The Night in Question
Discover the rich, dazzling life of 2024’s most lovable protagonist
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- £8.99
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
'A wonderfully warm and involving page-turner.' Clare Chambers, Sunday Times bestselling author of Small Pleasures
'A life-affirming novel, full of surprises. It's a gripping literary whodunnit and so much more . . . I adored it.' Emma Stonex, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamplighters
'Full of unforgettable characters, a beguiling mystery with gorgeous prose, The Night in Question completely captured my heart . . . A triumph.’ Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
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Florence Butterfield has lived an extraordinary life full of travel, passion and adventure. But, at eighty-seven, she suspects there are no more surprises to come her way.
Then, one midsummer's night, something terrible happens - so strange and unexpected that Florrie is suspicious. Was this really an accident, or is she living alongside a would-be murderer?
The only clue is a magenta envelope, discarded earlier that day.
And Florrie - cheerfully independent but often overlooked - is the only person determined to uncover the truth.
As she does, Florrie finds herself looking back on her own life . . . and a long-buried secret, traced in faded scars across her knuckles, becomes ever harder to ignore.
Readers of Elizabeth is Missing, Small Pleasures or Dear Mrs Bird will love prize-winning author Susan Fletcher's The Night in Question - an absorbing and uplifting novel with a uniquely loveable protagonist at its heart.
'[Fletcher's] prose is extraordinarily lyrical . . . and her themes are profound.' Sunday Times
'A gifted storyteller' Independent
'Fletcher unpeels with delicacy and insight the complex layers of the human heart.' Guardian
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
It’s tempting to label this book a murder-mystery, but to do that would be to do the character of Florrie Butterfield a disservice. At 87 years of age and having recently moved into an assisted care facility, Florrie is as curious as ever and won’t rest until she finds out what caused the sudden death of a fellow resident in the opening pages of the book. But The Night in Question is so much more than another addition to the cosy crime genre. It’s a life-affirming read led by a truly wonderful protagonist who has led a packed life but still has so much more to experience. Heartwarming and heart-shattering all at once, you’ll be absorbed from the get-go as Florrie works to unravel the mystery, but also completely enchanted by Florrie herself as she learns that for some, life only begins in your mid-eighties.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fletcher (House of Glass) expertly intertwines two mysteries in this eloquent and astute tale set in a British assisted living facility. The first mystery concerns Renata Green, manager of Babbington Hall, a retirement residence in the Oxfordshire countryside. Renata's fall from her office window is witnessed by 87-year-old Florrie Butterfield, who roams the facility's grounds in her wheelchair and is "as deaf as a saucepan without her hearing aids." Residents suspect Renata jumped in a suicide attempt that has left her comatose, but Florrie, who chatted with Renata earlier in the day and found her to be uncharacteristically cheery and outgoing, believes she was murdered. Following that hunch, the octogenarian sets about investigating with the help of fellow resident and former schoolteacher Stanhope Jones. As they gather clues, Fletcher lights the fuse on the second mystery: who is Florrie, anyway? What's behind the terrible secret she has trouble even thinking about in private? And what might she learn about forgiveness from her sleuthing with Stanhope? Fletcher points those questions in poignant directions, providing her unforgettable protagonist with resonant lessons about mending the past, all while maintaining satisfying tension in the central whodunit. This gloriously uplifting mystery will stay with readers long after they've turned the final page.
