Death and the Old Master

October 15, 2024
DCI Arthur St. Just and his loyal sidekick, Sergeant Fear, face one of their most puzzling cases yet when the master of Cambridge University's prestigious Hardwick College is found dead in his study, stabbed in the back. Sir Flyte Rascallian was a renowned art expert who seemed to live a quiet life and appeared to have no enemies. Could someone have been after one of the valuable art pieces he kept in his study? Then the porter of the lodge where Sir Flyte lived is found dead, shot in the head with a WWII Luger. Were the two deaths related? The case leads to continual dead ends, but with a few more pieces of evidence--a bequest from Sir Flyte's aunt, the retrieval of artwork stolen by the Nazis, a betrayal of trust, a misguided young woman, and a dark secret Sir Flyte has kept for decades--St. Just's prodigious brain churns away to solve the crime. Some dark moments plus a twisty plot, vivid personalities, and some gentle British humor make this an enjoyable read, particularly for dedicated Anglophile mystery lovers.

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November 1, 2024
A violent death rocks the fictitious Hardwick College, surely the last outpost in Cambridge University to be visited by homicide. Going to investigate an untoward shriek, night porter Oliver Staunton finds Sir Flyte Rascallian, the master of the college, stabbed in the back. Given the inveterate envy characteristic of so many academics, it's possible that the motive for his killing was the eagerness that Prof. Patricia Beadle-Batsford, of the Department of Women's Studies, has expressed to succeed him in his August position. It seems more likely, though, that he was really killed because of another old master: Rembrandt, who may just have painted the portrait of a young woman that was among the canvases and papers Sir Flyte was given by Beatrice Rascallian, his uncle's widow, shortly before she died. DCI Arthur St. Just, returning for another investigation, is clearly in no hurry to close the case, and the unruffled pace of his investigation gives the killer time to claim another victim, narrowing the little pool of suspects even further. Was the master killed by Beadle-Batsford; by her teenage daughter, Peyton; by the American graduate student Rufus Penn, whom Peyton insists is her boyfriend; by gallery owner Ambrose Nussknacker, who'd shown a keen interest in having the suspect Rembrandt tested to establish authenticity; or by one of the other Hardwick porters? The question is upstaged by the fact that the mysterious painting has disappeared. Malliet works conscientiously to distribute suspicion among the survivors, but none of them is half as interesting as that portrait. Lots of potential conflicts, but they're as soft-pedaled as the background music at a funeral parlor.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 23, 2024
Malliet’s disappointing sixth whodunit featuring Arthur St. Just (after Death in Print) finds the Cambridgeshire DI investigating a fatal stabbing at Cambridge University. Sir Flyte Rascallian, master of Cambridge’s Hardwick College, inherits several valuable paintings after his aunt’s death. One of the artworks bears Rembrandt’s signature, though Rascallian suspects it’s a copy. Museum curator Ambrose Nussnacker isn’t so sure, and suggests he use AI to ascertain whether the portrait is genuine. The two argue, and soon afterward, the painting disappears. Then Rascallian is murdered in his lodge, which shows no sign of forced entry, suggesting he knew his killer. St. Just is assigned to investigate, and he quickly lines up suspects including an obnoxious American grad student and the porter on duty at the time Rascallian was killed. While the early stages of St. Just’s investigation come across like a serviceable golden age pastiche, the author squanders the setup with a contrived climax that’s likely to elicit more yawns than gasps. Malliet has done better. Agent: Mark Gottlieb, Trident Media Group.