Felony & Mayhem Press » Robert Barnard

Corpse in a Gilded Cage

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:32:21 +0000

A man’s home is his castle, but for Percy Spender (“call me Perce”) that motto has been taken just a bit too literally. After the sudden death of first one distant relative and then another, the amiable Perce has become the 12th Earl of Ellesmere. And his home, no longer a cozy council flat, is now the drafty, imposing Chetton Hall, complete with more bedrooms than Perce can count and an army of servants.

Frankly, all these fancy-pants trappings make Perce itch. He’d just as soon sell up, buy a comfy cottage, and put a bundle on the ponies. However, some of his mates and family members have other ideas. And the sad fact is that an Unfortunate Accident can happen to anyone, even a lord of the realm.

“Barnard…is a delight as he dissects the British class system…this is one of his best”
– Washington Post

“Flawless” – Newsweek

Skeleton in the Grass

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:30:49 +0000

Sara Causseley could not be more delighted by her new job as governess to the aristocratic Hallam clan. The children are adorable, the gardens are a dream, and the conversation is stimulating. But ominous political clouds are gathering over Europe, and as England slips inexorably toward World war II, the Hallams’ political views make the family increasingly unpopular. No one, though, suspects the extent of the malice that is percolating in the surrounding countryside until a human skeleton – and then a human corpse – are found on the Hallam grounds, sending some kind of ugly message. That message and the source of its hate will remain all but incomprehensible to Sara, until war has left her with a very new view of those sunny picnics on the Hallam lawns.

“Barnard is a superb stylist…the period [between the two world wars] has been captures perfectly, and the characters are beautifully delineated in this elegant and compassionate novel”

- Toronto Star

“This is writing of real distinction … a subtle and nunaced book”

- New York Times

“Brilliant evocation of the period, and equally brilliant portrayal of a family falling to pieces under the strain imposed on it”

- Times Literary Supplement

Death and the Chaste Apprentice

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:25:38 +0000

At the Ketterick Arts Festival, the apprentice is just about the only fella that is chaste, know what I mean (wink wink nudge nudge)? Ah, the pleasures of smutty innuendo, and no one relishes them more than Des Capper, a fount of dubious gossip and unwanted advice. To the horror of the performers at the Festival, Des has been promoted to landlord of the Saracen’s Head, the Elizabethan inn that is at the Festival’s heart. And when Des toddles off to meet his maker—courtesy of someone’s helpful shove—only his wretched wife can summon up a tear. Readers, meanwhile, will have trouble containing their snickers: While the mystery is a stunner (with a pair of twists that no one will see coming), it is the wickedly witty characterizations that make Chaste Apprentice the literary definition of a guilty pleasure.

“Hard to resist…my, but it’s fun to read Robert Barnard!”—New York Times

The ideal option for fans of Ngaio Marsh and Caroline Graham

Out of the Blackout

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:23:20 +0000

With the Nazis bombing London on a nightly basis, many working-class families sent their children to the comparative safety of the countryside. When the Blitz ended, the families came for their kids…but no one ever came for Simon Thorn. His name appears on no list of the evacuated children. And none of his meager belongings offer any clues as to his origins.

Now an adult, newly moved to London, Simon is puzzled by an odd sense of familiarity when he walks down certain streets. He remembers his years of screaming nightmares that would terrify his bewildered foster parents. And he resolves, once and for all, to find out where he originally came from…even as everything he uncovers suggests that, really, he doesn’t want to know.

“Barnard untangles his riddle with great skill, and I suspect he is going to outwit all but a handful of readers”

—New York Times

A perfect option for fans of Ruth Rendell and John Lawton

Death on the High C’s

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:20:45 +0000

From the London Times Literary Supplement contemporary review:

The Northern Opera Company is rehearsing Rigoletto in the Pitford Independent Methodist Hall on the outskirts of Manchester when one of the members of the cast is murdered. The stage is always a good background for a detective story, and Robert Barnard makes excellent use of it in as bright and lively a detective story as one is likely to meet this year. Good characters, good detail, a lot of music – even the policeman turns out to be an opera buff – and a lot of humour.

Backstabbing – literally – at a provincial opera company by “the wryest wit and most scathing satirist in today’s mystery”

- Chicago Sun-Times