What do you think?
Rate this book
Old School Ties
The next in Daisy Waugh's hilarious Tode Hall a gloriously witty tale of toffs, terror and old school ties . . .
The Todes are heading to Italy - and taking murder and mayhem with them.
Close to Rome, set among ancient ruins and freshwater springs, languishes the magnificent Villa Rospo, a jewel in the Tode family portfolio, and one they had virtually forgotten - until Sir Ecgbert and Alice decide it's the perfect place for their honeymoon. Now suddenly everyone wants a piece.
Sir Ecgbert's brother Esmé sees it as an opportunity to restore his lost fortunes by turning it into a luxury eco wellness hub. His business partner Charlie Tysedale only wants it to escape from his dreaded bestselling-author wife. India Tode sees in it the ideal holiday home, while Sir Ecgbert envisages a yoga retreat. Professional freeloader and everyone's old school chum, Piers Slayer-Wilson-Tite, has his eye on making it his personal love-nest. Meanwhile, some of the locals have excellent reasons for keeping it just the way it is.
When the body of Piers's wife, Elizabetta, is discovered floating among grapefruits in the spring at the bottom of Villa Rospo's famous gardens, there's only one thing everyone agrees on . . . that there's absolutely no need to call the police.
The Todes are heading to Italy - and taking murder and mayhem with them.
Close to Rome, set among ancient ruins and freshwater springs, languishes the magnificent Villa Rospo, a jewel in the Tode family portfolio, and one they had virtually forgotten - until Sir Ecgbert and Alice decide it's the perfect place for their honeymoon. Now suddenly everyone wants a piece.
Sir Ecgbert's brother Esmé sees it as an opportunity to restore his lost fortunes by turning it into a luxury eco wellness hub. His business partner Charlie Tysedale only wants it to escape from his dreaded bestselling-author wife. India Tode sees in it the ideal holiday home, while Sir Ecgbert envisages a yoga retreat. Professional freeloader and everyone's old school chum, Piers Slayer-Wilson-Tite, has his eye on making it his personal love-nest. Meanwhile, some of the locals have excellent reasons for keeping it just the way it is.
When the body of Piers's wife, Elizabetta, is discovered floating among grapefruits in the spring at the bottom of Villa Rospo's famous gardens, there's only one thing everyone agrees on . . . that there's absolutely no need to call the police.
286 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 7, 2023
3 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 14, 2023
A funny, murder mystery, that was most enjoyable to escape to after a day at work.
The book had a split timeline, with different locations to help build up the story. It was a little bit odd, with ghosts that only some of the characters could see and the plot was a little bonkers in places, but I enjoyed it because of this as it was very different to other books I have read recently.
There were a lot of different characters, which was confusing to start with and none of whom I particularly liked, but that didn’t take away from the plot and added some intrigue as the story developed with trying to work out who might’ve been the culprit or was it an accident?
Would recommend if you want something not too serious to escape to. Easy to read and liked the writing style.
I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy from NetGalley and Little Brown Book. But these are all my own views.
The book had a split timeline, with different locations to help build up the story. It was a little bit odd, with ghosts that only some of the characters could see and the plot was a little bonkers in places, but I enjoyed it because of this as it was very different to other books I have read recently.
There were a lot of different characters, which was confusing to start with and none of whom I particularly liked, but that didn’t take away from the plot and added some intrigue as the story developed with trying to work out who might’ve been the culprit or was it an accident?
Would recommend if you want something not too serious to escape to. Easy to read and liked the writing style.
I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy from NetGalley and Little Brown Book. But these are all my own views.
September 12, 2023
I was sent a 3rd proof copy of Old School Ties by Daisy Waugh to read and review by NetGalley. It took me a while to get into this novel, I hadn’t read any other books in the series and wasn’t used to the style of writing. There were also a lot of names, some very similar and more than one name for some characters. Anyway, I carried on reading and in the end enjoyed the story. I’m not sure how beneficial it was to have the timeline split in the middle rather than have it chronological but that is obviously the author’s style. I can’t say that I thought this book was ‘hilarious’ or ‘gloriously witty’ but I did find it amusing, with my favourite characters being the ghosts! Almost a 4 star read for me, just not quite.
August 2, 2023
Old School Ties is an eccentric, fun and exciting story full of mad plans and interesting characters. I loved that this was just a fun book and you never really know where peoples loyalties lie but that makes it even better as the plot just gets crazier and crazier. So if you want to read a really fun book with an interesting plot, this is the book for you.
September 6, 2023
A fun mystery full of humour with eccentric and unusual character's. The whole thing is a laugh out loud story that is a little bit crazy but highly entertaining and my first introduction to these character's can't wait for more. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
August 5, 2023
Clued meets made in Chelsea utterly barmy and delightful, prepare to be enthralled and entertained from the onset and throughout. A little bit crazy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews