Unnatural Ends

Gloriously Crafted….
Found dead in his study, battered to death with a mediaeval mace, Sir Lawrence Linwood's death is somewhat of a mystery. The rather dysfunctional Linwood clan have been beckoned from far and wide to attend his funeral, blissfully unaware that a murder has taken place until their arrival and that their task will be to find his killer. With a perfect setting and a gloriously crafted cast of characters, way more than a nod to classic Golden Age crime fiction and a solid locked room mystery at its’ heart, this is an intriguing, immersive and delightful read from start to finish. Aficionados of a vintage mystery will be in their element.

Wow, I loved this book. Set on an estate perched on a cliff over the village below, just after WWI, 3 adopted, now adult children return when their despot of a father is bludgeoned to death. It’s a wonderful mix of mystery, history, and numerous plot twists. Layers of truth are slowly revealed as the 3 siblings take us back to earlier years. Roger, his motorcar, descriptions of Iris, and the overall ‘stiff upper lip attitude’ take me back to the post War era Downton Abby shows…..Matthew with his car racing down the roads, the family needing to modernize and expand the financial base of the village that relies on them, and the regard with which the village holds the great halls residents are themes that are reflected in this book. I couldn’t put this book down, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy, Reading how Alan, Roger, and Caroline work their way through their family history and the mystery was a true joy.

If you are looking for a book with several twists and turns this is a great one. I enjoyed both the main characters, as well as minor characters in the book. Linwood Hall, where the three main characters grew up, seems to have a personality all its own as well. If the several books I've read so far this year, this might be my favorite.

While I can't say I didn't see the end coming from fairly early on, the path Huang authored was a wild ride. It was like a puzzle: I knew the end result, but it took me a while to see how the pieces fit together. It was also interesting to see it play out from all three of the Linwood children's point of view.

I've seen other reviews stating the characters seem flat, or readers were unable to connect with them; however, I would think this is how Huang intended them to be. The three main characters also had great development through the story. What the Linwood children lacked, the minor characters possessed. The detail with which we got to know the other characters seemed to bring out their humanity, which even affirms my belief Huang intended the Linwoods to be somewhat flat.

Linwood Hall was one of the most interesting settings I've encountered recently. The reverence characters have for the structure, the detail with which it is described, and the atrocities that occurred within its walls make it feel like a living, breathing thing. If only these walls could talk.

I highly recommend this book, and I certainly hope to read more from Huang in the future.

Linwood Hall, in the year 1906, was "a jumble of grey stone walls pockmarked with tall, narrow windows. French doors had been punched into the ground floor in the last century opening on the broad terrace cantilevering over the cliff...All around them, the windswept North Yorkshire moors...". A tall tower room rose from the middle of the estate, a playroom nicknamed "Camelot" by the three adopted children of Sir Lawrence Linwood. "Camelot" was accessible through passages behind the walls.

In 1921, Alan an archeologist, Roger an engineer, and Caroline, a journalist were called home upon the death of their father. "In the event that my death should be due to unnatural causes, I charge my children with the task of identifying the killer. If one of them finds the killer, to the satisfaction of the police and the courts of law-I rescind previous statements and leave the entirety of this residuary estate to that child." It was determined that Sir Lawrence was murdered in his study, the instrument of death, a medieval flanged mace. "Wasn't one of the suits of armor in the great hall holding a mace?"

There had been no way to escape Father's shadow. A portrait of him hung over the marble fireplace. Alan, the eldest child, channeled Father's voice. "Find my killer. Only do this for me, and all of this shall be yours." Three adopted children, raised with an iron fist by a tyrant of a father, began to peal away layers of the past in an attempt to look to the future. The twists, turns and ever widening array of potential murder suspects will keep the reader guessing and reassessing! Even as adults, Sir Lawrence's presence loomed over his children's lives. They soldiered on, looking for clues, finding an old inscribed watch...a rosary. Were these relics of the past connected to the present day search for answers?

"Unnatural Ends" by Christopher Huang is a gothic mystery, a who-dun-it thriller, and a family drama created by dysfunction. Alan, Roger, and Caroline each share their perspective of being raised by Sir Lawrence as well as their theories on his demise. Plan to be surprised! Highly recommended.

Thank you Inkshares and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Are you looking for a mystery for a book club pick that has a Golden Age flavor similar to Agatha Christie with the bonus of deep themes and interesting characters? Then you’ll want to read “Unnatural Ends” by Christopher Huang.

“Unnatural Ends” has a classic set-up. A patriarch dies and when the family gathers to read the will, it’s revealed the death was murder. Where “Unnatural Ends” departs from many classic mysteries is the depth of characterization of the three adult children as well as explorations of the themes of control, independence, expection, and competition. Add in a layer of Gothic overtones and you have a novel tailor-made for deep and interesting book club discussions.

Read-alikes include mysteries with sibling sleuths, Yorkshire settings, and Huang’s first book, “A Gentleman’s Murder.”

Full episode about "Unnatural Ends" will release in December 2022 and be available for download on any podcast app. Thanks to NetGalley and Inkshares for a review copy. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! It hooked me from the very first chapter, and kept me hooked the entire time!

This was so good. It reminded me of an Agatha Christie movie / book mixed with a touch of Downton Abbey . Right from the start it draws you in trying to solve the mystery yourself. I loved the era and location of the book ,a real golden age mystery. Highly recommended.

Soul chilling. My heart bled for the main characters and at times I wished I would have been able to jump into the story to rescue them and poor all the warmth I have in me in their battered minds

Masterfully crafted and mesmerizing mystery which compelled me to read it in one day.

This was a doozy but so good! Highly recommend to others! New author for me and I look forward to other books by them.

This one is a twisty thriller! You will think you have the mystery solved, but it throws you for a loop. Roger,Caroline, and Alan Linwood return home to Linwood Hall after receiving the news that their father has been murdered. Upon the reading of the Will, they learn that who ever solves their father’s murder will be the heir to the Estate. While they are searching, they discover shocking clues that each of them were chosen through selective breeding. Everyone is not who and what they seem. Be prepared to piece it together for a fantastic ending.

A wonderfully constructed story of privilege and unhappiness.
Sir Lawrence Linwood is dead, battered to death with a mediaeval mace. His three adopted children return to the Linwood estate for the funeral, they do not yet know that Sir Lawrence was murdered. Each child is looking forward to meeting their siblings, but the real draw, is the near- feudal village that belongs to the estate, and the Hall itself, they all have fond memories of a Camelot style grand building, complete with hidden doors, secret passages, and a large Tower room that used to be their playroom away from the eyes of adults.
Alan, the eldest, is now an Archeological expert, recently been working in Peru. Roger is an engineer, Caroline is a journalist working in Paris.
The Will states that if the death is due to unnatural causes, the children must find the killer. The one who is successful in this will inherit the whole estate.
Each chapter is devoted to a particular child, their job, their relationship with an emotionally distant father, and emotionally distressed mother, and their past interactions with their siblings. This book is full of twists and turns, nothing and nobody is who they seem to be. A classic Golden Age detection story, with plenty of disturbing family secrets to discover.
A compelling and unforgettable read. A grand family estate is no guarantee of happiness ever after.
A five star read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Inkshares for my advance digital copy, given in exchange for my honest review.
I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon when pages are opened.

“𝑰𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒅 […] 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.”

What business do I have reviewing a book that doesn’t come out until January 2023 when I have others to prioritize?! I am super glad I did though - Unnatural Ends was EXCELLENT.

I love a good mystery, and this has all the makings of one; it especially felt like an homage to an Agatha Christie novel, one that she could’ve easily written herself. There was the imposing father figure, the country house mansion, the post-WWI timeline, and the amateur detectives in the three siblings. Iris and Roger reminded me a bit of Tommy and Tuppence investigating and the adopted siblings reminded me of the family from Ordeal by Innocence. There was even a revolving bookcase to the servants’ passage that felt like a nod to the secret passageways in Clue! This story kicked off with a murder and a mysterious will and kept up the pace as each sibling tried to piece together what may have happened, especially as they dove into the connections surrounding their birth parents. Christopher Huang’s writing is sharp, with some really good twists and reveals, alongside making connections later in the book to things that seemed irrelevant at the beginning. The story also explores prejudice and racism, which gives it a different angle than just a regular whodunnit. There were a few spots that dragged, and if you are familiar with Christie, you may see the ending coming, but overall the story was incredibly engaging and I loved seeing how Huang connected all the puzzle pieces.

Unnatural Ends is a story about family, chosen and bloodline, the strength in siblings, and the trauma we face. It is perfect for readers who love the Golden Age of detective fiction and makes a worthy addition to a mystery lover’s bookshelf. A big thank you to Inkshares and NetGalley for the ARC!

Unnatural Ends is a cleverly constructed mystery, with a great many red herrings. When Sir Lawrence is murdered, the suspects are numerous. It seems that far more people either wanted him dead or wanted to be the one to murder him, but unfortunately, he can only be murdered once. There are a plethora of fascinating characters to consider, including his three adopted children, his wife, and friends from his past. The secrets are multilayered, numerous, and cleverly disguised. No one and nothing is what it seems.

Unnatural Ends was a fun book, and thus, I really hated for it to end. The characters were so well defined that I felt I was there, helping them solve so many different crimes. This is a book in which the reader becomes so involved that it is tough to put down. Peeling back the layers of Sir Lawrence's life is rather like peeling an onion, only more pungent. This cruel sadist man emerges in remembrances past, in which his children recount their childhoods. Sir Lawrence was such an evil man, that his murder appears impossible. Such evil cannot possibly cease to exist, but dead he is, and the crime needs to be solved.. The end of the novel and solving of the crime is a terrific and perfect ending. Now I want to go back and reread Unnatural Ends.

This is the first Christopher Huang book that I had read, I will certainly want to read more of his work. I want to thank both the author and the publisher, Inkshares Press, for providing this ARC. This was such a fun and entertaining book that writing a positive review is the only way I can possibly describe Unnatural Ends. Thank you also to NetGalley for introducing me to another wonderful author.

ABSOLUTELY COMPELLING book!!!

Great also for fans of Agatha Christie or Anthony Horowitz. This is the best mystery book I've read in over a year. I couldn't put it down and I stayed up late to keep reading! The writing alone is also just SO excellent. I enjoyed the beautiful prose as well as the story and characters.

Like many mysteries, Alan, Roger, and Caroline are summoned home to the funeral of their father in the early 1920s. When the will is read, it holds some surprises for everyone. However, that is where this books stops being like most similar stories and the complicated twists begin!

The book is part drama/character study, and part murder mystery. It is full of twists and turns and I loved every minute of it! I look forward to other books by this author, whom I had never heard of before.

Great for book clubs as well, because the characters were so interesting and lent themselves to discussion even apart from the mystery aspect!

Three adopted children, Alan, Roger, and Caroline, have returned to their childhood home after learning of their father’s death, only to find that he was beaten to death in his own study. Furthermore, his will reveals that his sizable estate will go to the sibling who solves his murder.

Unnatural Ends is a remarkable book, filled with descriptive passages that are so well-done that it is easy to imagine the location, the people, and the period of time. The character development is stellar, the complex plot is very well-conceived, and the twists and surprises occur at just the right moments. It is an historical mystery, with gothic elements, family drama, and an unbeatable presentation. The language and grammar are so well-done, creating a tapestry of descriptions, thoughts, and ideas.

Unnatural Ends is one of the best books I have read in 2022. Hats off to Christopher Huang for writing such an enjoyable mystery!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This was brilliant!! Let met say it again: This. Book. Is. Brilliant.

At first it seemed like I was going to need some time getting into the story and the writing style, but this was not the case at all. The concept of this story was so good and I could not wait to get into it. It did not disappoint. I really liked the flashbacks and different povs, they really helped to progress the story.

I loved the characters and how different, yet similar they were. They all have their own lives and stories. For a long time everyone was a suspect and their were many plottwists that I did not expect at all. I genuinly gasped out loud several times. So many important events were seen from several point of views.

It was a complicated mystery, but a very surprising one.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read and enjoy this beautifully written e-arc.
I really enjoyed this novel it was a very fast read and Id definitely recommend.

Wow! This book is in contention for being one of my favorite murder mysteries of all time. It feels equally driven by the characters and the plot, which is hard to come by these days; the glorious complexity of the mystery doesn’t overshadow the complexity of each Linwood sibling. The prose is dazzling, the descriptions full, the setting haunting. You can really tell how much thought went into crafting every little detail, and I give Huang so much credit for putting this all together.

This book prompted me to reread it upon finishing, which is one of the highest levels of praise I can give to a mystery. Its conclusion was foreshadowed so cleverly that I felt compelled to revisit the little clues I missed the first time around. In contrast to mystery/thrillers that seem to just pick the most shock-worthy ending possible, this one seems to have been carefully developed to convey Huang’s overarching message. The “red herrings” are not fake outs that lead to nowhere, but rather serve as important pieces of the puzzle. The cast of characters is large enough to yield a wide array of theories, but not too large that it causes confusion or information overload. As an aspiring writer, this is a piece I’ll be revisiting as an example of so many things done right.

I’ve tried to break down some of the many factors that came together to create what I’d consider to be a masterful piece of work, which I included in my Goodreads review (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4916632058) as to not take up too much space here. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Inkshares for this ARC in exchange for my review! I’m so thrilled to be able to share my thoughts about it and can’t wait to see if other readers felt the same.

Loved this book! Sir Lawrence Linwood has been murdered. His children who are adopted are called back home. The will is read and the person who solves the murder inherits the family fortune. However, as they investigate the murder two things come to light firstly the children’s lives are not what they seem, and there is more to this murder than meets the eye. Brilliant, and such a great twist.

Excellent read!

This story has a lot of twists and turns, and as soon as you think you have it figured out, you realize you're wrong. The story is not convoluted though and is easy follow. Just enough detail without being burdensome.

Character development is great, and the unique format for describing the important parts from each character's point of view is interesting.

Will definitely look for other works by this author.

Linwood Hall is perched above a cliff, overlooking the Yorkshire moors on one side, and towering over the villagers of Linwood Hollow on the other. Today it is spring of 1921, and the house is preparing the austere burial of its master. The three adult children, all adopted, are coming back for the funeral of their Father. Together with Mother, they are instructed about the will: Linwood Hall is to be sold and the proceedings are to be divided into three equals part, meaning the estate will no longer be in the family after countless generations. That is unless Father died of unnatural causes, in which case the whole estate will go to the child who solves the murder. As father has in fact been brutally murdered, this is the start of an investigation that will delve into the deeply buried secrets of the Linwood family.

Of course, there is the mystery to be solved, but first and foremost, this book is filleting the psychological repercussions of a dysfunctional family: what does it mean to be adopted, how can a child bounce back from a cruel upbringing without any love or tenderness, how strong are the ties that keep siblings together, how can a husband break his intelligent and independent wife? After reading some contemporary quick and dirty "domestic thrillers", I vowed to avoid the genre entirely for a few years, but here we have a clever and interesting take on the genre. The settings are perfect for a fall read, going back and forth between the dark estate in the moors and the bustling city center of London in the pouring rain, while delving into humans darkest motivations and actions. If I were to point out any flaw, it would be the length of the book, because even when reading very nice prose at a perfect pace, sometimes it is just too long.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a different approach to a genre that I thought was largely over its peak.

This was a new author for me . I never read anything from this author before but for the most part I really liked this book. I thought the whole story was amazing. I honestly didn’t want this book to end. I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with on the next book they write. I usually judge a book from the cover because for me it shows if it’s going to be interesting or not and I loved the book

I really enjoyed reading Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang. This historical fiction book takes readers on an interesting journey through the experiences of three adopted siblings as they come to terms with the death of their demanding father. Secrets are revealed and truths that bring the siblings closer together are faced. The end of the book brings an interesting surprise for readers. I recommend this book to historical mystery readers. You will enjoy it immensely.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy.

Really really enjoyed this mystery. Great setting. A puzzling mystery
Constant twists.and the variety of viewpoints kept this engrossing., Look forward to more from this authot.

As I read this book, the golden-age mystery writers—John Dickson Carr, Agatha Christie, and Josephine Tey—came to mind. These writers set the standard for whodunits; stories that make us want to catch the murderous villain on our first (second, third) guess. So, what does Unnatural Ends have in common with these writers? Everything, including witty, concise, and natural prose.

We have a locked room with a dead body, ala John Dickson Carr: the master of the locked room mystery. Just like his novel The Hollow Man, we have a man found murdered in his study. The door and window are locked from the inside. There is also a character who might not be whom he/she says they are.

Like an Agatha Christie novel, there are many suspects, and no solid motive. Could it be his wife, Lady Linwood: a once strong and independent woman (one of the first female medical doctors in England) now silenced and cowed due to years of brutal abuse by her husband? Or should we be suspicious of his three adopted children? Sir Lawrence was an exacting and negligent parent; one who liked to test his children on their reactions to stimuli. He saw sentimentality, affection, and contrition as signs of weakness (never say you are sorry; it makes one appear weak). If he saw any of these qualities in any of his children, he would make sure to hold back any type of positive reward.

Finally, there are similarities to the crime/mystery stories of Josephine Tey; specifically, the police are secondary to the amateur sleuths. The grown children separately follow divergent leads towards uncovering his murder. Along the way, they learn more about the circumstances of their births, and the disappearances of their mothers. They are joined by Iris, the girlfriend of Roger who is the youngest and favorite of Sir Lawrences children. She adds an outsiders view to the family and the villagers.

This is a true homage vintage mystery and crime novels. I found no flaws in logic, and was engaged right from the start. It was refreshing to read something this well written by a modern writer.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Inkshares publishers for the opportunity to read and enjoy this whodunnit.

I absolutely loved reading this - it bought out my inner Miss Marple as not only was there a crime to solve, there was family secrets to unravel and character motivations to assess. The story being told in alternating point of view chapters by the 3 adopted Linwood children as they navigate the aftermath of their fathers murder worked brilliantly, it kept me guessing until almost the end.

Really well written, interesting characters and good twists. Made me want to go find the author’s first book.

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley and am providing my honest review.

Though the murder mystery element of this book is not original, the characters and how they come to be family is deliciously and despicably original. Each of the three children finding out their origin story is the real mystery rather than who killed dear-old-daddy. Their choices are filled with the echoes of their father's attempts to control and restrict not only their decisions, but their thinking and their ability to interact with one another.

I truly enjoyed Christopher Huang's mystery, which ultimately shows that one person's megalomaniacal quest for control creates too many victims for the good of the world. I have recommended this novel to my students who love mysteries and who love strong character development.

Loved this book. If you like a murder mystery with a twist or two then this is the book for you. When Caroline, Roger and Alan are summoned back to the family home on the death of their father all is not quite what it seems.

Their father has been murdered and when the will is read, they find that the house has not been left to Alan as would be expected for the eldest son. Instead, there's a surprise clause in the will stating that whoever unmasks the murderer will inherit the whole estate.

As their investigation progresses, each of the Linnwood siblings uncovers surprising information about their origins eventually causing them to work together rather than in competition to solve the mystery. Well worth reading and full of twists and turns.

WOW!!
Give this book to anyone that likes a mystery that never ends!! This is a story that I visualize in a movie theater or in a Netflix show. Highly rich written and full of complex items and characters this is a book that will ruin your nights for sure.

The children of the Linwood Hall are called home to bury Sir Lawrence Linwood, their father.

Caroline, the youngest travels home from Paris, where she is a journalist; Alan, the eldest son, arrives home from Peru, where he is an archaeologist, and Roger now lives in England, he is an engineer.

The year is 1921, the First World War ended just under 3 years ago, and they are all still carrying mental scars.

From that moment on, everything became really odd. Everyone finds out their father was killed at the reading of the will.

He leaves the following message in his will:

In the event that my death should be due to unnatural causes, I charge my children with the task of identifying my killer.

The truths about their adoption and the secrets they weren't supposed to know are revealed to Alan, Roger, and Caroline as a result.

Early in the novel, I thought there were too many moving parts to the tale and a lot of strange, unrelated things being revealed, but it only enhanced the intrigue.

These moving elements are what start to unwind the microscopic strands.

This historical murder mystery was presented from the perspectives of each of the children, which initially felt a bit disjointed but ended up being a very smart approach to weave the tale of what it was like to be raised by their adopted father at Linwood Hall and what that experience was like.

The Linwood family is going to stay with me for a while. I highly recommend this to 'Whodunnit' fans of the original masters of crime mysteries. Enjoyable.

I would also like to thank #Inkshares and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this DRC copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is due for release on 23 May 2023.

#UnnaturalEnds #NetGalley

Unnatural Ends is a good old fashioned ‘whodunnit?’ murder mystery. It is well written and the characters are all interesting as well as a little annoying (in an endearing way)!
I loved the twists and turns and thought it was a very cleverly written book. I usually don’t care ‘who did it’, but this one had me hooked!
I look forward to recommending this great book to our library patrons.

"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.

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!

Alan, Roger and Caroline come back to Linwood Hall for the funeral of Lord Linwood their father who had adopted them all. The will is read and promises all the estate to the one who solves the murder of their father. All three begin to look into their own backgrounds to find out where they have actually come from. Caroline looks oriental, Roger looks like his mother came from Nepal and Alan is English. They all find out that they were actually the biological children of Lord Linwood.
The search is now ongoing for their birth mothers. Lord Linwood had an interest in eugenics; that becomes crucial to the events that take place. The role of Lord Linwood’s wife becomes apparent as she knows a number of secrets that she will not tell.
Sharing what they all have discovered brings the three siblings as close as they were as children. Alan and Roger come up with a scheme to lure their father out of hiding as .they realised that he wasn’t dead at all.
This is a complex story with some very violent events taking place. It raises questions of blood ties and family loyalties. Well constructed and hard to put down this is an excellent read.

This is the first book I have read of Christopher Huang and I am very pleased to say that I have enjoyed reading it. The style is very similar to that of the Golden Age of detective novels of which I am a great reader of. Throughout the book there are cameo’s of the characters and their activities and thought processes of the murder and characters. The murder victim is Sir Lawrence Linwood who is a dominant and controlling bully to his three children and wife. Throughout their formative years and into adulthood they compete with each other and are punished for signs of weakness.. At the reading of Sir Lawrence’s will they are challenged to find his murderer with victor being awarded being made Sir Lawrence’s successor to his estate. Be warned of some very interesting surprises during the reading of this book. I am sure you will enjoy reading this book as much as I did. In fact I am off to purchase a copy of Christopher Huang’s first book.

This book was a lot of fun. It was a who done it with the body already discovered at the beginning of participants, had to figure out how it has been done in order to inherit.

This is only the author’s second published novel, but the writing is so polished and the plotting so on point, that, other than a slightly slow start and a minor weakness around the final climax, one could easily think there’s a long backlist already.

The story is narrated in third person past tense, and mostly from the deep point of view of the three adopted adult children of Sir Lawrence Linwood, with the principal timeline taking place in April 1921; however, there’s quite a bit of time shifting, as each of the three are forced to re-examine the past in light of the present.

The blurb is very good; its brevity in setting the stage makes it all more intriguing.

Excellent use of the prologue, set almost two decades before the murder; it introduces the three Linwood siblings. At first glance, it all seems natural enough: three young children stuck in a old, rambling English pile, surrounded mostly by adults, and therefore looking for ways to entertain themselves and each other, bonding like most siblings do, especially those so close in age (there’s only three years between Alan, the oldest, and Caroline, the youngest).

In sum, it creates the impression of well adjusted children who trust and love each other.

However, a growing sense of dark foreboding soon replaces that of normalcy.

For example, there’s this:

“Alan found himself thinking first that he should grieve, but he didn’t feel it. Then he thought he should feel relief, but again he felt nothing of the sort.”

And one starts to get a proper idea of just how nothing is what it seems at Linwood Hall.

The alternating deep point of view is great for characterization; even when each of the three siblings look at the same things, their personalities come through to slant the view just so. And yet, they all in turn focus on “Father’s study”; they all feel his eyes on them, even knowing he’s dead, and they all dread his disapproval.

I am going to gloss over the plot, because I don’t want to spoil future readers; it’s basically a lot of clues dropped all through the text, with twist upon twist upon twist. As the three siblings work to try to fulfill their father’s last request–to solve his murder–long standing secrets are revealed, and more questions arise; the obvious answers are obviously wrong, except when they aren’t–and even then, not in obvious ways or for obvious reasons.

However, I will talk about content warnings. There’s a lot of casual racism, a lot of sexism–if not outright misogyny–and of course, being set so close after World War I, PTSD makes an appearance–all three Linwood siblings served. As the narrative moves on, we start to realize that while they each have compartmentalized the trauma in different ways, they all also have repressed memories–beware recounting of childhood abuse, both physical and emotional.

This all is explored in the flashbacks, and generally bears fruit sooner or later in the present.

The setting is very well drawn; very English, one would say, and yet, there’s also something obviously not quite-quite at Linwood Hall and in Linwood Hollow; there is something more, exaggerated–indeed, unnatural–in the village-lord relationship.

I mentioned above that the start is a bit slow; the book is structured in four parts, with sections named after the point of view character rather than numbered chapters. After the siblings arrival, the author sticks with Alan’s point of view a bit too long for my taste. When the point of view changes more frequently, the story moves forward at an ever accelerating pace, and by the time we are about 45% into the story, we are racing recklessly forward.

And, as the story progresses, the layers of manipulation and control imposed on the three Linwood siblings start to peel off; being adults away from their father has helped them heal. As they work to find out who murdered them man who abused them so, their true personalities reassert themselves. Alan, methodical in his thinking, also observant; Roger, the one who forges ahead and jumps to (often accurate) conclusions, and Caroline, the one who can put herself on other people’s shoes and intuit what they would do–and why. All caring for each other, a team rather than three isolated units.

The characterizations are consistent, and there’s real growth for our three protagonists; the secondary characters, even those only seen through other people’s eyes, are well rendered, and generally three dimensional.

The writing can be quite funny, which helps counterbalance some very dark moments.

“Sister Richard was its head wardress…its headmistress. Hers was the pipe organ voice that had impressed Caroline with its sonorous grandeur when they spoke over the telephone two days ago, but the woman herself was a diminutive little dumpling with the face of a rosy-cheeked cherub” (Caroline’s POV, somewhere around 41%)

“Within the space of those six scant hours, behind the locked doors of the inn and with a police guard mounted over his bed, Edwin Culpepper had somehow contrived to get himself murdered” (Mowbray’s POV, around 73%)

There is a bit of weakness very near the end, by mostly showing the final twist ‘in real time’ as it were, rather than explaining it after the fact; this means there’s a bit less suspense leading to the climax, but still, most excellent plotting.

The truth, and the whole story behind it, is horrific; the ride to the denouement, as the protagonists free themselves from the shackles of their upbringing, is great. There’s even a bit of a romance thread! And, always a bonus, the villain gets what’s coming to them, even though it’s honestly not justice enough, as far as I’m concerned.

Unnatural Ends gets 9.00 out of 10

This was unexpectedly pretty good with an amazing plot twist at the end. The blurb had seemed so unassuming and typical of a murder mystery, but the book was an absolute page-turner all throughout as the layers of the mystery are gradually unpeeled. Not in the sense of a thriller, but in the sense that our main characters continue to discover many new pieces of information but not much seems to be making sense in the way of solving the crime and more questions keep popping up.

The book features three main characters: Alan, Roger, and Caroline, the adopted children of Sir Lawrence Linwood. Under his care, they were given an excellent but cutthroat education courtesy of their ruthlessly ambitious father, who instilled in them that nothing should stop them in their journey to the top. Each having gone their own paths, they once again return to their childhood home for the funeral of their father, who was murdered. However, when his will was read, they were all given a huge surprise: whoever among the three finds his killer will obtain the entire Linwood estate.

It sounds standard, but it's darker than you would expect. It's a deep pit. And as the mystery unfurls, we get to know each of the Linwood children better through the different perspectives, as well as the pervasive presence of Sir Linwood in their formative years and in the entire area like a local overlord. We see them trying to shake off their father's looming shadow, which continues to have a strong hold over them even though he's already dead. In addition, alongside the three siblings is Iris, Roger's fiancee who accompanied him to the funeral, and she basically serves as the main outsider perspective in this sordid affair. All in all, pretty mind-boggling, especially when the pieces began falling into place at the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkshares for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book.