A Delight..
The fifth instalment in the Rachel Savernake series of mysteries taking inspiration from the Golden Age of Crime and sprinkled with a hint of the Gothic. Another wonderfully written mystery with an eclectic and eccentric cast of characters populating a unique and compelling plot. The ‘Cluefinder’ at the back of the books highlights hints and clues located throughout the text itself and red herrings are liberally scattered. A delight.

I read these books one after another, I could not put them down. Book 5 in the Rachel savernake series.

We start this story with my least favourite part, an additional POV from a potential murderer. Unusual for these books as it primarily focuses on two POVs: Rachel savernake, the genius amateur sleuth and Jacob flint, the newspaper crime reporter.

Rachel buys a painting called hemlock bay and becomes intrigued with both the artist and the inspiration. Convinced there’s more to the painting along with a prediction left with Jacob of a murder in hemlock bay, both decide to visit the place and see what they can find out and if the prediction given has any merit. Our assumed murderer is currently in hemlock bay, he has planned his actions to avenge his late wife and punish a blackmailer who now resides in hemlock bay.

These books are just so clever. My grumpy husband is not really as committed a reader as the rest of the family but he races through these books. He always has more idea of what is going on in them than the rest of us do but I suspect he is cheating and studying the clues !
An excellent read.

"Hemlock Bay" by Martin Edwards, is the fifth instalment in the Rachel Savernake series, and found myself pleasantly surprised by the intricate web of mystery woven throughout. With a premise that pits a would-be murderer against a savvy amateur sleuth, I was eager to see how this classic whodunnit would unfold, especially set against the glamorous backdrop of a 1930s seaside resort.
From the outset, we meet Basil Palmer, a man dangerously fixated on murdering without knowing anything about his intended victim, Louis Carson. This odd premise immediately drew me in, and I found myself wondering how Palmer's lethal intentions would play out. His decision to create a false identity and enter the world of the wealthy at Hemlock Bay sets the stage for an intriguing cat-and-mouse game.
On the other side of the narrative, Rachel Savernake emerges, driven by a fortune teller's ominous prediction of a murder at Hemlock Bay. Rachel's character exudes a blend of curiosity and determination that I enjoy. As she navigates her journey into this seemingly idyllic community, I found myself rooting for her to uncover the truth behind the dark shadow looming over the resort.
While I appreciated the clever plotting reminiscent of Agatha Christie, I did feel a bit lost at times, as this was my first encounter with Rachel Savernake's world. The abundance of characters introduced, many of whom seemed to have rich histories I was unfamiliar with, initially threw me off balance. Although the story can stand on its own, I sometimes felt as though I was missing nuances that seasoned fans of the series would catch. That said, the well-crafted prose helped me ease into the narrative, and the unfolding mystery kept me engaged.
Edwards’s writing captures the essence of the 1930s, vividly painting Hemlock Bay as a glamorous yet treacherous playground for the wealthy. The atmosphere is immersive, drawing readers into a world where secrets are just beneath the surface. The denouement, where all players come together to reveal the truth, felt like a classic nod to the golden age of detective fiction, providing that satisfying twist at the end.
In conclusion, "Hemlock Bay" is a well-plotted, enjoyable mystery that will delight fans of classic whodunnits. While my unfamiliarity with previous books in the Rachel Savernake series left me a bit disoriented at times, I still found plenty to appreciate in the clever storytelling and intriguing characters.

I’ve been reviewing a series of “cosy” mysteries. They were (mostly) competent, enjoyable, but I could remember few details several days later. It was like eating a number of Quality Street chocolates: perfectly pleasant, but ultimately unsatisfying. Then along came the equivalent of a York Cocoa Works 100% bar: the real thing; an offering to be nibbled and every bit savoured. As connoisseurs of crime may have guessed: Martin Edwards has written his fifth Rachel Savernake novel: Hemlock Bay.

In the novel, post-WWI, Sir Harold Jackson has bought a lot of land at Hemlock Bay in Lancashire and has created a select seaside resort. That does echo the real-life Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, who set about developing a Lancashire town around a deserted bay (to be called Fleetwood) in the 1830s-40s. His idea was that people would travel from London to Fleetwood by train and then catch a steamer up to Scotland (staying at his hotel, of course). Unfortunately, the opening of the railway over Shap Fell in the 1850s stymied that idea and Fleetwood lost his fortune.

Rachel Savenake has bought a surrealist painting that appears to show a dead body on the rocks below the lighthouse at Hemlock Bay. Her friend, the journalist Jacob Flint, has been approached by someone (a fairground fortune-teller, in fact) who says they know a murder will be committed at Hemlock Bay on the summer solstice. Flint wheedles permission from his editor to investigate, suggesting that he emulate the News Chronicle’s roaming reporter, Lobby Lud. In real life, Lobby Lud was employed by the Westminster Gazette and later adopted by the News Chronicle. The stunt was inspired by the disappearance of Agatha Christie, but was needed because people on holiday tended not to buy a daily paper and sales slumped in the summer. It was hoped that the prospect of winning £5 would motivate a lot of holidaymakers to buy their paper during their holiday. Unfortunately, on Jacob’s first day on the job, he stumbles across a dead body.

There are a number of threads to the plot but Edwards weaves them together skilfully as the body count increases. There is an element of humour – at one point, Jacob is so pleased with himself, he gives Rachel “a cheeky wink” – and if you have read the other books, you will know one doesn’t trifle with Rachel Savernake. These are the antithesis of cosy mysteries. These are highly crafted, carefully wrought, mysteries that have taken a long time to write. There is banter between the characters; there is humour; but there are no laughs. “Bleak” is the word that springs to mind, yet brilliantly written. As one character says of Rachel, “So lovely. Yet so cruel.” Rachel is intrigued by murder – I don’t mean that she desires it: she doesn’t want people killed; but if they are murdered (or going to be murdered), she wants to know why it has happened and what the murderer was thinking at every step. And, as she says herself, she has a burning passion for justice. I think it follows, therefore, that she may condone a “deserved” murder. Rachel Savernake is… I won’t say cold-blooded, because she cares for her servant/friends, the Trumans, but unemotional. I can imagine Rachel watching someone push a victim under a bus if she thought they deserved it.

If you want to read the best mystery writing of the 2020s, read Martin Edwards’s Rachel Savenake books – just don’t expect to feel cosy.

#HemlockBay #NetGalley

Set in the 1930s, this is a Whodunnit set in a fictional, glamorous seaside resort near Blackpool with a cast of interesting characters. The mystery is very much in the style of an Agatha Christie, with an amateur sleuth and a gathering of all parties at the denouement to reveal all.

As this is the 5th book in the Rachel Savernake series there are references to previous adventures, characters and backstories but it still works well as a stand alone novel (I hadn't read other books in the series). This is a well plotted, pleasant read.

What a clever story that grabs the reader from the very first line. Well written, believable characters. A story that keeps the reader engaged from start to finish.

Basil Palmer wants to kill a man he doesn’t know. A pools winning dock worker kill’s himself at Hemlock Bay. A fortune teller foresees a death at the seaside resort and approaches the Clarion newspaper. Flint, the journalist, shares the deathly premonition with Rachel Savernake. She has, coincidentally, just bought a painting of the lighthouse in the bay. They decide it may be worth investigating and travel to Hemlock Bay.

This is a 1930s set mystery, which took time to really get started for me. I hadn’t realised it was the fifth book in a series, and as such I felt at times like I was missing something. There were so many characters introduced, who I presume were in previous novels, whose relationships were initially unclear. The mystery is very much in the style of an Agatha Christie, with an amateur sleuth and a gathering of all parties at the denouement to reveal whodunnit. It was a well plotted, enjoyable read.

I was a little way into this when I realised it wasn't the first book with these characters, and that explained why I felt I'd missed something.
It does a great job of getting you to know, and like them though.
The book really picks up speed by the end, and all manner of unexpected things were happening.
It was pleasantly surprising the way the story unfolded.
Enjoyable story, that was full of atmosphere, and raised a smile or two.

Exactly a year ago, I read Sepulchre Street, the fourth title in the Rachel Savernake series. That book opened on the intriguing dilemma of how one solves a murder before it has happened. Intrigue (and impossible murders) appear to be a theme in this series because the hook into Hemlock Bay is how do you murder somebody if you have no idea who he is?

The year is 1931 and a seaside resort called Hemlock Bay is about to live up to its somewhat sinister name. And a series of apparently unconnected events bring Rachel Savernake and her entourage to the resort.

Through diary entries, we learn that a man named Basil Palmer plans to kill Louis Carson although the two men have never met. Meanwhile, journalist Jack Flint is intrigued when he is visited by a man claiming to be a clairvoyant who claims that he has had a vision that a murder will be committed in a place called Hemlock Bay on the summer solstice. And finally, Rachel Savernake has recently bought a disturbing surrealistic painting titled Hemlock Bay which appears to feature a body draped over a rock on the beach.

It doesn’t take much to capture Rachel’s imagination and it isn’t long before she decides that she wants to know more about what’s going on in Hemlock Bay where she meets among other people the woman who painted the picture that inspired Rachel’s trip, a reclusive doctor named Seamus Doyle, as well as a man named Louis Carson. However, when murder does happen it isn’t on the summer solstice and the victim isn’t Louis Carson. The plot just thickened and is about to get a lot thicker again before Rachel figures out exactly what has been going on.

Hemlock Bay is a fascinating and captivating mystery. I was drawn in from the very first chapter and my interest didn’t flag until I had finished the full story and all the mysteries had been solved in a satisfying and fiendishly clever way. There is a lot going on in this golden age of mystery inspired story. We’ve got a locked room mystery, a fair number of red herrings, and plenty of clues there to be found for the ‘professional’ mystery reader/solver. For those of us who read too fast or too carelessly to pick up on (all) the clues, they are spelled out after the story has ended and they make it perfectly clear that Martin Edwards plays fair with his readers. Most importantly though, the recurring characters in these books are fascinating. Especially Rachel has captured my attention, just as she has captured Jack’s in the story. And like Jack, I’d love to discover more about her background and exactly how she became the woman she is. I can’t wait to read more titles in this series.