Review: Death's Own Door

Death's Own Door by Andrew Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The sixth book in this small town 1950s English detective series turns its attention to DI Thornhill's wife Edith and the time she spent as a young woman with her granny in the nearby small town of Trenalt. Edith travels to Trenalt for the funeral of Rufus Moorcroft, a highly respected member of the local community who committed suicide. It transpires that he was gay and seeking treatment at a local clinic for his 'abnormal' tendencies. Attending the funeral and seeing so many of the people she spent that last summer with brings back some awful memories for Edith, the play she starred in, her unrequited love for Hugh Hudnall and his tragic death, the betrayal, the eccentric characters, and all the secrets.

Could the eccentric Miss Carswell unlock the secret behind Rufus' death, and does it have any link to Hugh's death all those years ago? What does she mean about Constance marrying the White Rabbit and why did she want to call someone in Kent?

Meanwhile a valuable painting owned by Rufus (of Miss Carswell as a young woman), painted by a local artist who is married to Hugh's older sister, has gone missing.

I'm enjoying this series as much for the relationships as for the detection. Nothing ever goes the way the reader expects, no-one is ever wholly good or bad, everyone has secrets, just because someone is unlikable doesn't mean they are a villain.

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