Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The first installment in this new mystery series is a winner. The amateur detective is Rex Graves, a Scottish barrister, fond of Sudoku puzzles and Latin quotations. In an old-fashioned conceit, Challinor begins with a cast of characters, along with hints of possible motives for each. Although set firmly in the present, with numerous references to the Iraq War, his tale reads like a classic country-house mystery. Rex and the others are snowed in at the Swanmere Manor hotel in East Sussex, England. Being the last to arrive (on two tennis rackets lashed to his feet à la snowshoes), Rex immediately hears of the unexpected demise of one of the other guests. Even though they are in touch with the outside world, the authorities instruct the hotel staff to keep the body in a cool room with the windows open. By the time the police arrive days later, additional bodies have piled up and motives are rampant, but Rex has identified the murderer. At times, it seems we are playing Clue or perhaps enjoying a contemporary retelling of a classic Agatha Christie tale (And Then There Were None, or At Bertram's Hotel) with a charming new sleuth. A must for cozy fans.--Coon, Judy Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Shades of Agatha Christie. A disparate group of guests snowed in at an English hotel await Christmas and death. Rex Graves, QC, makes the trip from Scotland to Swanmere Manor just in time to turn sleuth. The proprietress, Mrs. Smithings, a widow who recently lost a son in Iraq, is an old friend of his mother's. But Rex's fond memories of childhood visits are about to be polluted by a series of murders. Soon after his arrival, he is taken aside by honeymooning EMT Charley Perkins, who confides his suspicions that what caused old Mr. Lawdry's death was not a heart attack but poison in his almond tart. The next to die is unpopular New York literary agent Miriam Greenbaum, whose edited biography of George W. Bush has been delayed by a fall down the stairs that was obviously helped along. Rex is attracted to Helen d'Arcy, but when her friend Wanda Martyr falls victim to the killer, he has to add Helen to his necessarily small list of suspects. Nothing daunted, he uses his prosecutorial expertise to work his way through method and motive until he announces the murderer in a denouement in the classic style. Challinor's debut is a pleasant modern knockoff of Christie. It remains to be seen whether Rex's skills are the equal of Poirot's or Miss Marple's. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
