Death in the Spires

This might be one of KJ Charles strongest novels. I’ve enjoyed many of her books. She is a relatively dependable author. Sometimes she can get a little long winded in her descriptions of intimacy, but not at all here. The focus is on the murder mystery and introducing the individual suspects. It kept me guessing and is full of some great twists and turns and complicated characters.

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The newspapers called us the Seven Wonders. We were a group of friends, that’s all, and then Toby died. Was killed. Murdered.

1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.

Jem begins to track down the people who were there the night Toby died – a close circle of friends once known as the ‘Seven Wonders’ for their charm and talent – only to find them as tormented and broken as himself. All of them knew and loved Toby at Oxford. Could one of them really be his killer?

As Jem grows closer to uncovering what happened that night, his pursuer grows bolder, making increasingly terrifying attempts to silence him for good. Will exposing Toby’s killer put to rest the shadows that have darkened Jem’s life for so long? Or will the gruesome truth only put him in more danger?

Some secrets are better left buried…

From the bestselling, acclaimed author of The Magpie Lord and The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen comes a chilling historical mystery with a sting in the tail. You won’t be able to put this gripping story down!

The Purple Fantastic Steam Rating gives this a 2 out of 5. The book does acknowledge that sexuality exists, but characters’ intimacy is in essence off-camera.  You can read more about the Steam Ratings on the About Page.