I was completely engrossed by this gripping and immersive story from beginning to end.
The fascinating characters leaped off the pages, pulling me into their mysterious and sinister world.
Being a lover of historical fiction, I was drawn in by the summary and the intriguing twist of a murder investigation, which left me excited to delve into the narrative.
In summary, it was a captivating read.

I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this advance reader copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

“The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.”

The Mask of Merryvalle Manor follows Benji (or Benjamin or Ben) as his life shifts and he settles into his new normal. After his mother passes, he is adopted by his aunt Eva and moves in with her family at the Merryvale Manor. Benji goes from a working-class lifestyle with his mother to a wealthy, privileged of the highest degree life with his aunt. The book kicks off about five years later when a woman’s body is found at the lake on the estate.

The book gives very much murder mystery, whodunit vibes with some interesting southwestern English folklore. While the mystery of who the woman is, how she was murdered, and her connection to the family (if there is one) is being explored, Benji is torn between staying true to his morality and doing what’s best for the family. The book also does a good job of exploring the lengths we are willing to go to not be alone and how we sometimes knowingly ignore obvious red flags for family and closeness.

I loved the folklore element of the Dorset Ooser mask and thought it was an amazing addition to the story and how things unfold in the book. If you read this book in an old English accent, I promise it will make your reading experience that much better LOL. The dialogue between the family members at times was a chef’s kiss! Tom was hands down my favorite character. Pure unfiltered, chaos LOL. The family as a whole was just pure, unfiltered, chaos which was amusing. The ending was surprising (in a good way) BUT it made complete sense after thinking back on some hints throughout the book.

The book was super fun to read, engaging, and reflective. If you want to get cozy and vibe with a fun (and funny at times) engaging murder mystery, whodunit, type book, then definitely give this book a shot!

Thank you so much to Fairlight Books, Pete Sherlock, and Netgalley for the ARC!!!