disclosure: we were sent the item mentioned for the purpose of review
Starting a new week with another cracking read for you all. The Mystery of Four by Sam Blake was published through Corvus last month and it’s well worth looking at, especially if you like a good thriller.
The Mystery of Four is set in Ireland, Tess Morgan is the central character who has bought 16th century Kilfenora House, which along with its gardens, she is trying to restore and open to the public. Set high in the Wicklow Mountains, Tess has great plans for the restoration and is in the midst of planning for the grand opening including a modern twist of Kit Marlow’s play, Doctor Faustus.
Tess has suffered heartache, having lost her boyfriend in a tragic road accident, and had moved to Dubai to lick her wounds and rebuild her life. She is now in a better place and sees the restoration of Kilfenora as a fresh start, but she’s been hounded by internet trolls, who seem to be targeting her personally. Then tragedy strikes during rehearsals and one of the cast are hit by a falling light fitting from an overhead gantry, and he ends up in hospital fighting for his life.
Rumours that the house is cursed start to circulate along with tales of ghostly happenings. When a young woman goes missing on the estate and is then found dead, Tess begins to really feel that someone is trying to derail the opening, and even more so when she’s contacted by Jerry Lynch, a tabloid journalist, who believes that there’s another dead body buried on the border of her property who might be linked to the notorious serial killer, the Radio Snatcher.
It’s not only Tess who is concerned. Her best friend, Gen lives close by, as does her mother, Clarissa Westmacott, ex-star of stage and screen. Clarissa’s suspicions are raised further with the mention of the poisonous flower purple Aconite being found in the gardens. Is someone really trying to target Tess herself?
As the body count grows, more and more questions are raised and Tess is under a lot of stress. If the opening of Kilfenora is ruined, she could lose everything.
There are quite a few characters introduced during the first half of The Mystery of Four, and the plot does build slowly, but it’s definitely one to stick with, as the second half takes on a few twists and turns and there are a few red herrings thrown into the mix as we try to uncover who the murderer is and what their motive really is. It’s also quite funny as a multiple cat owner myself, that Merlin the cat clearly knows everything. No one can fool our feline friends.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Mystery of Four, as I have Blake’s previous novels. I’ve included my Amazon Affiliate link (I do earn from qualifying purchases) below in case you fancy adding this to your reading pile.
