Clara’s Verdict
The fifteenth outing for Major Heathcliff Lennox – a name his romantically inclined mother gave him much to his enduring irritation, as fans of the series know well – is further evidence that Karen Baugh Menuhin has settled into a formula her readers adore and she has not tired of. Golden Age pastiche at its most comfortable: a grand house, a body, too many suspects with too many secrets, and a protagonist who combines military competence with a kind of weary good humour that makes him excellent company over eight hours of audio. If you’ve not encountered Lennox before, this is a perfectly adequate entry point; the series rewards reading in order but reads independently without confusion. If you’re already a devotee, book fifteen will confirm your faith.
About the Audiobook
The year is 1924. Viscount Montcrief, a reclusive man of considerable wealth and peculiar habits, has developed an unexpected passion for dramas broadcast over the wireless, and has invited a troupe of eight actors – seven players and their director – to perform a private production within his grand drawing room. The staff, who have spent years managing the Viscount’s eccentricities behind the iron gates of Montcrief House, raise their eyebrows but comply. The following morning, the Viscount is found brutally murdered. With a house full of servants, a retinue of gardeners, and eight guests with dramatic inclinations and professionally developed skills in portraying emotions they may or may not feel, there is no shortage of suspects.
Menuhin constructs her puzzle carefully, distributing motive and opportunity without telegraphing the solution too early, and the theatrical setting – actors trained in pretence, performance as both art and alibi – is used with some wit. The atmosphere is that peculiar inter-war quality she does particularly well: opulence and anxiety in equal measure, the social order still largely intact but audibly straining under the weight of everything the Great War unsettled. It’s a solidly enjoyable mystery, perhaps not the most formally audacious entry in the series but thoroughly satisfying in the ways that matter.
The Narration
Sam Dewhurst-Phillips has become the established voice of the Lennox series, and his performance here is as reliable as ever. His Lennox is dry, slightly put-upon, and amiable – exactly as written. He manages the ensemble cast – servants, gardeners, theatrical types, and Lennox himself – without confusion and gives the actors appropriately heightened qualities without tipping into parody. The 1920s register is well-maintained throughout. At under eight hours this is a comfortable two- or three-session listen, well-paced for the format.
What Readers Say
Five reviews average 4.6 stars, with the warmth of long-standing readership very evident throughout. “Beautifully crafted characters, and the plot lucid and clever. Such a talented writer,” wrote one fan. Another, who has followed the series from the beginning, noted that “Karen’s writing is improving with every book, even though it’s already superb” – high praise that speaks to a writer growing into her material rather than coasting on a formula. A more measured voice found it “readable and entertaining, ideal for anyone who likes 1920s murder mysteries,” while a fourth praised the “complex but gripping plot” and a “very satisfying denouement.” The fifth reviewer, who enjoys the full cast of Lennox family members, noted that the series’ expanding character world only adds to the pleasure.
Who Should Listen?
Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, M.C. Beaton, or any detective fiction rooted in the English country-house tradition. Equally suited to listeners who enjoy inter-war period atmosphere – jazz, servants, grand estates, the lingering shadow of the Somme – as a backdrop to puzzle-solving. If cosy mysteries with proper plotting, satisfying reveals, and a likeable investigator are your comfort listen, Major Lennox will not disappoint. Find the full Heathcliff Lennox series on Audible UK and settle in for a very agreeable afternoon.
For listeners who enjoy building a series collection: the Heathcliff Lennox books reward reading in order, and the earlier volumes in the series are as available on Audible UK as the most recent. The consistency of Sam Dewhurst-Phillips’s narration across the run gives the whole series a pleasing coherence; returning to earlier books after discovering the character through a later entry is a particular pleasure. Menuhin publishes at a steady rate, and the series shows no sign of exhausting its formula – which, given how reliably enjoyable each entry proves, is entirely welcome.
The setting of Montcrief House itself is worth particular mention: Menuhin has a gift for evoking the physical reality of large country houses in the inter-war period – the draughty corridors, the hierarchy of the servants’ world, the specific quality of luxury that was already beginning to feel precarious by 1924. The house is as much a character as any of its inhabitants, and Dewhurst-Phillips’s rendering of its various spaces is immersive without being overwrought.
