Review: Lucinda Riley, “The Fleet House Murders”

See all reviews

The Murders at Fleat House has a prehistoric history. It is said to have been written as early as 2006, but will not be published yet, a year after Lucinda Riley died of cancer. She was a much-loved writer here in Norway, with her entertaining novels containing everything the heart craves from dilapidated mansions, hapless aristocrats, family secrets, and Cinderella-like love stories. After The Secret of the Orchid (2011), she published sixteen books in Norwegian, and sold 1.6 million books, according to the publisher, the bestselling translated writer in Norway in the past decade. This is due to the amazing series “The Seven Sisters”, in which one of the books was added to Norway.

Recognizable Rileysk

When Riley died, she left behind many scenarios, including this crime. Both appearance and style can be recognized Rileysk. The Murders at Fleat House also contains bleak family secrets and a sad, aristocratic family.

Charlie was the only male heir to the huge Connaught Hall estate, where the dreary Lord Connaught lives alone. His late brother will eventually play a role in the plot. The 400-year-old boarding school also has its secrets. Legend has it that he was chased by a little boy, and he was so sad that he hung himself from an iron hook from the ceiling in the basement. The boys at the boarding school suspect that his ghost is behind the murder. Another schoolboy, bullying victim Rory, is terrified for unknown reasons and disappears. Rory was one of Charlie’s victims of bullying.

Lucinda Riley this year: a gift pack of delicious phrases

This sounds more mysterious than it actually is, because the plot is by no means amazing. Much of the crime has to do with the many new, growing characters and their unfortunate private lives. All marriages fail. There is jealousy, growing up and class contradictions. Detective Jazz also has his problems. She left Scotland Yard after her husband – who was also her colleague – was unfaithful. She is now forced, more or less reluctantly, to return to work.

The most charming character in the book is the school’s Latin teacher, Hugh the Kind. He takes his life for reasons we don’t know until the end. There are many dramatic murders. The illustration is amazing enough, but a little talked about.

cake topper garland

Riley is a fairly well-rounded writer, and “The Fleet House Murders” is a gossip crime story. Linguistically, it is on a quite regular basis. As far as I know, most of Riley’s books have been translated by Benedicta Wendt Wahl. She’s done a decent job, but in some places it becomes more than just a regular job. Among other things, she seems to have fallen in love with the phrase “the top of the wreath cake,” with phrases like: “He was convinced that Charlie was on top of every wreath cake.” The gods know what the English term is, but the Norwegian wreath cake seems out of place.

Otherwise, this is a perfectly decent crime, and it’s almost a bit odd that the book hasn’t been published before. In the preface, Riley’s eldest son Harry Whitaker writes that he has considered amending the script, as he did with the eighth and final book of The Seven Sisters, “Atlas. The Story of Pa Salt” which has yet to be published. Whitaker wrote that he chose to publish this script without addressing it. It works well. Admittedly, there would be many more involved, some loose threads, and some coincidences that not even crime could bear. But Detective Jazz does well, and he could very well have succeeded in carrying a crime series if Riley had chosen to become a writer. for crimes.

What a disappointment!

We should be glad Riley chose the so-called Feelgood genre. The Murders at Fleat House lacks the melodrama and endless entertainment that made Lucinda Riley’s books so popular.