Part of Jackson Brodie
First published 2024
Jackson Brodie faces midlife restlessness when a call draws him to a quiet Yorkshire town. What starts as a routine art theft case quickly multiplies into something larger. A valuable Turner painting vanishes from Burton Makepeace, the ancestral home of Lady Milton and her family. The once grand estate now operates partly as a hotel, specializing in Murder Mystery weekends for paying guests. A vicar arrives alongside an ex-army officer, cash-strapped nobles, and longtime friends, all gathered for the theatrical entertainment. But reality and performance blur as genuine crime unfolds among the scripted drama. Brodie must separate authentic clues from planted red herrings while navigating the social dynamics of guests who may be more than they appear. The weekend's carefully orchestrated game becomes deadly serious, forcing the ex-detective to confront both external mysteries and his own internal struggles with purpose and direction.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, darkly-comedic, introspective, layered, suspenseful
Tropes: internal-conflict, mystery-within-mystery, performance-versus-truth, unreliable-reality
Setting: Yorkshire, Burton Makepeace
Period: 21st-century, contemporary
365 pages · Paperback · Penguin
Content warnings: death, murder