A lovely murder mystery. I really enjoyed the characters and setting. I hope we have more of Val and Archie. Family disputes, secrets and murder set in a sleepy village.
I became invested in the outcome. Locked room, poisoning, illicit romance and overdoses all add to the suspense.

What a delicious read! An Agatha Christie-type country house murder mystery, set in the Cotswolds in 1924, with a dash of PG Wodehouse evident in the two lead characters, the amateur sleuths Arbuthnot Lancelot Swift and Valentina Charlotte Coulton-James. All the elements one could wish for in the genre are here - a mysterious death, a locked room, a bunch of potential killers, a perhaps-too-obvious main suspect, a doughty policeman, a shoal of red herrings, etc. The elegant writing, the intricate but credible plot and the cast of eccentric characters are all delightfully crafted and wonderfully rewarding. I really hope this is the start of a series featuring the wholly engaging Arbie and Val.

This is an entertaining cozy crime story. A fun, enjoyable, light read that will leave you smiling.
The novel is set in a Cotswold village in the early 1920’s. A murder leads to family inheritance squabbles and a whodunnit and locked room howdunnit follows.
There is a great blend of characters who are likeable and well developed.
The plot is well conceived, a locked room murder mystery with a ghostly feel, where everyone is a potential suspect. There was an authentic feel to the dialogue which added to the atmosphere of the story.
Overall this was well written, witty and totally immersive. At times totally intriguing.
Loved the relationship between Arbie and Val, the two amateur sleuths that try to uncover the murderer.
The ending felt a little rushed, but I look forward to reading more about Arbie and Val.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley UK for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of Faith Martin's 'Murder by Candlelight' in exchange for an honest review.

Contains spoilers.

It is 1924 and Amy Phelps is being haunted by a ghost. Or is she? Recently published author of The Gentleman's Guide to Ghost Hunting, Arbie Swift, is pressed into investigating against his will alongside the vicar's daughter Val. What they uncover is more sinister than a ghost, but rather a plan to scare Amy Phelps into changing the conditions of her will. And when she is found dead in her room which is locked from the inside and the contents of her will are revealed, Arbie and Val are left with more questions than answers.

This book is a slow burn. I almost gave up on it several times but having reached the halfway mark I decided to power through. The book is burdened with description which slows the pace of the narrative which itself is burdened with phrases like 'old bean' just to remind you that the book is set in England in the 1920s.
I also didn't find the characters of Arbie or Val to be that interesting. Val was mostly irritating and Arbie didn't want to be involved at all which made it hard to care about what was going on.
I also thought the reveal was not thoroughly thought through. The reasoning for the murders was weak and not believable. The family friend murders Amy Phelps. The upon finding out that Amy's niece (his goddaughter), has become the sole inheritor of the family fortune and has altered her will to leave that fortune to her godfather's animal charity. decides to murder her too. Now wouldn't the police ask the solicitor to see the will to determine who inherits? And wouldn't they make the connection between the charity and the godfather? And wouldn't that make him the prime suspect? It seems like a stretch to think that wouldn't be the case. All in all I thought it was a poorly developed murder mystery.

This “locked room” murder mystery is a quick, fun read. All the clues are there, and of course I missed nearly every one of them. The characters are well-drawn, and mostly likeable, and the 1920s Cotswold setting equally well portrayed.

“Murder by Candlelight” is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I hope it will be the first in a series featuring these two very engaging amateur sleuths. Whilst I’m waiting for the next (I hope) in this series I shall catch up on the author’s previous novels.

Oh dear, oh dear!
Ms Martin has, in my eyes, committed the cardinal sin of cosy mysteries - making it waaay too easy to figure out both the murderer and the method. The writing was tolerable enough, with the usual suspects, red herrings, unqualified detectives and potential romance, albeit with rather too much unnecessary filler, but the plot, oh, the plot! I won't give spoilers, but really, even half asleep - and even if it had not been an oft-recycled method - the means of murder and the murderer were so obvious from the very beginning that this made for a very disappointing read.
My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This was brilliant. Funny, cosy, atmospheric and clever. I love the setting - both physical and historical. The MC is amazing and the mystery was well drawn and kept me guessing. Perfect for murder mystery fans.

Balmy, calm 1920s rural England, a locked room whodunnit and two amateur sleuths. Reluctant but successful writer Arbie Swift finds himself investigating a ghost and then an apparently impossible murder with his childhood chum (and local vicar’s daughter) Val. What with ghosts, paintings, good food and some impatience on Val’s part the duo set out to find out who murdered the local lady of the big house and why.

If you enjoy a cosy mystery with a hinted at, future romance between the protagonists, combined with some humour then this book may be for you. If you don’t then it is definitely not.

I’ve always enjoyed an early 20th century cosy mystery, they tend to be full of charm, humour and if there’s a bit of sharpness thrown in every now and then then all the better. This book has the bit of humour, it has the young sleuths and it has a bit of mystery. It’s an easy quick enough read with a reasonable explanation at the end.

Unfortunately, for me, I just wasn’t that interested in either Arbie or Val. Arbie’s uncle, fondly known by all as Uncle is however a character I’d like to have met a bit more of. As I read this book I felt that it was using a checklist of items from a 1920s set English Murder Mystery. To me it felt like there was nothing original thrown in to the mix and without that the story and characters are not sufficient to make this a particularly exciting read. I won’t be reading anymore in this series.

This is the first book that I have read by this author, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in a small village in the Cotswolds during the 1920s, the diverse cast of characters are well written, and seem typical of village life at the time.

Amy is convinced that her house is being haunted when she starts hearing strange noises, and Arbie Swift, a famed author of a book about ghost hunting, has been coerced into helping to solve the mystery. Along with his friend Val (the vicar’s daughter), they begin looking for clues determined to solve the crime.

I enjoyed the interesting relationship developing between the laid back, reluctant Arbie and motivated Val. The book is filled with humour, with great characters weaving their way through the mystery, many laughs along the way.

The old mansion where the action takes place is dark, lit by candles along long twisty corridors giving a haunting atmosphere. This book is a real page turner which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I loved the ending which was totally unexpected.

I would enjoy reading more about Arbie and Val, their sleuthing activities, and to see how their relationship develops.

This is the second Faith Martin book that I have read and I was looking forward to it after reading one of the Loveday and Ryder series. However I found this novel hard going. It is based in the nineteen twenties and to me the characterisations just didn’t ring true, having said that the plot was well thought out and had enough twists to keep me interested till the end.

A wonderful old fashioned cozy crime novel. Beautifully written - I loved it! The characters are all endearing and there are some lovely touches of laugh out loud humour. Highly recommended

Very much in the Agatha Christie vein, Murder by Candlelight from the prolific Faith Martin is a 1920s romp in the bucolic Cotswolds village of Maybury-in-the-marsh. There are a plethora of characters with double barrelled surnames. When one of the wealthiest residents is found dead in her bedroom, which had been locked from the inside, the case is examined more forensically by a couple of young sleuths than by the inspector charged with solving the case. Just who stands to benefit most from the estate and was this the motive? I found this an easy, non-challenging read which is sometimes all we want though there were many twists and turns in the plot. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the eARC.

Set in the 1920s this is a historical who dunnit. Arbie and Val team up to hunt ghosts and solve murders. I found it a little slow and not very exciting.
I didn't guess the murderer but the reveal was a bit half hearted.
A decent murder mystery but not really for me.

An easy to read cozy murder mystery set in an old mansion. All the ingredients for a great escapist read with eccentric goodies and traditional baddies! The lead characters are likeable and the relationship between them leaves potential for further books if there were to be a series. I really enjoyed the story and found I was looking forward to time to read so I could find out what happened next.

Thank you to both the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was excellent!
A story very much in the vein of Sayers and Christie it’s set in an English country village in the 1920s. The protagonists are a slightly lazy gentleman of independent means and a strong willed vicar’s daughter.
The mystery is fiendishly clever and the final reveal is well plotted (though a bit rushed which was a shame).
Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys golden age mysteries.
*** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher ***

I hadn't read any of this author's books before and really liked the sound of this one, especially for an autumn evening.
I'd hoped for a Wodehouse or EF Benson, but the setting and language didn't quite hit the spot and I almost gave up. However it certainly improved as the story continued and I thought the denouement was a very clever twist
Thank you to netgalley and HQ books for an advance copy of this book
3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This is a fun cozy mystery set in 1920's rural England. The main character has a P.G. Wodehouse feel that I really appreciated as I love that author. It has all the elements of a classic British whodunit, and I found it an enjoyable read. The cast of characters were varied and interesting, and the setting of a traditional British village gave the book that cozy feeling that lovers of this genre will love.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

'Murder by Candlelight' by Faith Martin.
One suspicious death. Two amateur sleuths. And an utterly impossible crime. The perfect village mystery. The Cotswolds, 1924. At the Old Forge in the quiet village of Maybury-in-the-Marsh a cry of anguish rings out: lady of the house Amy Phelps has been discovered dead. But with all the windows and doors to her room locked from inside, how and by whom was she killed? Arbie Swift finds himself in the unlikely position of detective. The celebrated author of The Gentleman's Guide to Ghost-Hunting is staying at the Old Forge to investigate a suspected spectre, but now the more pressing matter of Amy's murder falls to him too. With old friend Val, he soon uncovers a sorry tale of altered wills, secret love affairs and tragic losses and plenty of motives for murder. When events take another sinister turn, Arbie must find the killer, fast. And to do so will mean cracking a most perfectly plotted crime.
Overall I liked this book, the murder and ghost stories were a good plot twist. I love cosy crime especily ones set in little villages but I feel like this was too oldy worldy...if that makes sense. It might of just been the language between the characters and maybe I'm just being a bit picky. I think maybe I was too won over by the cover and the synopsis of the book.
Thanks to NetGallery UK, the publisher and the author for letting me a read a copy in return for an honest review.

I have read a large volume of Faith Martin books and was looking forward to this however I was slightly disappointed l.
I struggled with the historic setting and felt that Martin didn't necessarily feel as comfortable in this genre as she has with other books.
That being said I did enjoy this once I got into it and will read any follow ups.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a light-hearted murder mystery, echoing the style and era of the Jeeves & Wooster stories - so if you like a bit of what ho, old bean! then it will be right up your street. I found it slow to start, and I didn't really like the main characters. But Arbie grew on me, and once there's actually a murder things speed up.
I did question the mentions of Agatha Christie & Poirot - they're used in a way that obviously people now would say, but at the time the book is set, there was only, I think, 1 Poirot story published, and certainly not reams of Christie novels with poisonings.
The locked room murder was interesting, but I wasn't completely convinced, and I didn't really buy into the whodunnit because they were clearly an outlier in the options so it felt like a cheat.
But I did enjoy this overall as a nice, easy read.