Set in the 1920s, Unnatural Ends is an intricately crafted murder mystery written in the Golden Age tradition. Canadian author Christopher Huang is obviously a fan of this type of mystery and this time period. His language and attention to history and setting were perfect and there are lots of Golden Age tropes to enjoy. I swear Miss Marple has a cameo which made me wonder if there were other cameos I missed. ⁠
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Siblings Alan, Roger and Caroline return home to Linwood Hall in the North Yorkshire moors for their father's funeral. Their stern taskmaster of a father has been brutally murdered and they discover a clause in his will that the house and fortune will be inherited by the child who solves his murder. ⁠
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I enjoyed this mystery a lot. I really wish it was tighter, which could result from it being told from multiple viewpoints. I think most books should be edited more, so it could just be me. I solved the mystery but was happy to continue and enjoyed the ending.

A great read by this author. I definitely recommend checking this one out!
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oof. I had high hopes for Unnatural Ends, so it saddens me to leave such a negative review.

Christopher Huang’s most recent novel is an Agatha-Cristie-esque murder mystery. When Sir Lawrence Linwood dies, his adopted children are called home for the funeral. Upon reading his will, they discover that whoever solves the case will inherit the estate.

Let me start by saying Huang has great potential as an author. Each character had a distinct voice, with period-appropriate dialogue matching their personalities. And although this read more like a YA novel, I found the writing brilliant and purposeful.

Now on to my overall thoughts…
The pace was erratic, to say the least. The first half was so slow that I debated picking it back up. While both plot and pace improved, we were somehow led to an extremely abrupt ending??? Speaking of plot - lovers of murder mysteries will, unfortunately, find this story predictable.

The last element I would like to touch on is the book’s repetitive nature, specifically when it comes to Sir Linwood’s tendency for psychological abuse. While it’s an important aspect of the book, the children spend SO MUCH time reflecting on their father’s toxic personality and violent behavior that it became unbearable.

This book wasn't at all what I expected, and I think perhaps I made a wrong assumption based on the cover (red with mace) and the authors surname. I will never learn my lesson!! Never assume and my apologies for applying a stereotype;
This was such an intriguing book! Set in the early 1920's Alan, Roger and Caroline Linwood are the adopted adult children of Sir Lawrence Linwood. They return home on learning that their father has passed away and are shocked to learn that he has been murdered. Then due to the reading of their father's will they could be pitted against each other to ensure that they inherit, or they could choose to be allies and share the reward.
Inspector Mowbray, who is investigating the murder is not sure what to make of these three very different people who appear to have a strange reaction to their father's death.
There were a lot of elements to this story which builds and builds to a shocking revelation that exposes a truly monstrous being.
Thank you Inkshares and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this digital ARC.

This novel caught my eye while browsing NetGalley last summer. I was immediately intrigued by the puzzle piece cover and the synopsis of the book. The novel is divided into parts and character perspectives, mainly the perspectives of the three Linwood siblings, though some other characters tell their stories here and there.

I loved the 1920s family manor setting that gives Agatha Christie vibes, which is always a major plus. I enjoyed this puzzle piece mystery that comes together in the end with a satisfying conclusion. Definitely consider picking this one up if you enjoy historical mysteries. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was puzzling to me. And not in the way I want a murder mystery to be. If you're going to set your murder mystery in the time and locale of the Golden Age of detective fiction, you need to live up to it! Just way too slow, and the victim (along with the motive many had for murdering him) was not believable.

set up as a murder mystery involving a wealthy man and his three adopted kids, it's a competition to work out who killed him and the winner gets his fortune. the set up was interesting. was just boring to me! i wasn't invested

This is an unusual murder mystery, set in 1921, in which the murdered man’s will states that his estate will go to whichever of his three adopted children solves his murder.

Sir Lawrence was found bludgeoned to death in his study with a mace taken from a suit of armour in Linwood Hall. His three children Alan, an archaeologist, Roger and engineer and Caroline, a journalist have all returned to their childhood home of Linwood Hall in Yorkshire for his funeral, although none of them feel much love for their Sir Lawrence or their adoptive mother, his wife Rebecca, a quiet and submissive woman. A strict and demanding father, Sir Lawrence home-schooled the children and brought them up to be tough and resilient, pitting them against each other and expecting them to be ruthless in their aim for high achievement. His wife Rebecca was emotionally distant from the children and they grew up without much love or comfort, but nevertheless becoming close to each other, although all going their separate ways since leaving home. Now they must compete against each other to become their father’s heir.

The novel is a slow burner with a gradual build up while we get to really know the main characters and their backgrounds. The period and setting are also well described with the atmospheric Linwood Hall and Sir Lawrence himself looming over the little village down below. Told from the perspective of Alan, Roger and Caroline there is also the investigating detective, Inspector Mowbray, Roger’s girlfriend Iris and a cast of shadowy strangers who all have a role to play in this cleverly written mystery. All three siblings begin to suspect that some of the answers to their father’s murder may have resulted from their own origins, but there are many clever twists before they work out who the murderer was and more importantly why. An excellent debut novel with a great period vibe.

Wow. Honestly, WOW!
Let me say that I am not usually into mysteries, but this book might just convince me to read more of them!
First of all, the setting fits the story perfectly -- Linwood Hall is a gloomy, old house with artifacts inside it. The author sets the right mood right away.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and I loved the complexity that the author gives to the characters and their relationships. Each chasing the prize -- the inheritance from their father, but having to solve the mystery first. Will they join forces? Will each fend for themselves?
Layers of family past, frantic search and amazing plot twists, and over it all is the looming presence of Sir Lawrence Linwood.
A great book if I ever read one!

This turned out to be a DNF for me. It was so boring that I couldn’t finish it. I don’t do murder mysteries anymore because they are so boring. I thought it was it was going to be different than what it was but it wasn’t

UNNATURAL ENDS by Christopher Huang is a fun murder mystery that opens when the domineering family patriarch, Sir Lawrence Linwood, is found dead in his study. His three adopted children are surprised to discover that his will decrees that his estate will go to whichever of them solves his murder first.

I was grabbed from the beginning by this action-packed, plot-twist-filled mystery. The pace never slows, and the way Huang reveals the puzzle is clever and satisfying. The three children – Alan, aloof archaeologist; Roger, aeroplane enthusiast; and Caroline, a journalist aiming to become a politician – were endearing and surprising. What I loved about the novel is that it’s not just about solving the riddle of Linwood’s murder, but a deeper meditation on how our parents shape us (and whether we can ever free ourselves of that influence), sibling bonds, reckoning with our childhoods, and the triumph of goodness over evil.

My only slight gripe is that Roger and Caroline are referred to as having "exotic" features multiple times, and there is some dated language about adoption, too. I honestly think that Huang is just using the language of the times (the book is set in the 1920s, and a lot of research went into the Yorkshire setting) but I wanted to flag that for potential readers. Also, a caveat: I don’t read a lot of mysteries (hoping to change that, as I enjoyed this one!), so readers who do may find this less original.

Pick this one up for a fun, absorbing murder mystery with depth!

I personally did not enjoy this book. It was boring and did not keep me interested and I had a hard time following the story. It was a mystery and there was a murder in the book but something about it kept me bored. I felt like it started very slow and didnt ever really speed up. I have read a lot of mystery and thrillers and this was just one I couldnt get into.

I received this novel as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

A murder mystery that’s heavy on mystery and light on gore and suspense. I liked how the story unfolded and feel like it was a fresh take on a murder novel.

"Father wasn’t choosing one of them to receive the prize of Linwood Hall. It was the other way around. He was choosing one of them to be the prize he intended to bestow upon Linwood Hall. At the end of the day , that was the only thing Father really cared about— the only thing he loved as much as he loved himself. Linwood Hall."

Sir Lawrence Linwood has been murdered, and his 3 adopted children have returned home for his funeral and will reading. But the will has a strange requirement, the entire Linwood estate will go to whoever solves his murder.

Linwood was a terrible man and had no shortage of enemies. The story flips perspectives frequently and we unravel more and more of Sir Linwood's life and the many people he had hurt. And someone like that didn't exactly raise well-adjusted children.

This reminded me a lot of more classic mysteries. There aren't big thrills in this one, but there's such a great attention to detail I don't really see in newer mysteries.

Overall 4.5 stars

Thank you netgalley and Inkshares for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had slightly higher hopes for this book. I love mysteries, who-dun-it's, and European settings. I struggled hard to get into the swing of things with this book. It felt extremely over descriptive to the point where I just felt like I kept rereading the same parts because I kept losing focus. The mystery portion itself was well written overall, and I think the author is a terrific writer; unfortunately, this just didn't end up being my cuppa tea.

I thank Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Unnatural Ends reads like a French six-course dinner prepared and delivered by the latest cohort of Top Chef, served in the very classy digs of Downton Abbey, while you and your guests find yourself flung into a live-action Gosford Park; in short, this novel is the quintessential English manor-murder-mystery, updated for the 2022 reader. There is a hint of Mavis Hay’s (1936) Santa Klaus Murder here, a bit of Agatha Christie, and a good strong nod to the immorality of the British Empire (though, nothing quite so dark as Kazuo Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day). This novel is unbelievably English.

I loved it.

It did take me a few chapters to fully dig into the thrill of the case, but the family was so immediately deranged and dysfunctional, I couldn’t look away any more than if I encountered a train accident and found it to be the wreckage of the Orient Express.

The story begins with the death of the patriarch — his ghastly murder — and the strange clause in his will that disproportionately favors any of his adopted children who solves the crime. The novel unfolds from that point on in a predictable fashion for any mystery, but the ending and the twists of blood, family, and the loyalties of genetics kept this reader on her toes. Just when this reader thought she’d solved it, something emerged which threw her off! Between the three siblings, the pathetic mother and widow, the overbearing and sadistic father, and the eye-rolling police, Unnatural Ends delivers a very witty enjoyable read from start to finish.

For the reader who enjoys more than mystery, the novel also possesses several threads of underlying social and historical commentary. Britain’s dark imperial history, rife with its undeniable racism and eugenic standards of morality, are key foundational elements of the plot. Indeed, the cruel history of eugenics and colonialism are integral to the constituency of its characters and the motivations behind the twists and ruts of this mystery. On that note, however, the novel is not pedantic or a history lesson: it is wholly a mystery novel.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I might, in particular as the story transformed throughout the chapters.
Alan, Roger and Caroline were summoned to their Father’s funeral with very different expectations each. The funny part was that their expectations were actually the same, but each caring about themselves and not the others.
“Unnatural ends” started as your traditional murder-mystery in a sort of locked room situation and evolved beautifully to a plot-heavy-intricate-lies story, in which you got one tiny piece of the puzzle each time. All characters played their part, I didn’t feel that anyone was left behind or used as a filler. I also really liked the flashbacks to an earlier timeline as a way to convey small indications of reveals.
The book lost one star because I missed a more in depth explanation of how the killer did all that they did. The ending was a bit rushed, even if I was satisfied by how it was resolved. I did not see it coming and I hadn’t considered at all the possibility of what happened.
This was my first book by the author and I’m interested in picking up previous works. I highly recommend this book and it was a great read to close my 2022 reading year!
Thanks Netgalley and Inkshares for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Unnatural Ends will be published in May 23rd, 2023.

From start to finish I felt like I could not trust anyone in this book. Everyone had secrets, and it seemed everyone had motive to get what they wanted.

Sir Linwood changed his will to reflect that im the case of his death being of unnatural causes. Whichever of his 3 children could solve the murder would be awarded the full estate of the Linwood property.

It is not long before secrets are unearthed and all 3 of the adult children start questioning what they knew of their father, and their actual pasts.

I was captivated by this book and could not stop reading until I knew what happened!

During the first few chapters, I was quite surprised by how progressive this book was for a book written in the Golden Age. Yes, you get some good female characters in that time (sometimes even by male writers), but the women, even the side characters, were really well-written, and the book also pulled no punches when it came to acknowledging the racism of the time <i>and</i> shell-shock/PTSD ...and then I realized that this wasn't the re-released Golden Age mystery I had got recently, but a contemporary book set in the 1920s. The author had simply done a great job at matching the voice of Ye Olde Writers, something that many others who write in that period don't really bother with (I don't mind, still it was a nice surprise).

The mystery itself also started off very enjoyable, but did lose some steam for me when it got unveiled further. On the other hand, what really kept me glued to the pages was how the main characters reacted to the reveals and how it gave them and the story much more depth than I expected from a book of that length (no matter when it was written).

𝚄𝚗𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝙴𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙷𝚞𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝟸𝟹 𝙼𝚊𝚢 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹

This is a murder mystery set in the 1920s in Yorkshire. Three siblings return to the family estate when their adoptive father, Sir Lawrence Linwood, is murdered. Their father's will requires them to solve his murder to inherit his estate but only one of them can be successful. The setting of the story reminded me a little of the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy (without the superhero powers) and reminiscent of an Agatha Christie for YA readers. While the first half of the story did drag, I'm glad i persevered. It's a bit of an old fashioned telling of a murder mystery. Plenty of twists and turns and the intrigue builds in the second half. 3.5⭐️

Thanks to #netgalley and @inkshares for the e-book in return for an honest review.