Invitation to Die

June 10, 2019
A third of the way into Cleverly’s undistinguished second mystery set in 1920s Cambridge, England (after 2018’s Fall of Angels), Det. Insp. John Redfyre is walking his dog when he stumbles across a body behind his home. The coroner determines that the dead man, who had a card in his pocket inviting him to “break bread with” a dining group calling themselves Amici Apicii, was throttled. The killer’s m.o. suggests a military connection to Redfyre, which, in turn, suggests to the reader a link to an earlier section of the book recounting the discovery of diamonds by a small group of British soldiers during the Boer War. The card from Amici Apicii also hearkens back to the book’s opening, in which a member of Cambridge University’s medieval history faculty seeks out a transient to invite to that group’s intimate gathering. The underwhelming plot is slow to unfold, and Redfyre is colorless compared with the author’s first series lead, Joe Sandilands. Cleverly has done much better in the past in concocting intriguing murder puzzles. Agent: Juliet Burton, Juliet Burton Literary (U.K.).

August 1, 2019
In 1924, Cambridge, England, has a pronounced town-gown divide. When a tramp is invited to dine in more-hallowed environs, he's suspicious, as he should be?the next day, someone matching his newly spruced-up description is found dead. He's not the first to die after dinner with this particular set of obnoxious snobs, a puzzle that sets Detective Inspector John Redfyre on a trail back to the Boer War, which started in 1899 in South Africa. The deprivations of that conflict, and a robbery committed by one of the murdered "tramp's" comrades?a tale told in flashbacks, which make up the most compelling part of this novel?have left lasting scars, but did they cause the attacks 25 years later? Redfyre has his work cut out for him as he faces class divides and historical murkiness in this satisfying, if sometimes overly complicated, tale of secrecy and greed. Readers looking for more about the Boer War could try Martin Meredith's nonfiction Diamonds, Gold, and War (2007), while those who enjoyed Redfyre should seek the first novel in this series, Fall of Angels (2018).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)