Murder in Little Shendon
Fear grips the community as the investigation slowly progresses. Everyone is interviewed; everyone is suspect! From his housekeeper to Lady Armstrong and her household staff. Or could it be the shy librarian new in town? Or the defiant retired army major and his ladyfriend, the post mistress? Or perhaps the weird sisters who live on the edge of town? Then there is the couple who own the local inn and pub, along with the two Americans who are staying there? Even the vicar and his wife fall under the gloom of suspicion.
Uncertainty, wariness, and terror reign as neighbors watch neighbors to discover the evil that permeates their upturned lives. No one feels safe in this charming little village. Who is the murderer? And why was this strange uncivil man dispatched in such a seemingly civil community?
A murder mystery that will keep you reading until you learn the details, uncovered by Police Inspector Stanley Burgess and his two amateur detectives, Sir Victor Hazlitt and Beresford Brandon. The three sift methodically through the Alibis and life stories of the suspects until they uncover…
You are challenged to discover the culprit before the last few pages. And no fair looking ahead — it’s the journey that proves the most enticing.
My Review
This book is a great introduction to this series. Fans of whodunit stories will enjoy this book. I know I sure did. The characters in this book were a bit eccentric. Yet, this is what I loved about them. Actually, this book reminded me of the board game Clue. With all of the crazy characters and the many different scenarios. I honestly tried to solve the case before the reveal but I did not. Although, I thought that the team of Inspector Stanley Burgess, Sir Victor Hazlitt and Beresford Brandon did a very good job of piecing together all of the clues. As I stated previously, I had such an enjoyable time reading this book that it went by quickly. This was helped by the many different characters, good storyline, charming location, and twists. I look forward to reading more from A.H. Richardson.
About the Author:
A. H. Richardson
was born in London England and is the daughter of famous pianist and composer
Clive Richardson. She studied drama and acting at the London Academy of Music
and Dramatic Art. She was an actress, a musician, a painter and sculptor, and
now an Author.
She published her
debut novel Jorie and the Magic Stones, a children’s chapter book, in December 2014. At the request of
those who loved the first ‘Jorie’ story, Richardson has written a sequel
titled Jorie and the Gold Key, and she is currently working on the third book in the series.
A.H. Richardson also enjoys writing
murder mysteries and who-dun-its. She is the author of the Hazlitt/Brandon
series of murder mystery novels. The series follows a pair of clever, colorful and charismatic sleuths - Sir Victor Hazlitt
and Beresford Brandon. The series includes Murder in Little Shendon, Act One, Scene One – Murder, and Murder at Serenity Farm.
A. H.
Richardson lives happily in East Tennessee, her adopted state, and has
three sons, three grandchildren, and two pugs. She speaks four languages
and loves to do voiceovers. She plans on writing many more books and hopes
to delight her readers further with her British twist, which all her books
have.
Chapter One
A Killing in The Bygone Era
BARTHOLOMEW FYNCHE LEANED OVER HIS DESK, adjusted his pince-nez and peered down
at the document on his desk. He gave a series of grunts, which culminated in a
long “Hmmm”.
He scratched a
brief note on the pad in front of him. He always used a pen and ink because he
did not approve of ballpoint pens and regarded them as signs of an uncivilized
society.
Mr. Fynche
turned his attention to the small jade horse in front of him, running his
fingers over it gently, almost lovingly. He frowned, took a deep breath, and
removed a key from around his neck. He unlocked a drawer to his desk, placed
the small statue inside and carefully locked it again.
The retired
Mr. B. Fynche had been involved in a number of most interesting exploits in his
life, not the least of which involved his extraordinary knowledge of rare
documents, famous objets d’art, and
rare paintings. It was rumored that he had been involved with MI5 just after
the war, but no one was quite certain about this. Nowadays he puttered fairly
contentedly in his antique shop, which he had named The Bygone Era.
He did the
occasional appraisal for some local villagers and was
occasionally persuaded to go into London (a trip he detested) to authenticate
something or other for the odd client he had. He was, as far as anyone knew,
unmarried, quite without family, with the exception of a sister who was rumored
to live in New Zealand and a brother who was deceased.
At first
glance, Fynche’s little shop seemed to be an untidy mass of bric-a-brac,
consisting of small statues, framed documents, interesting looking things in
glass cases, paintings of all descriptions, prints, watches, chains and… much
much more. Mr. Fynche however, knew exactly where everything was, referring to
it on occasion as organized clutter.
Today was
Thursday, better known as early closing day when most if not all the shops in
the village closed about noon, and The Bygone Era was no exception. Fynche
liked to lock the doors, put up the CLOSED sign and busy himself with his
latest project, and he had many of those.
The little man
glanced down once again at some notes he had made. For the first time in his
life, he was not quite sure how to deal with this. Probably the best policy was
to be frank and explain that this was not something with which he chose to be
involved. He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. Perhaps no mention of
the police should be made at this juncture, for he felt instinctively that he
would have to be careful here.
A knock on the
door interrupted his reverie and Fynche’s eyes again darted up to the clock. He
frowned, realizing that the knock was coming from the back door, which was
rarely used. Thoroughly disgruntled, the old man unlatched the door.
“Come in,” he
said curtly, “and see that you close the door behind you.” He paused, then
growled in a surly manner, “You’re late; we need to talk.”
“I’m sorry.
There was some work left to do,” answered the other. A breeze blew through the
open window behind Fynche’s desk.
“Close the
window, please. That wretched cleaning woman always leaves the window open, and
it blows my papers all around.”
“Very well.”
His visitor closed the window obediently.
“Come around
to the front, where I can see you. Something quite interesting has come up and
we need to talk. Clearly, decisions have to be made here. Did you hear me…?”
Fynche made a
half-turn, threw up his hands defensively, and gave a smothered cry, but it was
too late. The broad brass base of an Edwardian candle holder was wielded aloft
and came crashing down with a sickening thud into Mr. Fynche’s skull. Blood
flew everywhere, seeping into the dark wood of the desk and into some papers
and puddling on to the floor.
Mr.
Bartholomew Fynche, open-mouthed and eyes glazed, his hands futilely clutching
at the air, slumped over the side of his chair and onto the floor… very very
dead.
The visitor
spent a moment or two looking around the cluttered shop, hunting for something,
but then thought better of it. With a sudden gesture, the visitor pried a large
gold ring from Mr. Fynche’s finger, hastily made the decision to leave and,
used The Bygone Era’s back door as the avenue of escape. The door was closed
quietly, and the visitor slipped out noiselessly into the anonymity of the
bustling throng of last-minute shoppers in the High Street. It was a bright
sunny day in late spring.
What was your inspiration for this
book?
My inspiration for this book came from a fellow
that my father used to know who tuned his piano. I thought he was creepy,
the eyes of a child see things quite differently; he was probably a very
nice little man, but I thought he looked sinister, and later I made him
into Mr. B. Fynche when I wrote my first book. After I decided on my
' villain' - the other characters in my head usually crowd in hoping
to be placed somewhere in the story. I am usually character-driven, and
then they suggest the story to me - does that make any sense?
Are your characters inspired by any
celebrities?
If I were casting this book into a movie, I would
select Martita Hunt (long since passed away) to play Lady
Armstrong, so in a way there is a tie to a celebrity. I would also pick
Pierce Brosnan to play Sir Victor Hazlitt, although Sir Victor is not
patterned after Brosnan necessarily.
Did you write the characters or the
plot first?
I think that I have a sketchy idea of w here I
want my murder mystery to take place, but the characters always come first,
they are what make the story come alive, hopefully!
Why should readers check out this book?
I think that readers should check out this
book, for this reason; one kind reviewer told me, "I just couldn't put it
down ," - which is what every author wants to hear - it is the
ultimate form of encouragement that keeps us writing.
What are you working on currently?
I am currently working on 'Murder on Baringo
Island' (a Caribbean murder) which is almost finished - I
am just agonizing through the last 25 pages.
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