Unnatural Ends

by Christopher Huang

"Delightfully twisty and chilling all at once — murder mysteries are rarely this fun." —Jonathan Whitelaw, The Sun 
 
Sir Lawrence Linwood is dead. More accurately, he was murdered—savagely beaten to death in his own study with a mediaeval mace. The murder calls home his three adopted children: Alan, an archeologist; Roger, an engineer; and Caroline, a journalist. But his heirs soon find that his last testament contains a strange proviso—that his estate shall go to the heir who solves his murder. 
 
To secure their future, each Linwood heir must now dig into the past. As their suspicion mounts—of each other and of peculiar strangers in the churchless town of Linwood Hollow—they come to suspect that the perpetrator lurks in the mysterious origins of their own birth. 

• ISBN10: 1950301060
• ISBN13: 9781950301065
• Publish Date: 20 July 2023
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Inkshares
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 402
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Unnatural Ends is a well written historical locked room murder mystery by Christopher Huang. Due out 20th June 2023 from Inkshares, it's 402 pages and will be available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats. 

This is a terrifically creepy and atmospheric locked room murder mystery set in the early interwar period in Yorkshire. Three siblings are drawn home from far away to attend their father's funeral after his bludgeoning murder. The family estate is isolated and the attendant village obsequious but the whole setup is odd and off-kilter. 

To add to the bizarre situation, the deceased man has left a will saying "In
the event that my death should be due to unnatural causes, I charge my children with the task of identifying my killer.". Thus follows alternating chapters of narrative from the PoV of the principal players.

The pacing in the first half of the book is glacial, and is noteworthy for the deliciously lyrical (but unrelentingly creepy) writing. The tension ratchets up and it takes a while before readers have more than the vaguest glimpse of anything happening under the surface. The book does move along much more quickly in the second half and there's quite a lot of psychological horror involved in the denouement and resolution.

Quite a significant portion of the mystery is way out there. Readers should bring a healthy suspension of disbelief. That being said, however, the prose is luminous and quite often sublime. 

Four stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.