Forgotten Murder
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Jack Haldean’s newly-wedded bliss is disrupted by a series of shocking revelations in this gripping historical mystery.
When an old schoolfriend of Jack’s wife Betty witnesses a disturbing vision in the garden of a smart suburban house, Jack is intrigued. Just what did Jenny Langton see beneath the cedar tree at Saunder’s Green that frightened her so much she fainted on the spot? Jack’s subsequent enquiries stir up a hornet’s nest of repressed emotions and long-buried secrets. What exactly happened at Saunder’s Green almost twenty years before – and why will no one talk about it?
As he unearths evidence of a possible murder, how is even a seasoned investigator like Jack supposed to solve a crime that took place two decades before with no tangible clues, no reliable witnesses – and at least one person who is determined to stop him discovering the truth … whatever it takes.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Gordon-Smith's sprightly 10th Jack Haldean 1920s mystery (after 2015's The Chessman), 23-year-old Jenny Langton, a typist at a real estate firm in the village of Stowfleet, Surrey, longs for a promotion. She gets her big chance when her boss, mindful of an article "about the Modern Girl and the need for an up-to-date employer to recognize her capabilities," sends her to assess a Victorian-era house. Inside, she experiences a sense of d j vu that culminates in a fainting spell after she sees a monster in the garden. Is this the onset of lunacy, or is she seeing ghosts? Searching for a rational explanation, she calls on her old friend Betty, the wife of mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jack Haldean. Jack assumes the task of uncovering the reason for Jenny's visions. The stakes rise when someone starts murdering the people he interviews in connection with the case. Never mind that the culprit is obvious early on. Gordon-Smith neatly uses period details to further the well-constructed plot (that teddy bears were not sold before 1900 provides a vital clue). Historical fans will be pleased.
