Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
At the start of Challinor's rushed fourth Rex Graves puzzler (after 2010's Phi Beta Murder), Scottish barrister Rex and his girlfriend, Helen D'Arcy, are preparing for a party at Gleneagle Lodge, Rex's Victorian estate on Loch Lochy, home to a reputed sea monster, possibly kin to Loch Ness's Nessie. Guests include the local hotelier, Hamish Allerdice, and his wife and two children; Rex's barrister friend, Alistair Frazer; freelance journalist Rob Roy Beardsley; snobby Cuthbert and Estelle Farquharson; and a surprise visitor, Moira Wilcox, Rex's former girlfriend. Meanwhile, a serial killer of young girls is on the loose on nearby Rannoch Moor. The efficient plot thickens after a storm strands the guests overnight and a drowned body surfaces in Rex's loch. Traditional mystery fans will appreciate the retro Agatha Christie style, but some readers might wish the author had invested her Highland characters with more depth. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
A quiet weekend house party to celebrate the new country home of Scottish barrister Rex Graves becomes a nightmare when Graves's ex-girlfriend crashes the party and is murdered. VERDICT This fourth series entry (after Phi Beta Murder) is a classic British mystery with a closed cast of suspects and a locked-room puzzle. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Even though it's in Scotland, a housewarming party is the scene of a classic English murder mystery.Barrister Rex Graves has recently purchased an attractive property on Loch Lown in the Scottish Highlands. He and his girlfriend, Helen D'Arcy, have invited a disparate group to enjoy their hospitality. Graves's colleague Alistair Frazer is moping over his failure to convict a man he is sure is the child killer of the Moor. The Farquharsons are an upper-crust couple prepared to hunt and gossip. The Allerdice family includes local hotelier Hamish, his wife Shona and their daughter Flora, who is devoted to her learning-disabled brother Donnie. The Allerdices have brought along their guest Rob Roy Beardsley, a freelance journalist trying to prove that famed monster Nessie has siblings living in the smaller lochs. Despite a torrential rainstorm, all goes reasonably well until Rex's former love Moira Wilcox arrives. Sleeping arrangements must be changed to fit in the flirtatious Moira and the Allerdice family, who had planned to return to the hotel. The next morning, Moira's naked body is found in the loch. The phone line has been cut, all the car tires have been slashed and every cell phone has gone missing. The police are busy with the latest child killing, so it's up to Rex to figure out which of his guests murdered his former lover.Rex's fourth case (Phi Beta Murder, 2010, etc.) is a slim volume in the style of Agatha Christie, lightweight but fun to read.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
