Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick
Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick is the first of the Frank Grasby Mysteries books of which the third, The Mistletoe Wedding Murders, releases in November of this year. Frank Grasby is Denzil Meyrick's third series, he also has a series about DCI Daley that has more than a dozen books in it, as well as the Tale from Kinloch series. Murder at Holly House was released in 2023 and was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month pick and a New York Times Bestseller. It deals with death, gun violence, alleged murder, attempted murder, and successful murder, and an explosion.
Inspector Frank Grasby can't show his face anywhere anymore without being reminded of how he lost a herd of horses belonging to a member of the aristocracy who has complained about it nonstop ever since. How those horses still haven't been found is the real mystery here. To keep him out of trouble, Frank's boss sends him to Elderby just before Christmas. They've had a a spree of breakings and entering cases that he's to investigate, many of which have been reported by Lord Damnish. Great, he hasn't had the best of luck with the aristocracy lately. What Frank believes will be a nice little break from his usual investigations (what could be difficult about an investigation in such a small village?) turns into a murder investigation when Frank finds a dead body in a chimney on his first day! As the bodies pile up and the level of danger continues to rise, Frank has to call in the help of a narcoleptic sergeant, a very pretty American intern, and his clairvoyant landlady who has a pet raven and an unexplained picture of Frank's father on the wall.
I was rather surprised by this book, it is pretty funny at times. Frank Grasby is a terrible narrator whose opinion swings back and forth like a pendulum, who postures like he's much more impressive than he is, who vacillates between self-deprecation and an over indulgent idea of his self worth, and who happens to be not terrible at his job. Some of his internal comments are very funny, especially at the beginning, but as the book goes on it becomes more irritating since even at the height of action, Grasby is unable to take anything seriously. His near constant worry about his appearance and needing to put others in their place grew grating. In the meantime, the plot went from intriguing to outlandish. I did rather enjoy the quirks of many of the village residents, but for the most part the characters were very monotone and flat. It seemed like there was too much time spent on Grasby's internal quips - time that should have been spent doing almost anything else.
I'm giving Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick 3.25 stars out of 5. It wasn't terrible, but I really think the plot was neglected to spend more time on Grasby's internal struggle with inadequacy. It had it's moments, but it grew old for me with time.
Pairs well with lentil soup and going up a hill in reverse if it's going to get you there faster.
My favorite quotes:
"..but being wise after the event is one of my little foibles."
"My father always says that God has a plan for everyone apart from me."
Comments