#BlogTour ‘A Murder At The Castle’ by Chris McGeorge

About the book…

During a violent snowstorm, the Royal Family gather at the Castle for a traditional Christmas together. Amid rumours that he plans to name a new successor, King Eric stands to make his traditional after-dinner speech. He sips from a glass of his favourite whisky- and drops dead.

The king has been poisoned, and only one of the royals could have done the deed. Trapped by the raging blizzard, it is up to Eric’s beloved head chef, Jonathan Alleyne, to play detective and get to the bottom of this heinous crime.

Thanks so very much to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for the tour invite and publishers Orion for the opportunity to read and review, ‘A Murder At The Castle’ the new novel by one of my favourite writers, Chris McGeorge which is out from November the 10th in all good bookshops!

The tricks and puzzles he uses to such great effect in his previous novels are on display in this tale set on Christmas Day,at Balmoral,a story with extra meaning since the sad passing of the Queen.

This alternate timeline is established from the reign of Edward VII and had King Eric as the elderly monarch who has dismissed all his staff (except his chef and head of security) and is planning a holiday with just his immediate family.

Beginning with a Kingly speech, that never finishes because Eric drinks poisoned whiskey, right at the beginning, we see the royal household through the eyes of Jonathan Alleyne,his personal chef.

His descriptions of the Royal household and how he,the son of an immigrant worked his way into the position of Eric’s chef and crossword puzzle solver is so well done,he is the entry point into a world none of us can easily imagine.

And yet it gives us an intimacy extended beyond the isolated setting and reduced family members as a blizzard perfectly sets the scene for an Agatha Christie-esque whodunit.

The twists and turns are exactly what you would wish for and expect from Chris, he is a master at providing plausible explanations for what is initially inexplicable and has you going ‘why didn’t I see that coming?’

But what he does is not make the reader feel foolish for not seeing it,the denouement is a ‘Ahhhhh….’ situation,a momentous clarifying that makes you want to turn to the beginning and see where all the clues fit.

A perfectly timed release for the winter reading list,I thoroughly recommend this to lovers of satisfying mysteries.

About the author….

Chris McGeorge has an MA in Creative Writing (Crime / Thriller) from City University London where he wrote his first crime novel Dead Room for his thesis. He constantly told stories from a young age, whether they took the form of comics, short stories or scripts.

He is a lover of Golden Age crime, like Christie and Conan Doyle, leading his crime stories to be a mix of the old and the contemporary. He likes weird and wonderful plots, with plenty of intrigue and twists.

His often coherent ramblings about everything pop culture can be found on his blog Festival of Blood and occasionally he produces the Sarcasmicast podcast with a group of friends.

Twitter @crmcgeorge @orionbooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n