Blackstone Fell in paperback!

 

Today sees the UK publication in paperback of Blackstone Fell, the third Rachel Savernake novel - with the fourth, Sepulchre Street, due to hit the shelves next month. A writer is never satisfied, but these are both books that I feel particularly happy with, and I wrote quite a few articles about Blackstone Fell at the time the hardback was released, including this one for Booktrail. 

I've been gratified by the reviews on the blogosphere - and here's a selection from the print media:

‘Rachel Savernake, blessed with wealth and beauty, and Jacob Flint, possessed of a nose for a good story — who previously appeared in Gallows Court (2018) and Mortmain Hall (2020) — return to investigate the many extraordinary goings-on in Blackstone Fell, a creepy village in darkest Yorkshire. Unexplained disappearances, seances, multiple deaths at a sanatorium patrolled by guard dogs and a murderer on the loose provide a lively and eventful trip back to 1930s Britain as depicted in the Golden Age mysteries of the period. Martin Edwards celebrates and satirises the genre with wit and affection: “Lightning flashed over Hawthorn Cottage as a loud knock came at the door.” He leaves you wanting more.’

Mark Sanderson, The Times

‘For his latest classic mystery, Martin Edwards serves up an engaging mix of ingredients familiar to fans of golden age crime. A remote village on the Yorkshire moors harbours secrets: two murders, 300 years apart, have been committed in the close confines of Blackstone Tower. 

When an intrepid journalist, one of the rare women reporters of 1930s Fleet Street, also meets an untimely end, it is left to private investigator Rachel Savernake, beautiful, rich and fiercely intelligent, to identify the guilty and to exorcise the evil that permeates Blackstone Fell. 

What goes on behind the walls of the sanatorium where psychiatric treatment is liable to prove fatal? What can be learned from a spiritualist whose seances, though fraudulent, provide vital clues? 

The plot is intricate but never less than compelling. Martin Edwards holds his own with the best of classic crime.’

Barry Turner, Daily Mail

‘Fabulous locked room mystery…full of suspense, this entertaining and engaging read is a classic whodunit.’

My Weekly

‘First-rate and a must-read for this month… The plot is tremendous…the cross-currents brilliant, the writing pithy, the characters well-realised and the piling up and switches between possible solutions excellent, with “more loose ends than a bowl of spaghetti”. The Cluefinder at the end, the “selection of pointers to the solution of the various mysteries”, serves to demonstrate how far Edwards, the President of the Detection Club, has played fair… There is some humour…whilst many academics will recognise this description of a professor: “He still thinks he’s in his prime, though he does nothing all day but rewrite lectures he gave thirty years ago.” Good length. Rachel Savernake makes an impressive modern Holmes, plus Jacob Flint and Nell Fagan are interesting entrees to Fleet Street with the nature of justice ably to the fore at the end. One to read and enjoy.’

Jeremy Black, The Critic 

‘The third in the Rachel Savernake investigation is perfect for those who love a locked-room mystery…It has a wonderful golden age of crime feel to it.’

Belfast Telegraph

‘Blackstone Fell is an irresistible Gothic thriller…Edwards’ book keeps you gripped to the very end – you find yourself caring about the characters and their fates. It is intelligently written. The descriptions of Blackstone Fell are vivid and help the reader to appreciate the bleakness of the moors.’

Yorkshire Life

‘As always with this series, the period detail is beautifully observed…Rachel remains an enigmatic figure, but an oddly likeable one too…Blackstone Fell turns out to be an unusually murderous place as the story unfolds: Edwards has a wonderful knack for propelling the action and lacing it with clues (often subtle ones) along the way. This is a thoroughly enjoyable successor to Gallows Court and Mortmain Hall, ingeniously plotted and racily told…Blackstone Fell is more or less impossible to put down – this is Edwards on the top of his form.’

Nigel Simeone, Dorothy L. Sayers Bulletin

‘This is a fascinating novel, with an enigmatic protagonist and a complex, intriguing plot. Rachel is an intriguing character, incredibly clever and cold-blooded and ruthless to everybody but the few people she cares about. The books have the authenticity of the author’s detailed knowledge of the period, plus a darkly clever plot, set in a sinister, brooding landscape. Blackstone Fell is a page turner which I wholeheartedly recommend.’

Carol Westron, Mystery People