The Island

Author: M. J. Trow

Title: The Island

Binding: Paperback

Number Of Pages: 224

Release Date: 2019-02-01

Details: Product Description

The wedding of Matthew Grand's sister is marred by cold-blooded murder in the intriguing new Grand & Batchelor Victorian mystery.

March, 1873. Private investigators Matthew Grand and James Batchelor have arrived at Matthew's substantial family home on the Maine coast for the wedding of his sister Martha. Friends and relatives have gathered from far and wide to celebrate the occasion, but nothing is going according to plan. A long-lost cousin turns up out of the blue after an absence of fourteen years. The best man is nowhere to be found. And no one seems to have a good word to say about the bridegroom.

Preparations are thrown into chaos when a body is discovered in an upstairs bedroom. As Grand and Batchelor investigate, they discover that more than one member of the household has a scandalous secret to hide. And several more family skeletons are destined to tumble from the closet before the two enquiry agents uncover the shocking truth

Review

"A witty and clever tale" - Kirkus Review

"Welshman Trow is a veteran of the historical-mystery genre, and he knows to mix period details and distinctive characters in just the right proportions" - Booklist

Excerpt. (c) Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

By the time Matthew Grand had changed into some boots more suitable for looking for his friend in the woods, a small crowd had gathered in the stable yard. He had no idea his father kept so many servants here, but he was glad he did. They all looked able bodied enough, quick on their feet and used to the terrain. Hart looked a little out of place, still wearing his indoor clothes, but he seemed keen enough so Grand forbore to send him away.
Grand climbed up onto the mounting block which was built into the stable wall and whistled to attract everyone's attention.
'Gentlemen,' he said, causing a wave of grunts of approval from the gardeners and their lads, 'thank you all for dropping what you were doing and coming here to help. Mr Batchelor has been gone for about an hour and a half now, which for one of you would be no time to be in the woods, but for him, coming from England where there are no woods like these, it is too long. We need to find him before he wanders off the path or worse. He's also taken his notebook. Now, I know you don't know Mr Batchelor, but I do; this means he has got an idea of who might have committed these dreadful murders ...' more nodding from the assembly '... and he will be thinking hard. And when he thinks hard, he doesn't always look were he's going, so he will wander off the path more easily than we might do.' Each man looked at his neighbour and nodded sagely. They all knew someone, or at least knew someone who knew someone who had wandered off the path and had never been seen again.
'I don't need to tell you how this works,' Grand continued. 'Spread out, but make sure you always have the man to your right and to your left in sight. Don't holler out unless you see Mr Batchelor. We have just the one gun with us, I hope - Mr Clemens is a crack shot and we'll leave it to him, if it should become necessary. We don't want people hauling off and shooting left and right; somebody's gonna get hurt that way.' Grand heard himself descending to the vernacular, but felt sure Batchelor would forgive the lapse in the circumstances. 'So, spread out men. Let's find Mr Batchelor.'
There was one rebel yell from the crowd, but he ignored it. He knew it was Sam Clemens, trying to get a rise out of him and lighten the mood, so he let it go. Soon, the line of men were disappearing into the trees, some silently, others crashing through the underbrush; a little more woodcraft would have been nice, Grand mused, but this wasn't perhaps the time to train them in the ways of the Micmac.

Batchelor struck off down his chosen path with confidence. He certainly recognised that tree from before. He remembered that odd, bent branch and the streak of moss down one side. He swung his empty pail and tried a fe

EAN: 9781780295107

Package Dimensions: Height: 8.75 Inches, Length: 5.5 Inches, Weight: 0.6724098991 Pounds, Width: 0.5 Inches