Clara’s Verdict
If you have spent the past few years lamenting that Golden Age detective fiction is a dying art, Faith Martin’s Murder by Candlelight is here to offer a very satisfying rebuttal. Set in the Cotswolds in 1924, this debut entry in The Val & Arbie Mysteries series is the kind of locked-room puzzle that Christie’s ghost would heartily approve of. Narrator John Hopkins brings the whole enterprise to life with the wry intelligence the material demands, and at 8 hours and 38 minutes it sits comfortably in one long weekend of rainy-day listening.
Martin is a multi-million bestselling author who knows her genre with enviable precision. She has taken the classic elements – country house, locked room, amateur detectives, improbable suspects – and deployed them with genuine care. The result is not pastiche but homage: a novel that understands the form thoroughly enough to play with it confidently. I did not guess the killer, which is, in my view, the minimum requirement for a mystery novel of this type. It carries a rating of 4.3 out of 5 from 5 listeners, a small but consistently enthusiastic audience.
About the audiobook
The village of Maybury-in-the-Marsh is disturbed by a most inconvenient death. Amy Phelps, lady of the house at the Old Forge, has been found dead in her locked room – every window bolted, every door secured from within. The problem, beyond the obvious one, is that nobody can explain how it was done or by whom.
Enter Arbuthnot “Arbie” Swift, celebrated author of The Gentleman’s Guide to Ghost-Hunting, who was already in residence investigating a suspected spectre. Murder, it turns out, is rather more urgent than the paranormal. Arbie is cheerfully unqualified for detection but magnificently enthusiastic about it, and his partnership with the sharper-tongued Val produces the kind of comedy-mystery dynamic that recalls Wodehouse at his most plot-conscious.
Together they uncover a tangled web of altered wills, secret love affairs, and tragic losses – all framed within the thoroughly English conventions of the inter-war country house. Martin has constructed her puzzle with genuine care. The red herrings are plentiful but fair; the solution, when it comes, satisfies both the intellect and the sense of justice. There is a reference to Hercule Poirot – “that Belgian chap with spats” – that raises a mild historical quibble from one reviewer, and it is fair to say that the Agatha Christie allusions feel slightly premature for 1924. But this is a small complaint in the context of a thoroughly enjoyable novel.
One reviewer captures the book’s particular pleasure: “What a delight this 1920s mystery was: a clever locked room whodunnit, written with tongue set firmly in cheek.” That is about right. The tongue remains in the cheek throughout, and the plot still functions as a genuine puzzle. That is a difficult balance to strike, and Martin strikes it consistently.
The narration
John Hopkins delivers a performance that matches the material’s tone with accuracy – dry wit kept carefully in check, period atmosphere maintained without tipping into pastiche. The Arbie/Val dynamic requires a narrator who can voice both the bumbling and the sharp without blurring them, and Hopkins manages it admirably. The pacing is well judged; this is a story that benefits from measured delivery, and Hopkins provides it throughout the 8 hours and 38 minutes without ever feeling rushed or flat.
What readers say
Adrian describes it as “a wonderful read” that evokes “a crossover between Miss Marple, Bertie Wooster, and Nick & Nora Charles,” adding that he failed entirely to identify the killer though he got the method. V. O’Regan, a four-star reviewer, calls it “a clever locked room whodunnit, written with tongue set firmly in cheek,” and quotes a particularly charming exchange between Arbie and Val about grey cells and Belgian detectives. Jill Tyler gives five stars and keeps it admirably brief: “Another excellent story by Faith Martin.” Bas notes it makes excellent bedtime listening. The three-star review from Mrs Parish raises the historical anachronism point about Christie references, which is a fair observation, though the overall tone of even the most critical review is one of moderate enjoyment rather than disappointment.
Who should listen?
Essential for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, The Marlow Murder Club, or any classic British whodunnit with a comic streak. If you enjoy the blend of detective plotting and gentle humour found in M.C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth series or Richard Osman’s work, this series has your name on it. The inter-war setting will also appeal to those who enjoy their crime fiction with the flavour of Cotswold villages, altered wills, and secrets that have been politely unmentioned for decades.
This is book one of The Val & Arbie Mysteries, and the ending leaves you in no doubt that there is more to come. Consider yourself warned: you will want book two immediately, and you will be insufferable company until you have listened to it.
Listen to Murder by Candlelight on Audible UK and see whether you can crack the locked-room puzzle before Arbie does.
