What a joy to read. This is such a fun mystery. The plot is tightly controlled and laden with clues that all come together in the end. It is a fast paced read, engaging right from the start. The best part though is the characters. Both Stephen Pike and Great Aunt Decima are excellent, but especially Decima. Their interaction is so amusing. There are multiple laugh-out-loud moments in the book. I can't wait to read more about this couple.
Well written and highly recommended.

Loved this novel SO MUCH. The characters are so vivid and the story just whips along. Hoping this is the start of a long series.

It's 1910 and Halley's Comet is due to pass Earth which is causing all sorts of conspiracy theories to raise their heads; not least at Tithe Hall where the Viscount is preparing to lock every member of the household into their rooms to protect them as the comet passes. At the same time, Stephen Pike arrives at the house. Just out of prison, he has received a letter offering him a job at Tithe Hall; however, when he arrives, the head butler seems to be oblivious. Despite initial hesitations, Stephen is given a job as an under-butler and is immediately put to work helping to seal up every room. When all is done, he is directed to the far reaches of the house to tend to Miss Decima Stockingham the family matriarch who, at 80 years old, still instils fear in every member of staff. However, Stephen quickly realises that Miss Decima isn't as senile as the family may think and the two strike up an unlikely professional relationship. The following morning as the family and staff begin to emerge from their lockdown, they discover that there has been a murder, and the culprit must still be in the house. With all eyes turning to Stephen, the newest member of the house, can Miss Decima help him to discover the truth before it's too late?
Anybody who is a regular reader of my blog will be aware that I am a fan of Ross' MG fiction and so I was thrilled to discover that he's written a book for grown-ups. An early read proved too alluring and, knowing how much I love a murder mystery, I dove straight in.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the style of writing; there's a tension due to the fact that this is essentially a locked room mystery within a locked house and I enjoyed trying to figure out who the culprit might be - my suspect list changed frequently as the plot progressed!

Above all, I adored Miss Decima! She's a brilliantly curmudgeonly character who is a force to be reckoned with; she's not allowing her age or her gender (this is 1910) to interfere with the science she wants to pursue and I love her approach to everything she does. There's a real humour to her and the relationship that builds between her and Stephen is lovely to read. I think she actually relishes the chaos that unfolds around them and she comes to life whilst investigating the crime.

The Murder At World's End publishes in hardback on the 30th October and is a book that will keep you guessing, will make you chuckle and will leave you wanting more from this new unconventional crime-fighting duo.

Synopsis: In the shadow of Halley's Comet passing, the residents of Tithe Hall wake to find not the apocalypse predicted by the eccentric Viscount, but his murder. However, with the whole Hall and internal rooms sealed shut from the Viscount's fear of the Comet's noxious gases, his murder is an impossible locked door mystery. With all fingers pointing at the newest hire - Steven Pike, he'll have team up with the Viscount's batty old Great Aunt Decima and catch the real killer to save his neck from the hangman's noose.

Review: What a fun mystery! Riding out the apocalypse only to find one in your own Hall. I loved sharp and witty Great Aunt Decima, and all the newspaper clippings from the real 1910 Halley's Comet scattered through the book gave it a great atmosphere. The locked door solution was a little lackluster and unbelievable, but it's difficult to come up with something new and shocking when there have been so many solutions written in the past.

With thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with this as an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin General for this ARC. This book is brilliant! The style is different, the characters are fabulous and the plot twists are excellent. I would love this to become a series but also worried sequels would not match up to how great this book is. A definite 5 stars from me, which is as rare as halley's comet!

ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover and title caught my eye, but it was the description that made me request this straight away. A murder mystery set in an isolated manor on an island is exactly my kind of read.

Early on, I was drawn in by the setting. The island is atmospheric, and the manor is described in rich detail. The main character felt well-developed from the start, and the doomsday cult element added something a bit different.

By the halfway mark, the story had really picked up. The characters are eccentric and exaggerated, but it works. There’s humour in it, and it leans into the classic locked-room feel without taking itself too seriously.

By 70%, I had a strong theory about who was behind it. The clues are there if you’re paying attention.

The ending didn’t disappoint. The pacing was strong throughout, the writing sharp, and the characters, while outrageous at times, held my interest. It looks like a sequel may be coming, and I’ll definitely be reading it.

Murder at World's End has a really interesting premise of a young man, Steven, who is recently out of prison, and sent to work in a Viscount's manor on a remote island off Cornwall in 1910. The inhabitants and staff are preparing to shut themselves away from a potential world ending comet heading directly to earth, creating the ideal tense, maniac and panicked situation for a mysterious murder during the night. As the newest arrival and with his shady past, Steven is suspect number 1 for the crime and has to team up with some unlikely allies to try and solve the case before he gets falsely arrested himself.

This book is really humorous and I did chuckle out loud a few times. It's also really easy reading and I can sense the author previously wrote for children. Unfortunately I did guess the ending pretty early on. I did feel it was fairly obvious but never the less I also really enjoyed it, I would be happy to read another in the series.

Thanks to Net Galley for the chance to early review!

A locked room mystery that very heavily reminded me of Agatha Christie books. It kept me entertained. That being said, I'm no prude and have nothing against swearing, but the swearing didn't fit the book in my opinion. I found it a little jarring for a cozy crime book. Other than that, I enjoyed it! Thanks for the arc.

Fun locked room mystery set on an island only accessible by a causeway, over the period of the 1910 Halley’s Comet. With a quirky cast of characters and an unlikely detective duo this is quite a romp. It’s not exactly realistic in many ways but it’s an enjoyable journey.
I understand this is the author’s first book for adults - it’s not particularly adult beyond an amusingly foul mouthed central character. Your mileage may vary in a relatively cosy crime mystery but it worked for me.

Firstly thank you to Viking Books & Penguin Books UK for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5*

This mystery felt quite different from the others I have read. It focused much more on the investigative element of all characters in one rather than pinning a motive to each character/potential suspect. I really loved the whole regency setting of the book and the detective pairing was very interesting. Overall I really enjoyed this book, I was curious and it was tense and I did quite enjoy the difference in mystery style to what I am used to. I would definitely read more books in this series.

I was intrigued to read this as I have previously enjoyed the author's books for children.
This was such a gripping read, I looked forward to reading more each day.
The duo of Stephen and Miss Decima was great and I look forward to move investigative adventures with them in the future.
I had no idea who the murderer was and was hooked throughout. A great read.

I raced through this very fun, very readable murder mystery locked room story. The detecting duo are an unlikely coupling, and were probably my favourite thing about the book, though I did also laugh out loud at the bumbling inspector from Scotland Yard. I liked the way the story layered as it grew, and the way I felt involved in the detecting as I experienced everything alongside of Stephen so I felt like I was also on the verge of figuring everything out alongside side of him (I wasn't!)

I would note that I did find the swearing a bit of a surprise - it had felt like a cosy crime up until that point, you know, one of those excellent early Sunday evening pre-watershed period crime series, so I felt that it jarred a little with what I'd thought I was reading. The language does add to the humour of the character it comes from ultimately, but a little bit of me wondered if it had been included simply to mark the book out as an adult novel, since the author does also write excellent children's stories.

Locked room! Unlikely pair! Posh estate on an island! Olden days! Upstairs/downstairs! This book had all the tropes. Luckily it delivers. The narrative voice is funny and the plot whips along. Great fun!

Set in Cornwall in 1910, this story is a locked room mystery with a difference. With apocalytic expectations of the aftermath of Halley's Comet, a nobleman seals his home only to be found dead - killed by one of his ancestral weapons - soon afterwards.

And unlikely duo of de facto sleuths find themselves taking on the task of identifying a murderer whilst trapped indoors with him...

This is an entertaining historical murder mystery that gets 3.5 stars. Read it!

Believing that Halley's Comet will bring about the end of the world, the Viscount of Tithe Hall gives orders for it to be sealed from top to bottom. When the servants and guests wake the next morning, it is to find the world still standing but the Viscount dead...

I love a locked-room mystery, and The Murder at World's End is one of the best. For starters, it has both a remote setting with a small pool of suspects (which is what the term usually refers to) and a dead body found inside an actual locked room. Tithe Hall is located on a remote tidal island, and is completely sealed up on the night the murder takes place, and the tense atmosphere of the house is added to by butler's mirrors that allow the servants to see the residents coming and conceal themselves in servant staircases. The Viscount's body is then found in his study, which was sealed from the inside. I loved the different possibilities investigated by the characters, as well as the final solution which manages to be both surprising and satisfying. The Murder at World's End also adds a fresh twist to the locked-room trope with its apocalyptic setting, which really adds to the tension and atmosphere in the first part of the book.

The Murder at World's End is mostly narrated by Stephen Pike, Tithe's Hall newest under-butler, who immediately finds himself under suspicion but discovers an unlikely ally in Miss Decima Stockingham, the fearless and forthright matriarch he is ordered to wait upon. Their characters both have a touch of the cliché about them, but I loved the way Ross Montgomery uses them to tackle the class issues that pervade his book's setting. I found The Murder at World's End an absorbing and humorous read, especially in its depiction of the hapless Inspector Jarvis, and I would definitely be happy to read more books in the series.

I devoured this brilliant book in one sitting. Ross's adult debut contains all of my favourite things. A cracking whodunnit, incorrigible characters who make you laugh out loud, a hapless detective and enough twists and turns to keep me guessing to the very end. With echoes of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, it's a perfect blend of murder, mayhem and larks aplenty. This is an absolute triumph of a book, I can't wait to find out what Decima and Stephen get up to next.

Whether they are readers or not, I think most adults enjoy a good old-fashioned detective story. Certainly, there are plenty to choose from on TV but for those of us who prefer our mysteries to be found between the covers of a book there are even more and while it is easy to turn to perennial favourites like Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple, the difficulty can sometimes be knowing which new reads are worth picking up. If that is a problem that you find yourself faced with then let me put you put of your misery and tell you that this new story – the debut adult title from Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year award winner Ross Montgomery – is one that will have you hooked from the off and will leave you in dire need of a Book 2 once you have finished.

Starring one of the unlikeliest – and yet most likeable – detective duos I’ve ever come across, this is a fresh take on the classic locked-room murder that had me puzzling until the big reveal at the end, one that is written with flair and a healthy sprinkling of humour and one that will cement the writer’s reputation as not just one of the country’s best children’s writers but one of our best writers full stop.

It’s 1910 and as Halley’s Comet edges ever closer to Earth, Stephen Pike’s thoughts are not on whether or not it will bring about the destruction of the planet but the possibility of finding gainful employment – something that has driven him to undertake the lengthy journey to Tithe Hall, a grand house on the tidal island of World’s End which is separated from the mainland by a causeway. Admitted to the house, Stephen is shown to the office of Butler Mr Stokes, where he does not receive the warmest of welcomes, but after submitting his letter of recommendation and glossing over the time he has spent in borstal to the best of his ability, is eventually taken on as second footman and told that he has arrived at what will be a challenging time.

Just how challenging is soon revealed when master of the house viscount Lord Stockingham-Welt summons the entire household together to tell them that the imminent arrival of the comet will bring with it the end of the world – a fate that they will all be able to avoid by having sealed themselves into their rooms, and one that a highly sceptical Stephen immediately discredits. Following the meeting, Mr Stokes sets about putting the Viscount’s plans into action and sends Stephen to seal the elderly Miss Decima into the rooms that she inhabits and take care of her overnight.

Arriving at the nursery suite that she inhabits, Stephen soon discovers that the old lady is not as lacking in faculties as he was initially led to believe and after spending the night isolated in one of the rooms there, goes to help Mr Stokes release the other occupants of the house from their temporary prisons. But it soon becomes clear that the Viscount has not survived the night – not a victim of the comet but having been shot with a crossbow, a clear impossibility as he had locked himself into his study. Before long, the finger of suspicion points at Stephen but he finds an unlikely ally in Miss Decima, who decides to solve the murder herself. As they search for the truth, can the two of them work out who the killer is before Stephen finds himself arrested for a murder he didn’t commit?

A totally reformed character, as Stephen narrates our mystery, it’s hard to believe that this gentle, God-fearing man has served time at His Majesty’s pleasure and when he arrives at Tithe Hall, his thoughts are entirely on keeping his nose clean and doing the best job that he can. Alerted to Decima’s fearsome reputation before he has even met her, when he is sent to seal her into her room he discovers that she is not only highly intelligent but swears like a trooper and is determined not to kowtow to the conventions of polite society or her family.

When she determines to use that intelligence to discover how the murder was committed, Stephen initially acts under her direction – partly through a sense of knowing his place and partly as an act of self-preservation – but as the narrative unfolds, it soon becomes clear that despite the disparity of their situations they complement one another perfectly to make a formidable duo. I loved them both and cannot wait to see where their next case takes them.

My enormous thanks go to publisher Viking Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and to NetGalley for my virtual advance read of the book. The Murder at World’s End publishes October 30th.

I am a big fan of Ross Montgomery’s books for children and when he announced his debut adult fiction, I was intrigued. I love mysteries and from the cover reveal and premise, I knew it was a book I needed to read. Luckily, a browse on Netgalley had me downloading and reading quicker than I could have hoped.
Stephen, a young man from London, has his sights set on World’s End, a large estate set detached from the world by a causeway that floods with the tides daily. Carrying a letter from one of the family who own the estate, he is keen to re-build his life and start fresh. The head butler gives him a grilling but eventually agrees to hire him, as the house is in chaos. The current Lord, Conrad, believes that the imminent arrival of Halley’s Comet is going to cause the end of the world. Locking and sealing everyone in the house into separate rooms is his grand plan for survival.
The butler, Stephen and the first footman, Lowen, being ensuring that doors and windows are sealed and that locks are filled with wax. Lord Conrad will be the last to be sealed inside,
Stephen is to stay with Aunt Decima, an elderly relative who has a reputation for cruelty towards the servants. She takes a liking to Stephen and they ignore the “lockdown” and head into the gardens to watch the comet. Decima is a scientist and disagrees wholeheartedly with Conrad’s belief in the world ending, she has rather scathing views of the entire family!
That very night there is a murder! It’s the quintessential locked room murder only it takes place on a stranded island in a house where all the inhabitants are locked away- so who committed the crime?
This was a formidable debut and the first in what I hope to be a brilliant series featuring Decima and Stephen, an unlikely but perfectly matched pair. Decima bowls off the page with her cursing, firm views and opinions. She likes to shake things up like hornets in a jar! She is absolutely fantastic. Stephen has to atone for his own sins and history and begins to do so with the help of Decima,
There are twists and turns to keep readers guessing and guessing again. There is so much more to the story and I was hooked from the beginning. Cleverly woven in are parts of history around this “world ending comet” and some of the beliefs as shared in reports,
It’s a masterful mystery! Bet you can’t guess whodunnit!

"If we don't work out who did it, fast, I think it's safe to say that you're completely fucked."

A hilarious murder mystery with a surprising amount of emotional punch.

Set on a remote tidal island in 1910 at a British manor estate, our two main characters are Steven, an ex-prisoner with a heart of gold, and Miss Decima, an 80-year-old great aunt whose swearing would make a foul-mouthed sailor weak at the knees.

The lord of the estate - a so-called man of science - is found brutally slain in his office (locked from the inside, of course) after trying to convince the entire household that the appearance of Halley's Comet will be the end of life as they know it.

The Scotland Yard man sent in to solve the crime is a bumbling fool, naturally.

"You have nothing to fear! I'll have the killer in chains before the weekend is out. I believe that the slaying at Tithe Hall will be my greatest achievement yet."
"Please stop calling it a slaying."

Since the police are obviously not up to the task - and with the not-quite-metaphorical noose around Steven's neck tightening - what follows is an entertaining madcap investigation, with Miss Decima determined to make it as chaotic and insulting as she possibly can.

The big reveal ending was top-notch, and I hope we get many more books with these two unlikely but clearly unstoppable crime-fighting besties.