The Parliament House by
A.E. Marston
hbk out January 06
Published by Allison Busby
at £18.99
It is 1670 and the English Civil War is long over, but the reverberations are
still felt as the members of the different factions view each other with varying
degrees of distaste and loathing. The Great Fire is also in the past now, and
London is in a fever of rebuilding and building. Doughty Parliamentarian
Bernard Everett is admiring his brother-in-law's newly built house when a shot
rings out from the inn opposite. Everett falls to the ground fatally wounded,
and this is the start of architect Christopher Redmayne's fifth case of
detection.
It doesn't take him long to determine that the intended victim was in fact Sir
Julius Cheever and that he will need to dig deep into politics past and present
to establish the motive; what he doesn't expect are hired killers and sexual
intrigue but of course he takes all this in his stride. Redmayne is aided as ever
by Constable Jonathan Bale, their initial wariness of each other in the first
book of the series having been transformed into a great mutual liking and
respect, despite their political and religious differences. And how lucky
Redmayne is that the Constable is so willing to take advice and even
instruction from someone with no official or legal standing!
The architect-detective solves the case satisfactorily, but not before Sir Julius
Cheever has been in serious danger; and the whole business is complicated
by Redmayne's close friendship with Sir Julius's daughter Susan, which is put
in jeopardy when the architect has to balance promises to the father of
secrecy and to the daughter of openness. Engaging and sometimes amusing
characters (not least Christopher's philandering brother and Susan's arrogant
and interfering sister), interesting period detail and a plot with a number of
surprises all add up to a pleasing addition to this series.
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The Parliament House by
A.E. Marston
