Review: The Murder at World’s End

The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stephen Pike has been invited to take a position as second footman at Tithe Hall, a remote stately home on a Cornish island. He has just been released from Borstal after serving two years for a gang fight in a Bow pub. An orphan whose only living relative died while he was in Borstal, he knows that this is his last chance to redeem himself.

When Stephen arrives he finds that the house is boarded up, yet there are family, guests and staff inside. The owner, Lord Conrad Stockingham-Welt firmly believes that Halley's Comet will bring death and destruction to the World and the only way to survive is to seal everyone inside the house until it has passed over.

Stephen is immediately set to boarding up fireplaces, locking people in their rooms, sealing locks with wax and stuffing wadding around door frames etc (although thinking about it, if the house is sealed from the outside why do they also need to seal people up individually as well?). Then he his handed the poison chalice of being forced to look after Miss Decima Stockingham, a foul-mouthed elderly woman who resides in a separate wing of the house and has terrorised all the maids.

Much to his surprise, Miss Decima pooh-poohs Conrad's fears and instead insists that Stephen take her outside so that she can chart the comet's progress across the sky.

The next morning when Stephen, the first footman Lowen, and the butler Mr Stokes start unsealing the rooms Stephen makes a grisly discovery. Conrad has been murdered by a crossbolt through the eye ... in a sealed room (duh duh duh). Stephen is terrified, as the newest member of staff, with a criminal record he is obviously going to be the primary suspect, something which is borne out when the police inspector arrives from the mainland. Only Miss Decima believes him and together they set out to discover who killed Conrad and why. Was it his cousin Edwin Welt, MP, who expects to inherit the money and the house on Conrad's death? Or his cousin Read Admiral Jolyon Welt, the alcoholic? Of Lettice Welt, who has allegedly seen off her husband, daughter and son-in-law? Or Lettice's grandson the foul Gilbert? What about Conrad's German friend and co-founder of his Halley's Comet society Professor Wolf Muller? What about one of the servants?

This is a good old-fashioned, locked-room mystery. Loved it. Plenty of obnoxious suspects. Plenty of red herrings. Lots of accusations, dead fish, a suit of armour, a maze, missing laundry, a change of will.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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