Mostly Murders

We seemed to be confronted with a series of interlocking murders and mysteries spanning decades, if not centuries …

Ad/PR/Patrocinado. Book review of Little House of Secrets by Christopher Seto, book 2 in the Notes on a Murder series, previously published under the title The Vanishing Stone.

Theo Chan is somewhat traumatised by his first case as an assistant to private investigators Primrose and Teebin, and is seriously considering quitting. But Theo’s new PhD advisor wants him to write his dissertation on Primrose and Teebin, and Theo wants money to help his grandmother, and a chance to find out more about his mysterious employers. As a result, Theo agrees to extend his summer job and go with Primrose and Teebin to the ominously named Eldritch island, to meet with Pippa Stone, a woman who says her late brother knew Primrose and has a favour to call in.

They are there to find out what happened to Edmund Stone, Pippa’s younger brother who mysteriously vanished many years ago. But Eldritch island is as sinister as the name suggests, and before long Theo and his employers are caught up in a series of baffling incidents, including a vandalised perfect miniature replica of a possibly haunted island manor, a deranged 17th-century priest, dolls with missing eyes, taunting limerics, and suspicious deaths.

Theo is as hard-tried as ever as he struggles to keep up with Primrose’s deductions, Teebin’s antics, the enmity of the local sheriff and his own desire to impress Nora, the daughter of the island’s pirate captain and ghost tour guide. And just like in book 1 in the series, Theo is in for an atmospheric, clever mystery with lots of dry wit, self-realisation, shocking discoveries and surprising twists and turns in a both eerie and amusing setting, as the many layers to Edmund Stone’s story slowly unfold and Theo learns things about Primrose and Teebin that lead him to have even more questions about the mysterious pair and their shadowy past.

If you haven’t read book 1, The Chocolatier’s Curse first, I highly recommend that you begin with that one before you enjoy Eldritch island’s many secrets slowly being brought to light by the ever brilliant Primrose, the cheerful Teebin and the somewhat frazzled Theo.

Mystery