The Dungeon House: A Lake District
Mystery
Martin Edwards
Poisoned Pen, Sep 1 2015, $26.95
ISBN 9781464203206
Two decades ago in coastal Cumbria,
affluent Malcolm and Lysette Whiteley host
their annual gala for friends and family at Dungeon House. Instead of joy at their party, Malcom is disheartened
from his business in trouble and irate at Lysette’s not very discrete
affairs. Her demand for a divorce sends intoxicated
Malcom over the edge; he ponders whether to include their sixteen year old
daughter in his murder-suicide.
Three years ago, fourteen years old Lily Elstone vanished while
riding her bike. That case turned cold
until yesterday; fifteen years old Shona Whiteley failed to arrive at a
friend’s sleepover. Cumbria Cold Case
Review consultant (and retired cop) Les Bryant briefs Detective Chief Inspector
Hannah Scarlett and Detective Chief Maggie Eyre on the key link between the two
teen disappearances: Lily’s father Gray was the accountant to Shona’s infamous
great Uncle Malcolm.
The seventh Lake District police procedural
(see The Frozen Shroud, The Serpent Pool and The Hanging Wood) is a fabulous
investigation that deftly ties together a twenty-year old horrible tragedy, a
cold case disappearance and a missing person’s inquiry. Filled with terse suspense as Scarlett fears
time is running out for Shona, Martin
Edwards writes a terrific mystery anchored by a deep cast desperately searching
for the missing teen.
Harriet Klausner
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