Perfect Blend of Golden Age Crime Adventure with Modern Sensibilities

Martin Edwards knows his vintage crime and he brings it all to bear here with an excellent blend of 1930s adventure with elements that reflect contemporary tastes. The story of criminal gang leaders, secret government agencies, a potential femme fatale and a dashing adventurer could easily fit in many crime adventures of the period; so could the newspaper man and privately wealthy investigator/busybody with helpful servants, but here the lead character is a woman and the elements that fire the plot cover a range of issues that wouldn’t have made their way into fiction of the time - or certainly not explicitly.

It could be said that some of deductions of the main investigator Rachel Savernake seem to strain at the limits of what might be. But the same can sometimes be said of Miss Marple’s uncanny intuition and, when we’re having fun, it seems churlish to complain. An acute reader should have solved many of the many mysteries that the story throws up and still find one or two final revelations to wrong foot them.

This is the fourth story in the series. I have read the first two and this feels like the best entry yet - it is a series that has found its feet. I’ll be going back to read the one I missed.

EXCERPT: 'I want you to solve my murder,' said the woman in white.
Rachel Savernake gave a sardonic smile. 'Quite a challenge.'
'Rumour has it that you seldom refuse a dare.'
'True,' Rachel said. 'But I anticipate difficulties. You're flesh and blood, an artist who lives and breathes. Not a ghost.'
'Not yet.'

ABOUT 'SEPULCHRE STREET': How can you solve a murder before it's happened?

'This is my challenge for you,' the woman in white said. 'I want you to solve my murder.'

London, 1930s: Rachel Savernake has been invited to a private view of an art exhibition at a fashionable gallery. The artist, Damaris Gethin, known as 'the Queen of Surrealism', is debuting a show featuring live models pretending to be waxworks of famous killers. Before her welcoming speech, Damaris asks a haunting favour of the amateur sleuth: she wants Rachel to solve her murder. As Damaris takes to a stage set with a guillotine, the lights go out. There is a cry and the blade falls. Damaris has executed herself.

While Rachel questions why Damaris would take her own life - and just what she meant by 'solve my murder' - fellow party guest Jacob Flint is chasing a lead on a glamorous socialite with a sordid background. As their paths merge, this case of false identities, blackmail, and fedora-adorned doppelgängers, will descend upon a grand home on Sepulchre Street, where nothing - and no one - is quite what it seems.

MY THOUGHTS: There's a lot of mystery surrounding the background of the lead character, Rachel Savernake, but it doesn't interfere with the main storyline at all; it's just there, as tantalising as a favourite chocolate that's just out of reach.

Rachel's foil is Jacob Flint, a reporter who, more often than not, gets himself into awkward and sometimes dangerous situations due to his propensity for rushing into situations without properly thinking them through. Jacob is somewhat in awe of Rachel while she tends to treat him like the rather exuberant labrador pup he reminds me of.

There are other interesting characters, not least the wealthy and mysterious Kiki De Villiers, who has a most interesting background which could be a story all on its own.

Sepulchre Street is at times an odd read, but mostly I found it to be a decent mystery and murder-mystery with some puzzling elements. Had the author not felt the need to over-explain things, this would have been a much better read. He gets rather long-winded at times which interferes with the flow of the storyline.

⭐⭐⭐.5

#SepulchreStreet #NetGalley.

I: @medwardsbooks @headofzeus

T:@MartinEdwarsBooks @HoZ

THE AUTHOR: Martin Edwards has written sixteen contemporary whodunits, including The Coffin Trail, which was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Prize for best crime novel of the year. His genre study The Golden Age of Murder won the Edgar, Agatha, H.R.F. Keating and Macavity awards, while The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books has been nominated for two awards in the UK and three in the US. Editor of 38 anthologies, he has also won the CWA Short Story Dagger and the CWA Margery Allingham Prize, and been nominated for an Anthony, the CWA Dagger in the Library, the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger, and a CWA Gold Dagger. He is President of the Detection Club and Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, and Archivist of both organisations. He has received the Red Herring award for services to the CWA, and the Poirot award for his outstanding contribution to the crime genre.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Aria & Aries, Head of Zeus, via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Sepulchre Street by Martin Edwards for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

I enjoyed the historical murder mystery element of this novel and felt able to follow the story despite it being the only one in the series that I’ve read. The characters were interesting and well written and I thought that the overall plot was we clever and kept me guessing.

It’s been wonderful being back in the world of Rachel Savernake that Martin Edwards creates.
Mystery and intrigue aplenty fill the pages of this brilliant who-dunnit. I love the character of Rachel - clever, strong and someone who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, she keeps us informed throughout of her thoughts and ideas.
Her relationship with Jacob and the Trueman’s is as before central to the story and their support and friendship is to be admired as the team work through the various clues and red herrings of the mystery.
A wonderful nod to the Golden Age of crime and mystery writing, this is a series of recommend over and over.

“Life without danger isn’t worth living” – Rachel Savernake

The opening of this book couldn’t be more fascinating. Damaris Gethin, surrealist artist and very much alive, asks Rachel to investigate her murder. Although she refuses to part with any more information, Rachel can’t refuse the challenge she’s been set. Things get confusing when Damaris subsequently commits suicide by guillotine, but Rachel is determined to keep her word. Damaris may have killed herself, but somebody drove her to it, and Rachel will find out who and why.

Journalist Jacob Flint would love an interview with the gorgeous Kiki de Villiers. Damaris’s death spoils his chances on that particular night, and things only get more complicated when Kiki vanishes from London, initially to parts unknown.

And thus starts a story that is at least as much thriller as it is puzzle-mystery. I suspect that the author took at least some inspiration from Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence when he created Rachel and Jacob, with Rachel being intellectually superior and Jacob being prone to finding himself in harm’s way. Having said that, while it is clear that Jacob is rather taken with Rachel, there is (at this point) no sign of a romantic relationship.

There is A LOT going on in this story. We have gangsters, murder, prostitution, people smuggling, a mysterious ‘very important person’, and blackmail for starters. And until almost the end of the story Rachel and Jacob’s investigations appear to be unconnected. Except that of course they aren’t and the way in which it is all pulled together is masterful.

I’m very impressed that despite a large and at first glance unconnected cast of characters, I never lost track of who was who. It takes a great writer to present the various protagonists in such a way that the reader can easily follow what’s happening to whom, even if the whys aren’t disclosed until the very end.

I liked that the book ended with a ‘clue finder’. Apparently, it was commonplace during the Golden Age of Mystery to spell out the various clues contained in the story in an appendix-like chapter. Martin Edwards does the same here and for me it was a case of discovering that I had picked up on about half of them while the other half went completely over my head. I don’t mind. Part of the fun of a mystery for me is the fact that I’ve been out-smarted by the author.

Long review short: this was a fabulous read. What’s not to love about a story in which the mysteries are well plotted, the clues are there for the observant reader, and one of the main characters is as intriguing and mysterious as the cases she investigates.

Once again, I read a series book out of order. This time I can honestly say that it didn’t matter. At no point did I feel as if I was missing vital (or even trivial) information. What’s more, I can also say without a shadow of doubt that I will read the three earlier titles as well as any future Rachel Savernake stories. If only because I’m now VERY curious about Rachel’s personal story and background.

My first in this series and author. I am addicted to historical mysteries so thought it would be a great one to read.

It definately starts off with a bang and continues to pull you in as the pages turn. Trying to find a murder, when the murder person asked you to figure it out before she died? Yes that drew me in.

Rachel and her crew of people try to find the culprit which leads them on a merry chase. I have to go back and read the previous in this series (will probably listen to audible since that is my favorite!). Excited to more in this series!

Rachel Savernake is asked to solve Damaris Gethin's murder by the woman herself at her art exhibit. Such is the intriguing opening for Martin Edward's newest installment of his historical mystery series set in the 1930s. The woman is soon dead and Rachel is intrigued enough to discover why.

Rachel is a wealthy woman who investigates because she is curious and believes in justice. She also has a mystery past herself which can be intriguing and annoying at times. Her "servants" are also her family and great helpers in her investigations.

I have a mixed reaction to Rachel. Sometimes I find her a bit distant emotionally but other times I really enjoy her conversation.

This book is a bit more of a thriller than a traditional golden age mystery but there are plenty of twists to keep fans of that genre happy as well.
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Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

This is my challenge to you,” the woman in white said. “I want you to solve my murder.”

London in the 1930s and Rachel Savernake has been invited by the artist Damaris Gethin to her latest exhibition, a grim display of live models posing as statues of murderers from across the ages. After Damaris offers her challenge to Rachel, she mounts the stage for the centrepiece of the exhibition – for she is Marie Antoinette. She places her head in the guillotine, the lights go out… and the blade falls.

It soon becomes apparent that there was no way the guillotine could have been tampered with. Damaris must have committed suicide – but what did she mean when she asked Rachel to solve her murder? And how does Kiki De Villiers, a socialite on reporter Jacob Flint’s radar and present at the gallery, feature into the case? And how many more bodies will be found before the truth is exposed?

What a fascinating book. I do find the Golden Age tag that is used to support this series – Gallows Court, Mortmain Hall, Blackstone Fell and now this one – an interesting one, as readers expecting an isolated group of suspects, an eccentric detective and a gathering in the drawing room at the end are going to be rather surprised. And I would hope that they would be pleasantly surprised (and then discover that there was more to the Golden Age than the classically constructed whodunnit anyway).

I’ve going to have to repeat what I’ve said before with the series, which is that Martin has done something rather magnificent here. If this was written as a pure thriller, it would be a deeply satisfying book, but woven throughout the thrills is a cleverly plotted mystery – with a cluefinder at the end to prove it. It’s worth reading, but I do warn the reader that they’ll end up repeatedly kicking themselves at the things that they missed.

One thing that is worth pointing out is another deviation from the Golden Age, as there are at least two central themes to the plot, both revealed towards the end, but clued almost from page one, that I don’t know any writer at the time would have dealt with. I do wonder sometimes if Golden Age homages should be nominated for the CWA History Dagger, but it would certainly be merited in this case, with Martin clearly having carefully researched certain aspects of life at the time to give some real weight to the story. Oh, and he’s researched when the first automatic dishwasher was available too!

All in all, this is an absolute triumph. Regular readers of the blog will be aware that I know Martin as well as any writer that I blog about, so please be assured that this review isn’t swayed by that acquaintance. If anything, I’m holding back from gushing about this one even more than I have done. The best book so far in an outstanding series of books – and it’s out tomorrow, 11th May. What on earth are you waiting for?

Many thanks to the publishers, Head Of Zeus, for the review copy. This is one of the first stops on the blog tour for the book, do be sure to check out what the other bloggers thought. I suppose it’s possible that someone didn’t like it… but I doubt it.

London 1931. Artist Damaris Gethin at an art exhibition in the Hades Gallery, asked Rachel Savernake to solve her murder, then she kills herself in front of the invited guests. Meanwhile, Jacob Flint, crime reporter, for The Clarion is interested in socialite Mrs Kiki de Villiers, someone with a murky past and connected to gangsters. Together there will soon be other deaths to investigate.
An entertaining historical thriller and mystery, written in the style of 'The Golden Age'. Another good addition to this enjoyable series with its varied and interesting characters.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This was an engaging story and there were many elements to this story. Rachel and her loyal staff are the main characters but also Jacob Flint, a crime writer. It starts at an art gallery in London but a lot of the action takes place in Kent. There are a number of suspects and the way they are all gathering at a similar place made me wonder what would happen. The suspects come from various ways of life, from gangsters to a government assassin. There are some dangerous moments but Rachel is well prepared and is very intelligent and is way ahead of others in working events out. This was the first I had read in the series but there was no problem in reading it as a stand-alone but it would be good to see what happens next. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This series just keeps on getting better. Set in a Golden Age style mystery with a modern pace and dynamic we follow the curious Rachel Savernake and her associates as they solve a series of murders. There is a darkly comic edge to the book and the author enjoys toying with the reader. At the end of the book you are treated to the 'tricks' the author has played and the clues they have left to enable the reader to work out whodunnit. A pleasurable read and I await the next in the series.

Sepulchre Street is the fourth book in Martin Edwards' series featuring the enigmatic Rachel Savernake. A famous artist asks Rachel to solve her murder and then dies publicly in a guillotine incident in front of an invited audience. Is it a murder or is it a suicide? And how does the glamorous socialite Kiki de Villiers fit in to the story?

Lots of intrigue, lots of desperate dashes against time, assassinations and political interference mean this is an exciting episode of the series. Recommended for lovers of golden age detective fiction.

Sepulchre Street is the fourth in the author’s historical crime series featuring Rachel Savernake. It’s a series I only discovered when I read the previous book, Blackstone Fell.

Rachel Savernake is not so much a private detective as a personal detective pursuing investigations that spark her interest. As she herself admits, ‘It’s the thrill of the chase. I yearn for it like an addict craves the needle’ and her favourite pastime is ‘Asking what if?’ But it’s not just any old crime that attracts her: her taste is for the ‘exotic’.

The author teases us by continuing to hold back information about Rachel’s past growing up on the remote island of Gaunt. (Some readers may find this frustrating but I find it tantalising.) What we do know is that she is a very wealthy young woman. However, her early life remains shrouded in mystery. She zealously guards her privacy and is a formidable adversary. Beware what she carries in that glittery evening bag! She’s incredibly well read, resourceful and imperturbable in even the most fraught situations, although, at times, her lack of fear appears to some to verge on recklessness. In fact, she’s just supremely confident she’ll be able to find a way out of any situation.

The members of Rachel’s household – Martha Trueman, Martha’s brother Clifford, and Clifford’s wife Hetty – are devoted to her. Although performing the role of servants – housekeeper, cook and chauffeur come bodyguard – it’s clear they’re the closest Rachel has to a family and may know more than they’re letting on about her past. Rachel is particularly good at utilising their various talents as part of her investigations whether that’s gathering gossip or carrying out a little subterfuge. Crime reporter, Jacob Flint, is once again involved in the story. It’s fairly obvious he has a huge crush on Rachel. He himself admits that from the moment of their first encounter she has fascinated him ‘to the point of obsession’.

The author describes Sepulchre Street as ‘as much a thriller as a detective story’ and the story certainly involves some dramatic scenes, often involving poor Jacob who seems to make a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There’s also a returning character who’s not your common or garden villain but performs the role of shady behind-the-scenes manipulator.

Rachel’s attempts to discover the reason behind the grisly death of Damaris Gethin, carried out by Damaris’s own hand, involve a number of other characters and plot lines which attract the spotlight for much of the book. Some of these plot lines incorporate quite contemporary themes. Of course, Rachel, who possesses observational and deductive skills to rival Sherlock Holmes, arrives at the answer to the mystery well before everyone else, including, I suspect, most readers. In fact her methodology – ‘I simply follow an idea until I find something that proves that I’m wrong’ – has a distinctly Holmesian flavour.

Sepulchre Street will appeal to fans of classic crime fiction (think Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers) and those who enjoy the challenge of unravelling an intricate plot. A neat touch is the addition of a ‘cluefinder’ at the end of the book (apparently all the fashion during the ‘Golden Age of Murder’ between the two world wars) in which the author identifies all the clues you very likely missed.

This was so boring! I think it might be the fact that I just didn't feel like there was suspense, or stakes. There was nothing riding on solving the murder, so I sat there for a while and just kind of wondered what the point was. I would read more Edwards, but only if there was an actual MURDER, and not some kind of psuedo-murder that I can't get behind. Writing was fine.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for this opportunity to review “Sepulchre Street.” All opinions and comments are my own.

Another Rachel Savernake mystery, “Sepulchre Street” (by Martin Edwards, its CWA Diamond Dagger Award-winning author) is a chance to explore a world of challenge and incentive, as she is asked to find a murderer before the death is committed -- but only just. The “student of criminology,” as she describes herself, can’t resist, of course, and when Damaris Gethin, the askee, kills herself at her art gallery, we’re off. Why did Miss Gethin commit self-murder; to what purpose? That’s what Rachel is tasked to find out, and that leads to a fantastical tale that will challenge the reader’s skills at following along while Rachel unmasks a complex thread of murder, and more.

One would think this would be enough; oh, no. The secondary plot line involves a society belle (with a whole lot of secrets) that has caught the fancy of a certain member of the Royal Family. One that is never named, but it’s easy to figure out -- and easy to establish who these characters are vaguely patterned upon. “Married woman with a possible sordid past, unmarried royal male who enjoys the attentions of women he shouldn’t,” etcetera, etcetera. Well, there’s danger here, too, one that Jacob Flint, the newspaperman from previous books, gets involved in.

And yet another story -- the dashing Man About Town/Bon Vivant/Adventurer that’s almost blown up by a bomb. Rachel knows him well. Who’s out to get him?

All of this is explained in a slow buildup -- what do all these people have to do with everything? Because of course, they do. Which one(s) to focus on, though. As Rachel explains to Jacob, “There’s more to everyone than meets the eye…” Truer words have never been spoken, because “Sepulchre Street” requires multiple viewpoints to bring this story to a conclusion.

And that’s part and parcel of the problem I had with “Sepulchre Street.” Rachel is almost a bystander for much of the action in the book. I enjoyed “Sepulchre Street,” because I enjoy the character of Rachel Savernake and how she’s portrayed. Oh, Rachel is in at the finish, of course, tying everything together and revealing the who -- and especially the why -- but all these plot lines and all these people just make for muddled waters. Sometimes, the bells and whistles can be left behind.

📗📗BOOK REVIEW 📗📗
Sepulchre Street By Martin Edwards

The fourth book in the Rachel Savernake series, set in 1930’s London, and can be easily read as a stand alone thriller. Somehow I’ve missed this series so my first read, but not my last. I’ll be going back to the earlier books. This is really well written, and as the author explains at the end of the book he uses Cluefinders, made popular by both British and American detective writers in the 1920’s and 30’s. I loved this idea: a book with clues for the readers to solve the puzzle themselves as they read. So pay attention!

Briefly, Rachel is invited to an art exhibition held by Damaris Gethin, as is her colleague and journalist Jacob Flint. Neither of them know why they have been invited by the so called Queen of Surrealism. At the event Rachel is approached by the artist Damaris who asks her to solve her murder!! A bit strange as she is still alive but then matters take a shocking turn when Damaris takes her own life in a most appalling manner.

I wish I’d known at the start of the book that this was a clue-finder, such a fascinating concept. It makes me want to go back and hunt for the clues I missed. A delightful murder mystery in the style of the Golden Age of crime fiction this was an enjoyable read. Great story, hard to categorise: verging on historical cosy but with some dark moments, I thought it was fun.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.

Another great entry in this series from Martin Edwards sees Rachel Savernake asked to investigate a suicide, (or is it murder?)

First off, a few words about Miss Savernake. I think she's one of the great modern crime literature creations. She's outrageously beautiful, incredibly intelligent, deadly as a rattlesnake, and loyal to the core to her friends. A wonderful person to have as a friend, but a frankly terrifying enemy, wrapped up in a sweet bundle of femininity. Yet somehow she's also fragile, maybe because if *that* secret were revealed to the world at large, her life as she knows it would be over. I hope she's around for a long time to come.

Just had a thought about how great it would be for the author to give us a flash-forward to Rachel's later life in the 1950s or 60s, as a Miss Marple-esque sweet old lady! That'd be fun.

Back to Sepulchre Street. We start with a request to solve a 'murder', that looks like a suicide, and the following story entangles dangerous gangsters, society belles, wicked women, deadly danger, romance, humour and an engaging plot, which reaches to the very heights of London society, to it's depraved depths.

Another wonderful escapade for Miss Savernake. I hope there's many more to come.

Highly recommended, easy Five Star rating.

2 stars. Muddled storytelling with a writing style I didn’t enjoy. Expected a country house mystery and got a crime thriller instead.

The NetGalley description sadly didn’t make it very clear that this was the 4th book in the series or that this was leaning way more towards a thriller than a whodunnit. I probably wouldn’t have picked it up if I had known either of those things. While it stands on its own pretty well, I’m sure readers who have read the entire series and are familiar with and enjoy the characters will get more out of it.

This is also my first experience with Martin Edwards’ fiction writing. I had only been familiar with his non-fiction, which I’ve enjoyed and will continue to read. Sadly, the same can’t be said for this series.

Detective mystery and set in the glamorous 1930’s. My personal favourite genre for crime.

A select group of guests are invited to an art gallery exhibit where the lead character Rachel Savernake is asked to solve a murder - that of the artist Damaris Gethin, who happens to be very much alive when she asks!

This is the fourth in the Rachel Savernake series which I did not realise when I selected it ( I picked it from description and title alone. )

Picking up a book that is part of a series does not usually bother me, but found myself feeling confused with who the characters were and not knowing enough about them, on this occasion felt I need to pause and shelve this for now.

I enjoyed the chapters that I did read, but need to read Rachel’s previous escapades before I carry on and I have my copy of ‘Gallows Court’ ready to go!

Thank you to Netgalley and Aria and Aries, Head of Zeus for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

Definitely a book to completely immerse yourself in to thoroughly follow the various storylines and characters motives, something I fully enjoyed doing. Rachael Savernack and journalist Jacob Flint find themselves at a living art presentation staged by avant garde artist. She asks Rachael to solve her murder, and then takes her own life. Not one to shy away from a mystery, Rachael dives into getting to know the various characters who may have been involved, while Jacobs own investigation into some of the same people is brought to an abrupt end by his editor. Set in the 1930’s, London and the countryside are portrayed as home to both the wealthy and those hit hard by the depression. With plenty of suspects who are willing to plant red herrings, I didn’t see the ending coming. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Head of Zeus, for an advance readers copy. Martin Edward’s Lake District mysteries have long been a favorite series of mine, and this one, while very different, is just as good.