“In a quiet little village, mourners gather for a church funeral. But some of the tears flowing are fake – and Beth Haldane suspects foul play…”
- Book: The Murder Affair (Beth Haldane #9)
- Location: Dulwich
- Author: Alice Castle
My Goodness! Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday that I was reading and thoroughly enjoying the first book in this series and now here I am with book #9 in front of me, having sampled none of the intervening episodes, yet pleasantly surprised that this works brilliantly as a stand alone story. There are several references to Beth’s previous investigations, however they are peppered into the narrative and dialogue succinctly, so as to in no way overwhelm this storyline for any serious series readers, nor leave you feeling short changed if you were meeting Beth Haldane for the first time…
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We now find Beth working as an archivist for the Wyatt Museum, where she is also writing a book about the very dubious past of the family’s ancestry, playing as they did, an important role in the slave trade, from where their massive fortune was derived. That the the local population of Dulwich Village has benefitted from the family’s ill-gotten gains is in no doubt, however, the present custodians of the estate have decided to catalogue and share the history, in the hope that by discussing the past, they can help to change the future. Beth is a long-term widow, and successful amateur sleuth, living in one of the more modest houses in this upmarket area with her teenaged son Jake. Whilst solving her first case, Beth made the acquaintance of Detective Harry York. It seems that whilst I have been absent, their relationship has moved on over the intervening period and Harry is now happily living with Beth and Jake, although rather annoyingly for Beth, Harry never shares any details surrounding his current cases, especially if he gets wind that Beth might be carrying out her own investigations, although it sounds as though he has had to pick up the pieces of Beth’s bruised and battered body on more than one occasion.
Beth’s mother Wendy, also a widow for many years now, lives a stones-throw away from Beth, although the two lead very separate lives. If truth be known, they rarely see eye-to-eye about anything and Beth spends all her time living in the shadow of her older brother Josh, who can do no wrong, even though his job as an overseas war correspondent, travelling to some of the most troubled hotspots of the World, means he seldom visits home, although when he does, Jake hangs on his every word in total adoration.
Thus the scene is set for Wendy to receive a massive shock, when a local council official, to whom she believes herself engaged, dies suddenly. When his funeral descends into chaos, it is apparent that a philandering Len Broughton had led a far from innocent life, with his duplicity towards Wendy being the mere tip of the iceberg. Harry is treating Len’s death as ‘natural causes’, although a distraught Wendy is convinced it is murder, especially when she herself comes under suspicion from some of her fellow bridge club members, a slur on her good standing in the community she cannot countenance. She pleads with Beth to discover the truth surrounding her paramour’s demise, to help her clear her name. Beth, who had no idea that her mother even had a ‘gentleman friend’, enlists the help of her best friend, Kate, who, in this area where appearances are everything, is as down to earth as Beth herself. It soon becomes apparent that the duplicitous and swindling Len, is not only married, but alongside his other addictions, likes to indulge in a little consenting polyamory, with just about any female with breath in her body, making him a sitting target for so many people. When the body of someone closely associated with Len is found, natural causes surrounding both deaths are ruled out and a full-scale murder enquiry is launched, presided over by Harry himself, with ‘assistance’ from the amateur duo, who may, or may not, prove to be more of a hindrance than a help!
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This is just how I like my reading: short chapters which means there are plenty of breakout points for when real life gets in the way of my me time, whilst also keeping this multi-layered and highly textured storyline, well-structured and signposted, fluently written, evenly paced and seamlessly evolving, with literally never a dull moment.
Beth Haldane is a refreshingly new style of amateur sleuth, that of the younger middle-aged, single parent, living in slightly straitened circumstances following the death of her husband, in smart Dulwich Village, in the London Borough of Southwark. That she doesn’t quite fit into the thriving ‘in scene’ of the wealthy, entitled, yummy mummy brigade, has long since failed to worry Beth, despite the fact that she is reminded of her difference in social standing at every opportunity, especially by her fellow ‘playground mother’ nemesis, Belinda McKenzie and her cronies.
The very nature of Len’s errant lifestyle, means that just about the entire village of Dulwich, are suspects in his untimely demise, making the list I had begun compiling, rather redundant. Whilst I had my suspicions early on about the most obvious suspect, which in fact turned out to be correct, watching Beth and Kate unearth some aspects of Len’s life which amazed even them, as did the eventual cause of his demise, was a real eye-opener and not without several moments which made me either gasp out loud, or smile quietly to myself.
A large, sprawling cast of guest characters occupy this storyline, none of which, with the exception of Beth’s best and true friend Katie Wood, are particularly likeable. Selfish, demanding, manipulative and duplicitous, are all words which come readily to mind, to describe this eclectic mix of the upper middle classes, who all seem to be jostling for some unspoken recognition or position, regardless of whose shoulders they need to stand on to attain the heady heights they want to achieve for themselves, their families and their offspring. Whereas Beth and Kate complement each other nicely, with one of them being as organised and methodical, as the other likes to fly by the seat of her pants. Even Beth’s mother Wendy tends to keep her distance, living as she does, in the slightly smarter end of town. However, she is quick enough to ask for Beth’s help when the chip are down and her reputation is at stake. I had hoped that there might have been a slight thawing in their relationship when Len’s murderer had been unmasked, but I’m not so sure that is going to happen any time soon. Beth has really had to fight for herself and her son Josh, although the burden and loneliness have been eased somewhat with the arrival of Harry, who seems have an easy-going relationship with both both Beth and Jake, although I am still trying to decide if he is taking the situation a little too much for granted as a convenient option for an easy life. The jury is out, so I’ll just have to wait for the series to progress.
The physical footprint of the story is confined to a single, quite niche location, so for anyone looking for travel to far flung places, there may be slight disappointment. However, some astute and often rather humorous, observational narrative and dialogue, genuinely offers a great sense and feeling of sights and sounds, time and place. So, if a short sojourn to Dulwich Village, as witnessed from both sides of the class divide, is what you crave, then you definitely won’t feel cheated by this book.
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