Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. From the description, it should have been my style, but it was not.

As the second in the Rachel Savernake series, I feel it is really important to read the first in the series prior to this one.

An interesting Industrial Age who-done-it thriller, but it does not hold well on its own.

Accomplished Whodunnit…
An accomplished whodunnit in true Golden Age style from a master in the field. Written in traditional vein with a perfect sense of time and place, a deftly drawn cast and a twisting plotline littered with red herrings. A satisfying and compelling read.

I can’t decide if the reason I struggled to connect with this book is because I’ve just read too many similar novels, or if I just don’t love what Martin Edwards does as I think I do.

For me, the highlight of Edwards’ work has always been in the classic collections he edits rather than his novels. I’ve struggled with this series in particular, which sort of surprised me because it’s the type of thing I can typically devour and not be too picky about.

Perhaps it is that I’ve just read too many books like it and this one doesn’t really stand out amongst its peers. I felt largely the same about its predecessor Gallows Court, so likely no more of these for me.

There’s nothing wrong with the plot and there’s certainly nothing wrong with the writing (atmosphere is the book’s lone remarkable strong point), and those who can’t get enough of Edwards and the subgenre of the Savernake series will likely enjoy this very much.

Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy this not only for the atmospherics but also for the intricate plot. No spoilers from me but know that it's not who you think!

Rachel Savernake is an enigmatic woman. Born and raised on a remote island, her father a renowned but disliked Judge Rachel is unknown to many other than her domestic staff whom she considers her family. That alone was very different for aristocratic 1930 London.

We have Leonora Dobell, a hidden past and a person who is intent on finding and exposing mistrials of justice. She has invited three persons and Rachel to her home for a weekend. All three are people who have escaped the gallows on technicalities or barely made it through and Rachel though circumspent is very interested what it will hold for her.

On the sidelines there is a Fleet Street reporter who gets almost framed for murder, there are people from the past who do get murderered even though they are warned that they are in danger, and it ends with a string of murders itself.
Overshadowing it all is something secret, something concerning security of the nation.

Apart from the murders, and the gothic feel of the setting, the Yorkshire countryside is shown very descriptively. For outsiders this is a plus point.

Mortman Hall
Martin Edwards
Poisoned Pen Press ; 2020
A Rachel Savernake Golden Age mystery

London, 1930: Rachel Savernake was raised on a secluded island in a gloomy mansion named Gaunt House. Her only companions and confidantes were the staff, married couple Clifford and Hetty Trueblood and his sister Martha. Her father was a sadistic judge who killed himself after sending an innocent man to the gallows. His death left Rachel financially independent and free to do whatever she wanted to. She and the Truebloods promptly moved to the city, where she became a criminologist, one of the few females in the profession. The Truebloods were both staff and friends, and assisted her in her investigations
Leonora Dobell was another in that field, although the two had never met. She informed Rachel that she wanted to discuss mutual interests, including murder. She invited Rachel and journalist Jacob Flynn to an unusual house party at Mortmain Hall, her ancestral home in the far north of England. The other guests were people who had been unjustly accused of murder—or were they? Leonora made the startling claim that Rachel was another who’d cheated the hangman, and it was possible she was correct. What happened next was a classic Gothic of deceit, betrayal and gristly deaths, ending with crumbling cliffs and great destruction of property.
Leading up to the fall of Mortmain Hall, Flynn had a disconcerting encounter in a clandestine club where the movers and shakers of the government and society talked business and pursued their particular vices, a man had a devasting meeting with a lion, and a shady political cadre threatened to bring down the government. The plot is rich and complicated, and thoroughly enjoyable.
At the end of the book is a Cluefinder, citing clues that the reader should have figured out. This was commonly used in the detective novels of the late 1920’s. It adds a little something extra to comprehending the plot, and requires a great deal of attention to the story.

I saw this book on the blogosphere and was tempted to pick it up. It took me a while to get around to it, and I am glad I gave it a shot. The writing was very atmospheric, and the mystery was built well.
Two things did not work for me though, one was the narrative pace (despite liking the writing); I wanted to story to move along faster. The second and more prominent personal issue I had was the ending, not the conclusion at the very end, those turn of events I quite liked, but the actual resolution provided for the bulk of the case(s) introduced to us. It was unexpected in some ways and expected in others, but I was left wanting a little more!
I have not read the first book, and as per a fellow blogger's review, it is preferable to go for the full effect. The setting is quite unique; we have in our lead protagonist a loner with a very sketchy upbringing under a slightly mad Judge. She works to her own tune and has a tight band of trusted people that she keeps close. This time around, a tip sends her to the aid of someone who does not want it. This leads to more than one death. Her friend from the papers also decides to help in the best way he can, but his sleuthing seems to do more harm than good. A dark part of London of the time is explored. Overall, even the villain(s) of the piece are pretty entertaining in their own way. I am glad I gave it a shot, and I might pick up the next if I ever get the chance to confirm if I will like it more now that I have more than a passing acquaintance of our leading lady.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I can't say enough good things about this book from the first page to the last I couldn't put it down. I will definitely be purchasing a hardcopy of it and will be recommending it to any and all, reading this book is a terrific way to spend your time

Totally gripping, twisty and written in the style of the Golden Age of mysteries, this book kept me guessing till the end! Set in the 1930s, the plot involves a series of murders and a cunning criminologist Leonora Dobell who has written about murderers who have gotten away with their crimes in the past. At first, the murders (both recent and old) seem random but a connection is made between all of them which points to the involvement of a shadow group who will do anything to make sure some secrets remain buried.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and the author Martin Edwards for the e-Arc of the book. This is the second book in the Rachel Savernake series but can easily be read as a standalone and was published on 22nd September 2020.

This mystery starts out with the story of a murder which Rachel fails to prevent, it then takes a while to fully set up a fast moving second half. Unfortunately Rachel, with a combination of arrogance and seeming omniscience, continues to be an unsympathetic character in the first part of the book, although she softens in the later portion. An interesting collection of murderers, and a secondary character who simply knows too much about a number of murders for her own safety continue to add interest. The denouement feels a bit rushed, but this episode shows significant promise for the next entries in the series.

Mortmain Hall by Martin Edwards features as our heroine one Rachel Saversnake as a faux Victorian crime sleuth in her second novel starring role. I did not read the first book by Edwards starring Miss Saversnake but based on reading Edwards contemporary mystery stories looked forward to reading this book. My thoughts: I enjoyed the read and would highly recommend Mortmain Hall to all mystery aficionados. The story took a bit for me to get “into the flow” of the plot but once I did I raced toward the ending to find out what the heck was going on...and why it was going on!
Why did I choose the word “ faux?” Because although intended to be an old style whodunnit it treats 21st century issues in a contemporary manner. I shall not give away key plot points but one shall pick up on some progressive current thinking on the part of the main players. Perhaps a mite picky but I did find our protagonist cold in manner...methinking that Edwards was creating an homage to Sherlock Holmes but cast his story without the warmth of a Dr. Watson to take the edge off his main character.
What’s great about “Mortmain Hall?” A lot, including Edwards plot pacing, plus several smaller mysteries amongst the larger story. I was grabbed by the secrets behind the enigmatic Leonora Dobell and waited patently to understand her key role in the story.
Go grab this book, enjoy the read, and look forward to another in the series (if it is to be written.)

A fun read that is a direct descendent of the Golden Age of detective fiction. Rachel is the inscrutable genius detective, and her Watson is a hapless but scrappy reporter. The included clue finder was a treat.

Rachel Savernake has tried, and failed, to convince a man- who pretended to be dead- to run while he still can. And this is only the very beginning of the story. From there, readers are immediately thrown into a sensational murder trial, one of the main characters being framed for murder, and a mysterious meeting on a remote estate where all the guests are presumed to have gotten away with killing someone. There is even death by lion at one point.

In another author's hands, I might have said this book could have been shorter, as a lot of time passes before the remote estate is reached. But Edwards does a great job of keeping readers engaged with the other events happening in the story, and (fictional) entries from a true crime book written by another character. When guests arrive at the estate, the tension is so thick because so much has been building to this moment.

Rachel Savernake is a hard character to connect to, and even to like sometimes, but I think that is the point. I have not read the first book in the series, but her characterization in this second entry feels fully fleshed out. She has gone through a great deal, particularly in her earlier years, and that has shaped her into exactly who she is when we meet her now.

Jacob Elliot is my favorite character. He is a newspaper reporter and acquaintance of Rachel, and he brings a lightness to the story that is needed. He is almost like the stand in for the reader, asking all the questions that they want to know the answer to.

This is a good, gripping read with a very surprising ending, and enough going on to absolutely keep a reader's attention.

This was such a great book for me! Another great title from Poisoned Pen Press! This is a wonderful golden age of crime drama with a Clue-like feel! I have been a long-time fan of classic who-dun-it mysteries and this book did not disappoint! Though it is the second book in the series, I was able to read it and understand everything, which I greatly appreciated.

Rachel is a bit rough around the edges, but she is a very fun character as her personality and relationships develop through the narrative. The story is suspenseful and an excellent example of the historical mystery genre! The pacing was very good and I zipped through this book quite quickly! I don't really have any quibbles with this book!

I would recommend to fans of historical mystery, thriller, and suspense novels. I really enjoyed this and I know others will too!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

this was a really enjoyable read, I really liked the first book in the series so I was excited to read this one. Let me tell you it did not disappoint, the characters were great and I really had a good time.

Eccentric amateur detective Rachel Savernake gets swept up into a twisty plot. It involves a secretive but powerful shadow group as well as a devious criminologist with a checkered past who writes about criminals who have gotten away with murder. The story begins with the violent death of a passenger on the funeral train returning from Brookwood Cemetery outside London and concludes at a Yorkshire country house (in NE England, Mortmain Hall) in a dramatic ending.
This is an old-fashioned mystery story told in the Golden Age style. The English setting during the interwar Depression years provides an atmospheric backdrop for a cast of strong characters. It's a busy story with plenty of red herrings. The grand finale at an old country house during a violent storm has the killer revealed in spectacular fashion.
There's a good balance of a clever plot, excellent storytelling, atmospheric settings and characterization. Gay men, of which there is several, are gratuitously portrayed as weak and unprincipled. They are shown as cowards and weaklings. It's a stereotypical presentation, probably representative of the time, but unnecessarily homophobic now. This is a sequel to the debut of Rachel Savernake in "Gallows Court" and can be read as a standalone without difficulty.
I requested and received a complementary advance reading copy of the eBook from Poisoned Pen Books via Netgalley. I appreciate the opportunity to provide an independent review of the book.

An excellent read, gripping and highly entertaining.
I loved the well researched historical background, the character development and the plot.
I can't wait to read the next book by this author.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley for allowing me to read an advanced copy Mortmain Hall by Martin Edwards in exchange for my honest review. The book is set sometime in the late 1930s England. The main characters are the beautiful and mysterious Rachel Savernake and young crime reporter Jacob Flint. This is the second book in the Rachel Savernake series, but the first that I have read. Rachel is the daughter of a well known “hanging judge” and grew up on a remote island with the Trueman family her only servants and companions. The Truemans are more family to Rachel than servants. She is an amateur detective and is aided in her investigations by the Truemans. The story opens with the murder of a man returning to the country after having faked his death and moved overseas. The story then jumps to Jacob’s coverage of a courtroom drama involving the seemingly hopeless trial of a man accused of murder who wins a last second reprieve. A fellow amateur criminologist and author invites Rachel to the remote and mysterious Mortmain Manor on the northern English coast where she is hosting a get together of three people who were freed of seemingly open and shut murder cases who may have in fact gotten away with murder. Rachel herself is suspected by some of the murder of her father, who was the judge in some of the trials. The story has an air of Gothic mystery throughout. Rachel is a very enigmatic character who I waivered as to whether I liked her or not, but ultimately, I grew fond of her. I liked the character of Jacob Flint who is a rookie crime reporter who is often in over his head assisting in Rachel’s investigations. The story kept me guessing throughout and featured several very surprising turns. I recommend to anyone who enjoys a good Gothic mystery.