1938, London. The four queens of British crime fiction, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, are hosting a gala to raise money for the Women’s Volunteer Service to help Britain prepare for war. Baronet Sir Henry Heathcote has loaned Hursley House for the event and all the elites of London society are attending. The gala is a brilliant success, despite a few hiccups, but the next morning Sir Henry is found dead in the library.
Detective Chief Inspectors Lilian Wyles and Richard Davidson from Scotland Yard are quickly summoned and discover a cluster of potential suspects among the guests, including an upset fiancée, a politically ambitious son, a reserved but protective brother, an irate son-in-law, a rebellious teenage daughter, and the deputy home secretary.
Quietly recruiting the four queens of crime, DCI Wyles must sort through the messy aftermath of Sir Henry’s death to solve the mystery and identify the killer.
I did like this novel. It has the potential to be a series with DCI Lillian Wyles using the 4 crime authors as consultants. I also think that it would be good to follow DCI Lillian as the primary protagonist, following her historical moments with fictional interactions. It could be the historical fiction versus of Castle.
The different POVs of each characters gives new perspective, or fresh eyes, from different angles of the investigation. However, I enjoyed Lillian then gathering them altogether and exchanging information and ideas.
Overall, I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.
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