Julianna Deering: Death At Thornburn Hall

By Kelly Bridgewater

The Fartherings' Scottish Holiday Takes a Dark Turn

Drew Farthering arrives in idyllic Scotland for the 1935 British Open at Muirfield hoping for a relaxing holiday, but he soon finds a mystery on his hands. Lord Rainsby, his host at Thorburn Hall, fears his business partner may be embezzling and asks Drew to quietly investigate. Before Drew can uncover anything, Rainsby is killed in a suspicious riding accident.

Thorburn Hall is filled with guests, and as Drew continues to dig, he realizes that each might have had a motive to put Rainsby out of the way. Together with Madeline and Nick, he must sort through shady business dealings, international intrigue, and family tensions to find a killer who always seems to be one step ahead.

relzreviewz.com

My Thoughts:

I love history. I love suspense. Putting them together seems to be a great novel for me. With historical mysteries, many of them leave something to be desired in my opinion. But Julianna Deering and Rachel McMillan are my favorite two authors who write historical mysteries in the early twentieth century. I love how both authors create characters who are loveable and stick with you long after the novel is done. The mystery is just right. The settings are wonderful. As for Deering's final installment in her Drew Farthering series, I really enjoyed Death at Thornburn Hall as well as all the other books.

The plot is what grips me in a historical mystery. I need to be drawn into the story pretty quickly and allowed to sit and hang out for a while. Deering does a fabulous job at inviting me into Drew and Madeline's life before the mystery even occurs. Usually they are just going along, like in Death at Thornburn Hall, on a horse ride, and they stumble across a dead body, which in turns throws Drew into solving the mystery mode. The mystery was written really well. Even though I had a really good suspicion who was the bad guy was, Deering proved me right.

Since the story centers around the 1930's, Deering included some historical elements of Hitler, which we know now, is the precursor to World War II. I enjoyed seeing that hinted at in the plot, especially since I'm a huge World War II fantic.

The romance really centered around NIck and Carrie, who have been flirting around the idea of a relationship since the series started with Rules of Murder. Madeline and Drew play more matchmaker than anything, but it was nice seeing a married couple interact after we watched their dating era.

Overall, Death at Thornburn Hall by Julianna Deering is a nice way to end the series. Hanging out with Drew and Madeline for so long reminds me of some distant cousin who you see once a year at the holidays, but when you play catch up, it is like no time has parted you at all. I love the mystery in this addition, it was more sneaky and kept me glued to the page. I really wish there were more, but for now, this is the last book that I know of. I highly recommend if you like Deering's writing, than pick up Rachel McMillan's Herringford and Watts Mysteries series.

I received a complimentary copy of Death at Thornburn Hall by Julianna Deering from Bethany House Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars