Anon, Sir, Anon
by Rachel Heffington
284 pages // published in 2014 // historical mystery
BOOK DESCRIPTION
The 12:55 out of Darlington brought more than Orville Farnham's niece; murder was passenger. In coming to Whistlecreig, Genevieve Langley expected to find an ailing uncle in need of gentle care. In reality, her charge is a cantankerous Shakespearean actor with a penchant for fencing and an affinity for placing impossible bets. When a body shows up in a field near Whistlecreig Manor and Vivi is the only one to recognize the victim, she is unceremoniously baptized into the art of crime-solving: a field in which first impressions are seldom lasting and personal interest knocks at the front door. Set against the russet backdrop of a Northamptonshire fog, Anon, Sir, Anon cuts a cozy path to a chilling crime.
The 12:55 out of Darlington brought more than Orville Farnham's niece; murder was passenger. In coming to Whistlecreig, Genevieve Langley expected to find an ailing uncle in need of gentle care. In reality, her charge is a cantankerous Shakespearean actor with a penchant for fencing and an affinity for placing impossible bets. When a body shows up in a field near Whistlecreig Manor and Vivi is the only one to recognize the victim, she is unceremoniously baptized into the art of crime-solving: a field in which first impressions are seldom lasting and personal interest knocks at the front door. Set against the russet backdrop of a Northamptonshire fog, Anon, Sir, Anon cuts a cozy path to a chilling crime.
I immensely enjoyed this book! It's on par with any YA/adult historical mystery best-selling book out there -- for anyone who enjoys a good old-fashioned British murder (with a splash of comedy). Definitely for fans of the Flavia de Luce series.
Author Rachel Heffington is obviously a lover of words, a grammar aficionado, and a learned student/fan of Shakespeare himself. Her writing style is brilliant, pithy, and keeps a lovely British banter going for ages. The wittiness of it all is divine.
Farnham himself pops off Shakespearean proverbs as if they provide Biblical wisdom in any and all instances. I can't help from seeing the Holmes and Watson type of similarities too, found in Farnham and his doctor friend, Breen.
It's such a cozy type story. I feel like I've truly met and talked with these characters, and feel like I've visited Whistlecrieg a few times in person -- and would be excited to go back.
I naively assumed there would be a sequel -- the characters lend themselves easily to the making of more stories about them. However, upon my online research, I found no such sequel. (Yet.) I will hold out hope that Miss Heffington will supply us with a sequel at a later date. Also, I'll be waiting on a future movie to appear -- because this would make for an entertaining movie, for sure.
Contains some grammatical errors, but I looooove the story so much, I can overlook that flaw.
Content: Fairly clean, with subtle hints at mature topics, hints of impropriety. Mild swearing/euphemisms.
Minimum age to read: 15 and up.
Book #11 completed
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