Alexander Thorpe is from Fremantle Western Australia He has written advertising copy for pool cleaners and concrete supply companies taught English in Joseph Stalin s hometown and almost managed to read half of James Joyce s Ulysses twice which is or less the same as having almost managed to read the whole book Alex has written for news outlets travel journals marketing companies and educational providers and has recently completed his first novel Death Leaves the Station. When loathed landholder Fred O Donnell is found dead in a locked room with a bullet in his chest rookie Detective Hartley must seek help from a mysterious wanderer to solve the case And it s one where everyone including his family has a motive and a secret to keep. Featuring the mendicant monk from Thorpe s previous novel Death Leaves the Station readers will be drawn into the world of small town Western Australia in the late 1920s delighting in the characters as they navigate the strained sensibilities and dark secrets of the past Full of twists and turns this seemingly impossible murder mystery is cosy crime writing at its finest Death Holds the Key Itinerant Mendicant 2 When I first heard about this book I loved the cosy mystery vibe and thought it would be a nice easy read to get me out of a slump It ended up exceeding every single expectation to the point where I went to my nearest bookshop to buy the first book in the series because I was so invested in the story characters and writing style The first thing I loved about this book was the setting There s just something special about reading a book that s set in the place you live The familiarity of suburbs and establishments provided an instant connection and I was able to visualise each place so clearly in my mind Next of course was the whodunnit conundrum a murder in a locked room with no signs of entry or escape no murder weapon a mysterious cloaked figure seen lurking in the vicinity in the lead up to the death and motives than you can shake a stick at I was instantly hooked by this seemingly impossible murder and couldn t turn the pages fast enough as the evidence and observations started to trickle in. In terms of characters there were quite a few to keep track of but all had a part to play in the story I suspected each of them at some point and yet was shocked when it came to the big reveal I was particularly fond of the nameless Mendicant and was pleased to hear that this is not his only feature in this book series. The writing was one of my favourite parts of the book Set in the late 1920s it read like a classic with meandering sentences that I loved to unpick At the same time it was accessible and easy to read There were some really witty parts too that provided the light heartedness we associate with cosy mysteries I loved the way the revelation was written with the friar and detective drip feeding their findings to the family In any other book this would be way too much telling but it fitted the vibe of this book perfectly This is easily going to be one of my top 5 reads of the year I feel like I read it at the perfect time and it brought back my love of reading Huge thanks to the team at Freo Press for reaching out and offering me a copy of this one in exchange for a review I m so glad to have found my new favourite whodunnit author Rating breakdownPlot narrative 4. 8 9781399175432 EXCERPT Our pet policeman has returned announced Edith He brings I presume news of the killer s conviction She kept her hands close upon the tray of pastries as she laid it down as if to indicate that only good boys who solved homicides were rewarded with sweets Well not as yet no Hartley felt his face grow hot his collar tight We ve made a good deal of progress though especially in ruling out certain suspects that Edith waved his words away in irritation What s this you ve dragged along with you then She looked down her patrician nose at the friar He s a darling sort of hermit Winnie put in skipping forward to rest a possessive hand on the cassock clad shoulder Very chic Very Catholic I want to take him down to the Anderson s place tomorrow and show him off before everyone gets one Aside from George rolling his eyes in the corner of the room this statement met with no response The family was obviously well accustomed to Winnie s flights of fancy Never mind her nonsense Do you have any information about who killed my father This question came from Mary who had shed the apron and joined her husband on the other side of the table one hand resting atop her belly The room became preternaturally silent all eyes fixed on the holy man Hartley was just about to interject when the friar spoke Funnily enough he said I rather think that I do Edith tapped her long lacquered fingernails against the table in order to quiet the resulting clamour Tell us she commanded I can t tell you I m afraid said the friar but I can show you I ll have the murderer here in this room one week from today I shall also if there are no objections try one of these delightful looking cakes He reached for the tray as the room erupted into clamour and chaos. ABOUT DEATH HOLDS THE KEY In 1928 on a remote property widely despised farmer Fred O Donnell is found dead in his study with a bullet hole in his chest But the murder occurred in a locked room and the weapon and its wielder have vanished without a trace. For rookie Detective Hartley fresh from the city his only good fortune is that a nameless mendicant has appeared to help him investigate a crime in which everybody has a motive but nobody has the means. MY THOUGHTS This is my first reading of historical crime in some time and I enjoyed it The murder in a locked room with no murder weapon and no sign of either entry or escape hooked me I was intrigued Puzzled but quite sure I could solve this I was wrong. I loved the setting rural Western Australia on a station The historical detail was great I had been unaware that a permit was needed to employ Aboriginal as they were known then workers The characters speech was in keeping with the time period but there were one or two things that I wondered about . I would have thought at that time it was normal to have house staff a cook a maid but none of these were in evidence there were two station hands and a couple of itinerant workers Although it doesn t say anywhere just how big Tolhurst is this seems a very small number of workers for even an average sized station at a time when all work is done on horseback Mary Fred s daughter runs the house but Edith his wife seems to have an undefined role She also has lacquered nails but nail enamel wasn t patented until 1932 and I would imagine it would have taken a few years to reach Western Australia. Putting these minor niggles aside I enjoyed the diversity of the characters the hard working Mary her mother Edith comes across as a bit of a hard woman and Winnie as delightfully flaky Of Hazel the deceased son Jack s partner and mother of Delia we see very little The same with George Mary s husband. 5 DeathHoldstheKey FremantlePressTHE AUTHOR Alexander Thorpe grew up in the suburbs around Fremantle Walyalup Western Australia He has written advertising copy for pool cleaners and concrete supply companies taught English in Joseph Stalin s hometown and almost managed to read half of James Joyce s Ulysses twice which is or less the same as having almost managed to read the whole book Alex has written for news outlets travel journals marketing companies and educational providers When not writing Alexander can be found inflicting his idiosyncratic brand of English on innocent students exploring new frontiers in miserable music or embracing his insomnia in the company of an old British radio drama DISCLOSURE Thank you to Fremantle Press for providing a copy of Death Holds the Key by Alexander Thorpe for review All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. com 9781399175432 Death Holds The Key is the second book in the Itinerant Mendicant series by Australian author Alexander Thorpe In the spring of 1928 after a full day s drive from Perth any nervousness that Detective Constable James Hartley has felt about his first assignment as a detective has morphed into tiredness And he is fairly sure that as the junior detective he is being sent to check out a hoax a threatening hatted cloaked spectre appearing and disappearing inexplicably numerous times. So when having collected Hazel O Donnell at the Kojonup Police station they arrive at the Tolhurst homestead to hear shots being fired he is surprised but ready to act The patriarch Fred O Donnell lies dead on the floor of his study shot in the chest the room locked from the inside the windows firmly latched Some small items whose meaning isn t apparent are folded into a blood stained note about wrongs being righted and left on the outside windowsill There s no gun in the room Hazel is sure this must be the work of the mysterious spectre. Three days on interviews with family and staff yielding only that Fred O Donnell was a tight fisted tyrant universally despised so Hartley has resorted to frequenting nearby pubs in the hope of catching sight of the cloaked figure and finds instead the itinerant mendicant whose reputation for solving crimes has preceded him Hartley begs for help and having heard the mysterious story the friar is intrigued enough to accompany him to Tolhurst. The friar examines the scene talks to the family asks insightful questions enquires about things that haven t occurred to Hartley he s a keen observer In Kojonup they soon get the feeling that A sort of ambient hatred for Fred O Donnell seems almost to be an essential part of the town s fabric The people they talk to the stories they hear about how unpleasant Fred could be the people seem to have a motive to shoot the man and Hartley notes that a surplus of motive muddied the waters even further than a deficit it wouldn t have surprised him to learn that the whole household had planned his death in concert The surprise existence of an insurance policy adds intrigue but it s when the will turns up that they have a bit to go on As Thorpe drip feeds the details of the spectre s sightings the reaction of those who saw him and the consistent denial by the patriarch of any such figure. some readers might agree with Fred s widow who asks if you intend to have us sit here fearing the worst of all those we hold dear while you play at dropping crumbs and drumming up suspense But readers wanting action drama should look elsewhere careful observation and reasoned deduction are what solves this mystery As fits the era the dearth of technology necessitates ingenuity and talents of a classic type communication is often by telegrams and letters with long waits requiring resigned patience What a marvellous tale Thorpe easily captures both the era and the setting with some superb descriptive prose his characters are interesting he gives them subtle humour wise words and insightful observations While some may have an idea of the who the how and why will stump even the most astute reader in a plot that has sufficient intrigue twists and red herrings to keep the reader guessing to the very last pages This dose of historical crime fiction is Thorpe s best yet 9781399175432 I m of the belief that every creed has something to offer If we limit ourselves to a single set of teachings what chance do we have to grow 9781399175432 Death Holds the Key by Alexander Thorpe is the second in the series featuring a mendicant monk I confess I had to google what a mendicant monk was so now know it means a monk who begs I d originally assumed the detective Detective Hartley to be the main character but given he quickly tells of of his lack of experience and potential ineptitude I was glad someone else was on hand. I found the narrative here a bit wordy in parts though realise the verbose prose may be in keeping with the formal language of the time particularly that of the learned friar. In many ways the down to earth Hartley is the perfect foil for the philosophical friar though I d like the latter to perhaps partner with someone who was less acquiescent and his match And I wonder if that was the case in the first book in the series 3. 5 starsRead my review here 9781399175432

Death Holds the Key (Itinerant Mendicant, #2) By Alexander Thorpe

1399175432

9781399175432

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Slightly on the cosier side the personalities and interactions between the two main characters is a big part of the attraction of DEATH HOLDS THE KEY 9781399175432 Well well well it seems that I now enjoy reading golden age crime Who knew Death Holds the Key is a charming sometimes amusing and very well written murder mystery set in rural WA in the late 1920 s. Detective Hartley has been sent to Kojonup from Perth to investigate a mysterious person seen in and around the sheep farm Tolhurst On the day he arrives at the farm gunshots are heard and the landowner Fred O Donnell is found murdered in a locked room. These two Hartley and the nameless monk make a fine pair Hartley has zero confidence in himself and his crime solving abilities and the monk while confident in his ability to solve the crime takes great pleasure in making Hartley work for his often ambiguous thoughts. I thoroughly enjoyed the way Hartley and the monk played off each other and worked to solve this seemingly unsolvable crime The side stories and back stories were interesting indeed and for a story set in 1928 these were incredibly relevant to today I must applaud the author for that A very enjoyable book with great writing that grabbed my interest and held it throughout the whole story I think I may just have to source the first instalment Death Leaves the Station 9781399175432 The King of Cozy Crime has done it again I devoured this with the gusto of my toddler snaffling floor food Loved every second The language choices the WA settings the fascinating characters all of it gets you in and keeps you hooked 12 10 9781399175432 When loathed landholder Fred O Donnell was found dead in a locked room with a bullet in his chest rookie Detective Hartley must seek help from a mysterious wanderer to solve the case And it was one where everyone including family had a motive and a secret to keep. I was in the mood for a classic cosy mystery and this one slotted in perfectly Set in a rural Western Australia in late 1920s featuring a smart mysterious friar this was a breath of fresh air as I hadn t read anything like it for a long time Even though this was supposed to be a second book in a series it could be read as a standalone I hadn t read the first book and I could follow the plot quite easily By the end of the book I did wonder about the friar though so I will definitely check out Death Leaves the Station at some point A closed room murder a roomful of suspects and a reveal monologue what else could you ask for Would highly recommend this to any Agatha Christie fan Thanks to Fremantle Press for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review See my bookstagram review 9781399175432 The mendicant monk is very irritating in this otherwise straightforward locked room detective mystery 9781399175432 .

: A short and thoroughly enjoyable mystery I am in search of a copy of Death Leaves the Station the first book in this series , Luckily for the inexperienced Detective Hartley a mendicant monk with a knack for crime solving is also in town and offers to help Hartley with the case.8Writing style readability 4.9Characters 4.8Diverse themes 4.5Ending 4.8Overall 4.https sandysbookaday.wordpress