Today sees the UK publication in paperback of Blackstone Fel l, the third Rachel Savernake novel - with the fourth, Sepulchre Street , due to hit the shelves next month. A writer is never satisfied, but these are both books that I feel particularly happy with, and I wrote quite a few articles about Blackstone Fell at the time the hardback was released, including this one for Booktrail . I've been gratified by the reviews on the blogosphere - and here's a selection from the print media: ‘Rachel
Savernake, blessed with wealth and beauty, and Jacob Flint, possessed of a nose
for a good story — who previously appeared in Gallows Court (2018)
and Mortmain Hall (2020)
— return to investigate the many extraordinary goings-on in Blackstone Fell, a
creepy village in darkest Yorkshire. Unexplained disappearances, seances,
multiple deaths at a sanatorium patrolled by guard dogs and a murderer on the
loose provide a lively and eventful trip back to 1930s Britain as depicted in
the Golden Age mysteries of the period. Martin Edwards celebrates and satirises
the genre with wit and affection: “Lightning flashed over Hawthorn Cottage as a
loud knock came at the door.” He leaves you wanting more.’
Mark Sanderson, The Times
‘For his latest classic mystery, Martin
Edwards serves up an engaging mix of ingredients familiar to fans of golden age
crime. A remote village on the Yorkshire moors harbours secrets: two murders,
300 years apart, have been committed in the close confines of Blackstone
Tower.
When
an intrepid journalist, one of the rare women reporters of 1930s Fleet Street,
also meets an untimely end, it is left to private investigator Rachel
Savernake, beautiful, rich and fiercely intelligent, to identify the guilty and
to exorcise the evil that permeates Blackstone Fell.
What
goes on behind the walls of the sanatorium where psychiatric treatment is
liable to prove fatal? What can be learned from a spiritualist whose
seances, though fraudulent, provide vital clues?
The plot is intricate but never less than compelling.
Martin Edwards holds his own with the best of classic crime.’
Barry Turner, Daily Mail
‘Fabulous
locked room mystery…full of suspense, this entertaining and engaging read is a
classic whodunit.’
My Weekly
‘First-rate and a
must-read for this month… The plot is tremendous…the cross-currents brilliant, the
writing pithy, the characters well-realised and the piling up and
switches between possible solutions excellent, with “more loose ends than a
bowl of spaghetti”. The Cluefinder at the end, the “selection of pointers
to the solution of the various mysteries”, serves to demonstrate how far
Edwards, the President of the Detection Club, has played fair… There
is some humour…whilst many academics will recognise this description of a
professor: “He still thinks he’s in his prime, though he does nothing all day
but rewrite lectures he gave thirty years ago.” Good length. Rachel Savernake
makes an impressive modern Holmes, plus Jacob Flint and Nell Fagan are interesting
entrees to Fleet Street with the nature of justice ably to the fore at the end.
One to read and enjoy.’
Jeremy Black, The Critic
‘The
third in the Rachel Savernake investigation is perfect for those who love a
locked-room mystery…It has a wonderful golden age of crime feel to it.’
Belfast Telegraph
‘ Blackstone Fell is an irresistible
Gothic thriller…Edwards’ book keeps you gripped to the very end – you find
yourself caring about the characters and their fates. It is intelligently
written. The descriptions of Blackstone Fell are vivid and help the reader to
appreciate the bleakness of the moors.’
Yorkshire Life ‘As always with this
series, the period detail is beautifully observed…Rachel remains an enigmatic
figure, but an oddly likeable one too…Blackstone Fell turns out to be an
unusually murderous place as the story unfolds: Edwards has a wonderful knack
for propelling the action and lacing it with clues (often subtle ones) along
the way. This is a thoroughly enjoyable successor to Gallows Court and Mortmain
Hall , ingeniously plotted and racily told… Blackstone Fell is more or less impossible to put down – this is
Edwards on the top of his form.’
Nigel
Simeone, Dorothy L. Sayers Bulletin ‘This is a fascinating novel, with an enigmatic
protagonist and a complex, intriguing plot. Rachel is an intriguing character,
incredibly clever and c old-blooded and ruthless to everybody but
the few people she cares about. The books have the authenticity of the author’s
detailed knowledge of the period, plus a darkly clever plot, set in a sinister,
brooding landscape. Blackstone Fell is a page turner which I wholeheartedly recommend.’
Carol Westron, Mystery People
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