Title: Death Comes Darkly (A Detective Heath Barrington Mystery #1)
Author: David S. Pederson
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Release Date: April 1, 2016
Genre(s): Murder/Mystery, Historical
Page Count: 240
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Dark Comes Darkly has the feel of a classic Agatha Christie mystery, in which a group of people spend a weekend in a country estate, someone is murdered and everyone is a suspect. Set in 1947 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Detective Heath Barrington is invited by Dexter S. Darkly to spend a weekend at his isolated estate. Upon arrival, he meets the ex-Mrs. Darkly, Dexter's daughter and son-in-law, Dexter's brother-in-law from his first marriage, the servants Bishop and Nora, and Harwood Acres, the college roommate and lover of Dexter's son, Nigel, who died 10 years ago (to whom Detective Barrington bears an uncanny resemblance.)
Detective Barrington's +1 is his lover, policeman Alan Keyes, who arrives the next day via train, just in time to help him investigate a murder. Turns out almost everyone had a reason to kill Dexter Darkly, but is the obvious suspect the murderer, or is it a set-up? The author does a wonderful job of unveiling the truth bit by bit, and tosses enough red herrings into the mix to keep the reader guessing until the very end.
Barrington and Keyes' relationship is hinted at, but there are no sex scenes in the book (other than a kiss or two). Also, it appears that Keyes and Barrington have recently met at another murder scene, but as far as I can tell, Death Comes Darkly is the first book by Mr. Pedersen. But even if this is the second book in a series, it works very well as a stand-alone book.
I would rate this book a 4.5 stars, and look forward to reading more by David S. Pederson.
I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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