was my favourite character so I didn’t mind too much.