Chord of Evil

March 7, 2016
In Rayne's middling sixth Haunted House mystery (after 2015's Deadlight Hall), Oxford professor Michael Flint and antiques dealer Nell West attend the revival of a festival known as St. Benedict's Revels in the Dorset village of Rede Abbas. All that is left of the old Benedictine monastery in Rede Abbas is the crumbling bell tower gradually being reclaimed by the sea. Local historian Gerald Orchard provides some history and some legends about the Glaum family, who donated the massive bell, and the church's suppression under Cromwell in the 1540s. At the heart of the tale is a mysterious, long-lost piece of music, "Thaisa's Song." Only villager Maeve Eynon knows the power of the song and some of its history from an old book retrieved from the ruins. Flint and West, who become intrigued by a fragment of music and a journal left by a monk in the 19th century, may become modern victims of an ancient wrong, but neither the mystery nor the ghost story generates much tension.

Starred review from February 1, 2016
Antiques dealer Nell West is building an addition to her shop in Oxford, England. She expected a lot of hard work, but she wasn't prepared for a whopping big surprise: a message written on an ancient wall, a connection to a small village on the Dorset coast, and an old bell tower that apparently still chimes, despite its supposedly having been rendered mute several centuries earlier. Along with her partner, Oxford University professor Michael Flint, Nell unravels the mystery. A gothic horror story told in a contemporary style, the sixth in the West and Flint series is a real corker, perfect for fans of horror novels that blend past and present and have an element of mystery to them. The haunted-house theme is one of the most venerable in the genre, and Rayne has given it new life in this series, drawing again and again on the secrets (and the horrors) contained within structures built originally to keep us safe.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2017
In the second Phineas Fox mystery, after Death Notes (2017), Phin's friend is worried about his cousin, who had been eager to attend a party but, uncharacteristically, didn't show up. Phin, a researcher by profession (he works mainly with writers and filmmakers), has only recently solved a devilishly complicated historical mystery, so figuring out why a woman has disappeared doesn't seem all that daunting a task. But a decades-old painting, which may be connected to the woman's disappearance, leads Phin to make a startling discovery that will launch him into a historical mystery that could be even more labyrinthine than his first case. As in Death Notes, and Rayne's Nell West series, the writing is crisp and compelling, and the mystery is cleverly constructed, with planted clues and key information being dispensed in small portions. It's a crime novel that requires close attention, and readers who enjoy sniffing out clues and trying to solve the mystery before the solution is revealed will have a fine time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

October 9, 2017
In British author Rayne’s engrossing second mystery featuring London music researcher Phineas Fox (after Death Notes), Phin agrees to help his neighbor, Toby Tallis, search for Arabella Tallis, Toby’s cousin, after she fails to show up one evening for a party. At Arabella’s flat, Toby is surprised to spot a small portrait belonging to his and Arabella’s godfather, Stefan Cain, a refugee who came to England from Europe after WWII. The musicologist in Phin is instantly drawn to the portrait, which is of Stefan’s long-dead older sister, Christa Klein, holding some sheet music, and the puzzle that it presents. A second, more sinister plot line focuses on a dysfunctional brother and sister duo, Marcus and Margot Mander, who are searching for a lost inheritance and have a connection to Christa. Flashbacks to Nazi Germany shed light on Stefan and Christa’s history. How the various narrative threads converge in the shadow of a menacing castle in the remote German countryside will keep the reader guessing to the end. Agent: Jane Conway-Gordon, Jane Conway-Gordon Ltd. (U.K.).

October 1, 2017
A missing girl leads ghostbuster Phineas Fox to nefarious activity near the start of World War II.Phin is at a neighborhood party when his host, Toby Tallis, confesses concern about his cousin Arabella, who sent an e-mail saying she was looking forward to the party but hasn't shown up. Calls to her go directly to voicemail. The duo visits her flat in Pimlico, where Toby is disturbed to find a 1940s portrait of a woman named Christa Klein, whose beauty haunts Phin but whose nefarious activities ruined the Tallis family. Arabella isn't there, but Phin and Toby find a note from her godfather, Stefan Cain, who's Christa's brother. Siblings Margot and Marcus Mander have grown up "surrounded by [the] hatred" produced by Christa, who they believe murdered their father. Christa's story goes back to Germany in 1939, where she was a child enjoined by her mother, Giselle Klein, to protect Stefan, her younger brother. As the Nazis encroach on them, the family attempts to find a refuge at Gothic Wewelsberg Castle, the reported location of Mander Senior's murder. Rayne's narrative weaves three strands together: the story of the Klein family and Christa's supposed crime; Phin's parallel investigation of the phantom Christa, who has enchanted him; and the eerie tale of siblings Margot and Marcus, whose relationship has degenerated into a sad codependency under the shadow of Christa's alleged crime. All of which is not to forget the missing Arabella.The second installment of the series (Death Notes, 2017, etc.) at first presents a murky, multilayered picture but masterfully draws out the suspense by progressively revealing the underlying truths.

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