What do you think?
Rate this book
The Reverend Bernard Paltoquet Mystery Series #7
The Dark Side of the Mirror
THE DARK SIDE OF THE MIRROR
Twins run in families, or so it has been known. The Fentiman family have their fair share of twins, past and present.
Robespierre and Danton Fentiman, identical in appearance, but not in personality, were hanged for two different murders back in 1937. Their ghosts appear to Robespierre’s twin sons, Carl and Basil, nearly twenty years later, asserting that their convictions were wrong and asking them to rectify two miscarriages of justice.
Carl asks his local vicar, Bernard Paltoquet of St Stephen’s church, Wandsworth, for help and he in turn seeks the help of an experienced clairvoyant. His close friend, Dorothy Plunkett, is still away in Exeter looking after her ailing father, so she sends him Anbolin Amery-Judge in her stead.
What follows is the unravelling of two twenty-year-old mysteries, culminating in wrongs being righted, with many a misunderstanding along the way.
Bernard’s friend, Dr Robbie MacTavish, is along for the ride, although he is distracted by a romantic entanglement with a much younger woman, much to the disapproval of the Reverend Paltoquet.
Meanwhile Mrs Harper, Bernard’s faithful housekeeper, keeps her beady eye on both men, ever ready with a caustic comment or a fondant fancy, as occasion demands.
Readers who have read and enjoyed other novels in this series, will easily recognise the characters and their foibles as they take the journey with them through the twists and turns of a plot that moves backwards and forwards from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s.
Titles in the Reverend Paltoquet Mystery Series are:
The Bockhampton Road Murders
Haunted Christmas
The Possession of November Jones
The Witches of Wandsworth
So Long at the Fair
The Man Who Was Death
The Dark Side of the Mirror
Twins run in families, or so it has been known. The Fentiman family have their fair share of twins, past and present.
Robespierre and Danton Fentiman, identical in appearance, but not in personality, were hanged for two different murders back in 1937. Their ghosts appear to Robespierre’s twin sons, Carl and Basil, nearly twenty years later, asserting that their convictions were wrong and asking them to rectify two miscarriages of justice.
Carl asks his local vicar, Bernard Paltoquet of St Stephen’s church, Wandsworth, for help and he in turn seeks the help of an experienced clairvoyant. His close friend, Dorothy Plunkett, is still away in Exeter looking after her ailing father, so she sends him Anbolin Amery-Judge in her stead.
What follows is the unravelling of two twenty-year-old mysteries, culminating in wrongs being righted, with many a misunderstanding along the way.
Bernard’s friend, Dr Robbie MacTavish, is along for the ride, although he is distracted by a romantic entanglement with a much younger woman, much to the disapproval of the Reverend Paltoquet.
Meanwhile Mrs Harper, Bernard’s faithful housekeeper, keeps her beady eye on both men, ever ready with a caustic comment or a fondant fancy, as occasion demands.
Readers who have read and enjoyed other novels in this series, will easily recognise the characters and their foibles as they take the journey with them through the twists and turns of a plot that moves backwards and forwards from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s.
Titles in the Reverend Paltoquet Mystery Series are:
The Bockhampton Road Murders
Haunted Christmas
The Possession of November Jones
The Witches of Wandsworth
So Long at the Fair
The Man Who Was Death
The Dark Side of the Mirror
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 7, 2014
1 person is currently reading
9 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 4, 2017
It is amazing how each volume of this series gets more intriguing.
This novel involved the subjects of twins, both hanged for murders, both innocent, yet were they? Well, Reverend Bernard Paltoquet and his buddy, Dr. Robbie MacTavish are back on the search. Why them? Because the murders occurred twenty years ago.
Wandsworth, U.K. in 1956 has a man, Carl Feinterman coming to seek help from Bernie to rid him of his hanging father's ghost in his workshop. Bernie finds out that this is a case for Dorothy, a clairvoyant. Dorothy sends her mentor, an elderly Clairvoyant and combination Miss Marple to boot.
The Clairvoyant quickly realizes what is going on (amidst her constant eating,) and now the stop is finding tangible proof.
Meanwhile, Robbie is having a fling with the local pub girl. Bernie worries about his best friends soul, while the clairvoyant realizes that Robbie is repeating history. Does he even know who this girl really is?
This book is a very readable, yet complex, murder mystery (mysteries) that entertains you as well. It shows the value of true psychics and to my great amusement even changed the mind of a true skeptic. Great Reading.
Get to know this series. This book spanned the era of 1936 to 1956. Rationing was still going on for items such as Petrol (gasoline.) Interesting look at life in England during those years.
This novel involved the subjects of twins, both hanged for murders, both innocent, yet were they? Well, Reverend Bernard Paltoquet and his buddy, Dr. Robbie MacTavish are back on the search. Why them? Because the murders occurred twenty years ago.
Wandsworth, U.K. in 1956 has a man, Carl Feinterman coming to seek help from Bernie to rid him of his hanging father's ghost in his workshop. Bernie finds out that this is a case for Dorothy, a clairvoyant. Dorothy sends her mentor, an elderly Clairvoyant and combination Miss Marple to boot.
The Clairvoyant quickly realizes what is going on (amidst her constant eating,) and now the stop is finding tangible proof.
Meanwhile, Robbie is having a fling with the local pub girl. Bernie worries about his best friends soul, while the clairvoyant realizes that Robbie is repeating history. Does he even know who this girl really is?
This book is a very readable, yet complex, murder mystery (mysteries) that entertains you as well. It shows the value of true psychics and to my great amusement even changed the mind of a true skeptic. Great Reading.
Get to know this series. This book spanned the era of 1936 to 1956. Rationing was still going on for items such as Petrol (gasoline.) Interesting look at life in England during those years.
December 6, 2020
This is the seventh book in the Reverend Paltoquet Supernatural Murder series. I’ve read them all and enjoy them. Most of them have a bit of a dark side and a touch of paranormal along with some quirky regular characters.
The regular characters: Bernie (Reverend Paltoquet) can be a bit selfish, but he usually realizes that and tries to change and be more Christian-like. Robbie is a good doctor and believes himself to be a ladies’ man. My favorite recurring character is Mrs. Aitch. She seems cantankerous, but those close to her know that she’s got a big heart. I love that she speaks her mind no matter the consequences. It was nice to see her over the moon happy for once while dating her new beau.
The other characters in The Dark Side of the Mirror are related in some way to a murder that occurred 20 years ago. It is eerie how the twins in the Fentiman family seem to always be one good twin and one bad twin. I thought it was interesting, and realistic, that the police tended to focus on the bad twin for murders because of their disagreeable personalities (and their opportunity, of course).
The ending had a twist that I didn’t see coming for most of the book. I did feel like The Dark Side of the Mirror ended too quickly. I thought it was just me, but when I looked, the other books are longer than this one. It was still good, though. I definitely recommend the Reverend Paltoquet books. Each one stands alone, but they do reference things that happened in previous books once in a while.
The regular characters: Bernie (Reverend Paltoquet) can be a bit selfish, but he usually realizes that and tries to change and be more Christian-like. Robbie is a good doctor and believes himself to be a ladies’ man. My favorite recurring character is Mrs. Aitch. She seems cantankerous, but those close to her know that she’s got a big heart. I love that she speaks her mind no matter the consequences. It was nice to see her over the moon happy for once while dating her new beau.
The other characters in The Dark Side of the Mirror are related in some way to a murder that occurred 20 years ago. It is eerie how the twins in the Fentiman family seem to always be one good twin and one bad twin. I thought it was interesting, and realistic, that the police tended to focus on the bad twin for murders because of their disagreeable personalities (and their opportunity, of course).
The ending had a twist that I didn’t see coming for most of the book. I did feel like The Dark Side of the Mirror ended too quickly. I thought it was just me, but when I looked, the other books are longer than this one. It was still good, though. I definitely recommend the Reverend Paltoquet books. Each one stands alone, but they do reference things that happened in previous books once in a while.
December 7, 2020
I've read & enjoyed all the Paltoquet supernatural murder-mysteries by this author including "The Bockhampton Road Murders", "The Possession of November Jones" and "The Man Who Was Death" (which is my favourite).
This series of novels would make a good Netflix mystery series!
Great stuff. I like a good British mystery novel with witty dialogue.
This series of novels would make a good Netflix mystery series!
Great stuff. I like a good British mystery novel with witty dialogue.
February 24, 2015
Mystery, wit, and tons of charm
This is an incredible read with humor spread throughout. Not your everyday ghost story, but will sure to allow your imagination to pick up the lighthearted demeanor of Bernard and his friends.
I chose to read this first and could have made a horrible mistake, but I'm so glad that ain't read this 7th book of the series of Pat Herbert. If you are looking to be intrigued with a smile on your face the entire time, pick it up and read it! You cannot possibly be disappointed.
This is an incredible read with humor spread throughout. Not your everyday ghost story, but will sure to allow your imagination to pick up the lighthearted demeanor of Bernard and his friends.
I chose to read this first and could have made a horrible mistake, but I'm so glad that ain't read this 7th book of the series of Pat Herbert. If you are looking to be intrigued with a smile on your face the entire time, pick it up and read it! You cannot possibly be disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews