Murder Like Clockwork
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3.7 • 6 Ratings
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
Bloomsbury presents Murder Like Clockwork by Nicola Whyte, read by Nneka Okoye.
An empty house that isn't empty. A victim who vanishes. An impossible crime?
Every Thursday at midday Audrey Brooks cleans the Petrov house. Mr Petrov is never home - in fact he seems to use the house purely as storage for his impressive collection of antiques - but that doesn't affect the care with which Audrey mops, polishes, and carefully winds each of the dozens of beautiful clocks that decorate the tall, elegant, empty London mansion.
Until the morning she finds a corpse in the back bedroom, the pristine walls and floor covered in blood, and flees the house in panic.
Fifteen minutes later, the police arrive... and find nothing. No body. No blood. The only thing slightly out of the ordinary is the clock in that back bedroom, which is now running four minutes slow.
With no victim, the police are convinced there was no murder, but Audrey knows better. A man has been killed, and if they won't do anything about it, she - and her annoying friend Lewis - will. Whodunnit is one thing, but this detective duo must also wrestle with when - and where on earth is the body? It's not long since they solved the murder of their neighbour, so they're not rookie sleuths, and at least this time the case has no connection to their home.
Does it?
A charming and witty locked room mystery full of twists, perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Tom Hindle, and Janice Hallett.
Customer Reviews
*Proving a Crime*
This is book two of the Audrey and Lewis series. I’m hoping for more as I’m warming to them.
In book one, Celeste Van Duren, the owner of 10 Marchfield Square, instigated the duo’s meeting. Celeste, an octogenarian with a sharp mind, is a fascinating character. She has a Man Servant, ex-military Dixon, who even dips his biscuits for precisely three seconds with military precision. Everything he does is purposeful.
Audrey, a cleaner who finds solace in her work, is people-friendly and adept at connecting with others. She’s also a dab hand at research. Lewis, a recruitment worker with a penchant for writing in his spare time, is offish and blunt, lacking the social skills to connect with others.
In this instalment, Audrey’s cleaning routine takes her to a house belonging to Mr Petrov. Her instructions specify a midday arrival, no earlier or later. Mr Petrov owns many antique clocks that she must carefully clean and wind. One morning, as she follows her routine, Audrey arrives earlier than midday and hears a noise, dismissing it. However, upon entering the back room, she encounters a horrifying scene: blood everywhere and a dead man.
Panicked, Audrey rushes out of the house and waits for the police. When they arrive, there’s no body and no murder scene. The body has vanished into thin air.
Puzzled, Audrey and Lewis begin their investigation, trying to avoid interfering with the police. One of them gets into serious danger as one rushes to save the other.