Chord of Evil

March 7, 2016
In Rayne's middling sixth Haunted House mystery (after 2015's Deadlight Hall), Oxford professor Michael Flint and antiques dealer Nell West attend the revival of a festival known as St. Benedict's Revels in the Dorset village of Rede Abbas. All that is left of the old Benedictine monastery in Rede Abbas is the crumbling bell tower gradually being reclaimed by the sea. Local historian Gerald Orchard provides some history and some legends about the Glaum family, who donated the massive bell, and the church's suppression under Cromwell in the 1540s. At the heart of the tale is a mysterious, long-lost piece of music, "Thaisa's Song." Only villager Maeve Eynon knows the power of the song and some of its history from an old book retrieved from the ruins. Flint and West, who become intrigued by a fragment of music and a journal left by a monk in the 19th century, may become modern victims of an ancient wrong, but neither the mystery nor the ghost story generates much tension.

Starred review from February 1, 2016
Antiques dealer Nell West is building an addition to her shop in Oxford, England. She expected a lot of hard work, but she wasn't prepared for a whopping big surprise: a message written on an ancient wall, a connection to a small village on the Dorset coast, and an old bell tower that apparently still chimes, despite its supposedly having been rendered mute several centuries earlier. Along with her partner, Oxford University professor Michael Flint, Nell unravels the mystery. A gothic horror story told in a contemporary style, the sixth in the West and Flint series is a real corker, perfect for fans of horror novels that blend past and present and have an element of mystery to them. The haunted-house theme is one of the most venerable in the genre, and Rayne has given it new life in this series, drawing again and again on the secrets (and the horrors) contained within structures built originally to keep us safe.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2017
In the second Phineas Fox mystery, after Death Notes (2017), Phin's friend is worried about his cousin, who had been eager to attend a party but, uncharacteristically, didn't show up. Phin, a researcher by profession (he works mainly with writers and filmmakers), has only recently solved a devilishly complicated historical mystery, so figuring out why a woman has disappeared doesn't seem all that daunting a task. But a decades-old painting, which may be connected to the woman's disappearance, leads Phin to make a startling discovery that will launch him into a historical mystery that could be even more labyrinthine than his first case. As in Death Notes, and Rayne's Nell West series, the writing is crisp and compelling, and the mystery is cleverly constructed, with planted clues and key information being dispensed in small portions. It's a crime novel that requires close attention, and readers who enjoy sniffing out clues and trying to solve the mystery before the solution is revealed will have a fine time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)