The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomerty Narrator: Derek Jacobi, Joe Jameson
Series: Stockingham & Pike #1
Published by Harper Audio on January 6, 2026
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Historical Mystery
Length: 9 hrs 59 mins
Pages: 336
Format: Audiobook
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Secrets, murder, and mayhem collide as this unlikely sleuthing duo—an under-butler and a foul-mouthed octogenarian—hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world.
Cornwall, 1910. On a remote tidal island, the Viscount of Tithe Hall is absorbed in feverish preparations for the apocalypse that he believes will accompany the passing of Halley's Comet. The Hall must be sealed from top to bottom—every window, chimney, and keyhole closed off before night falls. But what the pompous, dishonest Viscount has failed to take into account is the danger that lies within... By morning, he will be dead in his sealed study, murdered by his own ancestral crossbow.
All eyes turn to Steven Pike, Tithe Hall's newest under-butler. Fresh out of Borstal for a crime he didn't commit, he is the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. His unlikely ally? Miss Decima Stockingham, the foul-mouthed, sharp as a tack, eighty-year-old family matriarch. Fearless and unconventional, she relishes chaos and puzzles alike, and a murder is just the thrill she's been waiting for.
Together, this mismatched duo must navigate secret passages, buried grudges, and rising terror to unmask the killer before it's too late...
The Murder at World’s End is a fun locked-room mystery. The characters are quirky and the setting is unique. It’s 1910, Halley’s Comet is about to pass overhead, and we’re at Tithe Hall on an island off the Cornish coast, Word’s End. Lord Stockingham-Welt believes the comet will bring dangerous gasses with it and has decided to seal his staff and his family members into the mansion over night, complete with air tanks and gas masks. Stephen Pike arrives, ex-convict turned manservant, arrives in the midst of the chaos and is hired, despite his original offer of employment not being legitimate. While the comet obviously doesn’t cause environmental disasters, Lord Stockingham-Welt is killed that night, in his locked study.
The family members are rather unlikable and the staff are acting suspicious. Our sleuths are Stephen, who has been targeted as the main suspect, and the elderly Lady Decima, a difficult,, frustrated scientist who is also Stephen’s only alibi. Lady Decima sees solving the mystery as a wonderful opportunity to practice the science of deduction and is more than happy to cause a bit of chaos in the family. We do have an official investigator, but he’s a bit of an idiot and (spoiler) ends up dead soon enough.
I listened to the audio and thoroughly enjoyed the two readers. I loved how the newscasts stood out and how the narrator framed what was happening. The book moved at a good pace and parts were downright funny. I did guess who the killer was, but not the how, which for a locked room mystery is the most important part anyway.
About Ross Montgomerty
Ross Montgomery is the author of award-winning books for children. His novels have been twice shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book of the Year and twice selected for the Waterstones’ Children’s Book of the Month, as well as chosen for the Sunday Times ‘Top 100 Modern Children’s Classics’. His latest, I Am Rebel, was an immediate bestseller, chosen by Waterstones as their Children’s Book of the Year 2024. He lives in London with his wife, a baby, and a cat named Fun Bobby. The Murder at World’s End is his first adult novel.
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