This is a corker of a book. I started it on Tuesday, it’s now Thursday evening and I’ve just finished. I resented having to sleep, so eager was I to follow Matt and Ali.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this. People of the future, you’ve got a feast of delight in store. Five stars.

A gorgeous murder mystery in the best tradition.

"A Murder of Detectives" opens with a short flashback sequence, before introducing the reader to Matt, a murder-mystery podcaster, who has been invited to Devon to meet with someone requiring his skills as an investigator. But upon arriving at his destination, he quickly realises that things are not as he had expected. It seems he is just one of several investigators who have been gathered to compete for the chance to solve a decades-old mystery.

The story quickly unfolds, as the group squabble amongst themselves to see who will be chosen by the mysterious woman who has called them together. Before long there are arguments, alliances, and then, deaths. First one, then another, and the investigation becomes a lot darker and personal for Matt and his fellow investigators.

The cast is superb - Matt, whose previous experience as an investigator has a personal slant, Ali, the extrovert ex-GCHQ analyst, Emma, the serious ex-cop, Geoff, another ex-CID retiree, and Jay, the flamboyant and self-opinionated YouTube podcaster. As the story progresses we learn more about each one, and slowly see how their past careers have led them to this investigation. Each has their own reasons for wanting to solve the mystery, and no-one is what they seem.

The setting is also classic murder-mystery - deep in the Jurassic coast, Devon and the village of Combe Wyndham is picture=postcard pretty, and the scene of the crime, The Old Rectory just oozes mystery and decay. You can smell the neglect.

Much of the story is viewed from Matt's point-of-view, and the author very slowly and skilfully reveals his backstory, which far from explaining his place in the story, just adds to the mystery. If his insights into certain developments sometimes seem to come out of left-field, the reader is still left wondering why he noticed something the others missed. His sometime naïve approach to the investigation, and to his fellow investigators, makes him a very interesting character.

For fans of the author's previous books, this one will be a surprise. There's none of the high-stakes action sequences, and Alistair Maclean-like chases and gunplay of the John Tyler books. This is a proper murder-mystery, one that Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers might have written today. Die-hard murder mystery fans might work out the whodunnit, but the journey to the end is glorious.

Highly recommended.

I loved the premise of this and pitching it as a not-so cosy mystery. The set-up is very much a modern day take on the Golden Age classics - a wide cast of distinct characters, small town seaside setting and murders that just keep on coming! The story has so many threads that I just wanted to sit back and trust that the author would tie them all together in a satisfying way, and he very much delivered on that. If you want to try and predict it yourself, you might want to keep a notebook handy. A really solid, readable and satisfying crime book that doesn’t need any gimmicks. I miss this type of book, I’m glad they’re making a comeback!

What a great read. I could not put this book down once I started to read it. I particularly liked the choice of a team of six competing to solve the disappearance and subsequent death of the girl. The main character Matt Farrow who investigated his father’s disappearance interwoven throughout the story giving him the motivation to continue although the overall prize was an added incentive. The different characters and how they interacted and tried to out do each other thus keeping up the incentive to win was compelling reading especially between Ali and Jay. This book was not the usual murder mystery for me it was an original way of writing the story with a lot of twists and turns to keep the reader on their toes and I found the ending particularly enjoyable (no spoilers). I think Daniel Marshall has found an original way of writing a murder story with interesting characters and storyline. Looking forward to his next book. Original and a great book.

Matthew Fallow found his father's body a year after he went missing, and told the world about it in his one and only podcast. As a result, he finds himself offered a role in discovering what happened to a missing teenager several years earlier. The main snag - so have five other detectives of indeterminate professionalism. And so begins the most puzzling game of smoke and mirrors where nothing, absolutely nothing, ever seems to be what it looks like..

With six competitors trying to solve a crime (and oh - collect a big wad of prize money from the missing girl's mother), the twists, the turns, the blind alleys and red herrings jump off the pages and kept me guessing, double-guessing and sometimes just scratching my head. It's all so skilfully brought together, and a lot of attention is needed in order not to be distracted and missing the tiniest of clues. I definitely felt as I was the seventh detective with a crime to solve - unfortunately without being up for the cash prize!

This story is deceptively clever; despite the quaint village setting there is nothing cosy about it at all, and is my "One to Watch" for 2027. Excellent.