Mortmain Hall (Rachel Savernake No. 2) by Martin Edwards

Rachel Savernake is an enigmatic woman. Born and raised on a remote island, her father a renowned but disliked Judge Rachel is unknown to many other than her domestic staff whom she considers her family. That alone was very different for aristocratic 1930 London. We have Leonora Dobell, a hidden past and a person who is intent on finding and exposing mistrials of justice. She has invited three persons and Rachel to her home for a weekend. All three are people who have escaped the gallows on technicalities or barely made it through and Rachel though circumspent is very interested what it will hold for her. On the sidelines there is a Fleet Street reporter who gets almost framed for murder, there are people from the past who do get murderered even though they are warned that they are in danger, and it ends with a string of murders itself. Overshadowing it all is something secret, something concerning security of the nation. Apart from the murders, and the gothic feel of the setting, the Yorkshire countryside is shown very descriptively. For outsiders this is a plus point. Sent by Poisoned Pen Press for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.