by Ngaio Marsh
First published 2001
Cara Quayne collapses and dies moments after drinking ritual wine at the House of the Sacred Flame. The beautiful woman's sudden death shocks the other cult members who witnessed her final moments during their ceremony. Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard arrives to investigate what appears to be murder by prussic acid poisoning. The detective must navigate the strange world of this religious group to solve two crucial questions. First, how did the deadly poison find its way into the ceremonial wine? Second, which member of this wealthy cult wanted Cara dead badly enough to kill her during their sacred ritual? Alleyn faces a complex web of motives and methods as he examines each initiate who had access to the fatal drink. The inspector must decode the bizarre practices and hidden tensions within the House of the Sacred Flame to identify a killer who used religious ceremony as cover for murder.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-detective, complex-motives
Setting: House of the Sacred Flame, Scotland Yard
Period: 20th-century
Paperback · HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Content warnings: death, murder