Book Review: Rules of Murder

Quite a while back now I won a contest on Facebook and earned me a copy of Julianna Deering's "Rules for Murder", first book in the new Drew Farthering Mystery Series. When the book finally arrived the other week I was excited to sit down and give it a read!

Drew Farthering is an early 20-something English gentleman and heir to a comfortable estate and a sizeable chunk of his late father's chemical engineering firm. However, what's not so comfortable is the life he is living. Coming home one night to a houseful of guests, an unavoidable weekend soiree, and the hint of scandal following his mother around Drew wants nothing more then to pitch the whole lot of them out of his house and enjoy country life free of the trappings and expectations of high society. The weekend starts looking up though when his step-father's American niece, Madeline, and her two traveling companions arrive and bring a breath of fresh air, and a whiff of romance, to the place.
During the big party the next night a body shows up which sets police and amateur detective alike on the trail of the murderer, and for two mystery novel lovers like Drew and Madeline there is nothing like a good murder to solve to bring the two together! Through twists and turns and more unexpected shocks Drew, Madeline, and Drew's best friend Nick work their way past preconception and secrets to get to the truth and keep the culprit from slipping through their fingers! In the process Drew and his sidekicks find out if the mystery writers rule book is a tried and true assistant to their quest or whether is should be thrown out the window!

Speaking of the rule book, it is of note that at its heart this book revolves around early 20th century novelist's Ronald Knox's "Ten Commandments for Mystery Writers". This list is a pretty cool summery of mystery writing tropes from the golden era of detective stories (like Agatha Christie) that Knox believes should be avoided at all costs. To the modern reader the list comes off as pretty amusing as it is pretty dated content wise but for the backdrop of a period set novel it makes fantastic dressing! Even though all the 'forbidden' situations used in the book should be familiar to the well read mystery reader (such as hidden passages, Chinamen, and poisons) Deering has a light and easy hand with their use and as they rumbled past me I found myself smiling and not grimacing at their being clichéd.

One thing I really admired about this book was how well done the pacing was and how nothing felt too rushed or too lagging but was unfolded at precisely the right time. Stylistically too things just hummed. Deering was did a fine job of reflecting the culture of the time period with a combo of a wide 'vintage' vocabulary and her narrating descriptions. I also enjoyed how when moving from scene to scene the scene 'slid' from one thing to another like an old noir movie instead of having that page break-reset-and-reintroduce setup. It was a concept that fit the feel of the book well! The cover of the book was a delight as well as it features a striking graphic deco print that is eye catching and fun. Additionally, the whole feel of the book put me many times in mind of the charming and smart classic British favorite of mine, "Jeeves and Wooster", anyone who loves that series should give Deering's offering a try!

As far as the negative goes the only thing I can think to nitpick over (if I had too) was that the romance was a little bit too quick for me, but even having said that I don't think it was out of place for the time period and style that the author is writing in. Overall the book was a great one and I would happily recommend it to any mystery reader or any reader looking for a change of pace from their normal genre!

Rating: 4.5


I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a part of a contest and was under no obligation to review it. The above review is an honest opinion of the product.