I Died at Fallow Hall

by Bonnie Burke-Patel

Anna Deerin moves to a remote Cotswold cottage to become a gardener, trying to strip away everything she's spent all her life as a woman striving for, craving the anonymity and privacy her new off-grid life provides.

But when she clears the last vegetable bed and digs up not twigs but bones, the outside world is readmitted. With it comes Detective Inspector Hitesh Mistry, who has his own dark past.

Drawn in spite of herself to the Fallow bones, an unknown woman from another time, Anna is determined to uncover her identity and gain recognition for her - and perhaps even justice - for her. She and DI Mistry find that this murder is bound up with issues of gender, community, race and British identity itself.

A thought-provoking take on the country house murder mystery, Bonnie Burke-Patel's compelling first novel invites us to question the nature of power and love.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Gothic, Historical Mystery, Literary Fiction

253 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

Born and raised in South Gloucestershire, Bonnie Burke-Patel studied History at Oxford. After working for half a decade in politics and policy, she changed careers and became a preschool teacher, before beginning to write full time. She lives with her husband, son, and needy cat in south east London, and is working on her next crime novel about fairy tales, desire, and the seaside.

Reviews

[ThatBookish_deviant · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0⭐️

[Charles Edwards-Freshwater · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous, pensive and often tender novel that subverts what you expect from classic country house murder mystery.

I went into this anticipating something quite different - a more Agatha Christie style affair with a huge host of quaint characters capable of murder. While I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan, instead there's something deeper here, more considered, more poignant, and the story is all the better for it.

I think the characters are what really make this shine. You can tell the author put a lot of love into these people, and the whole case of the village feel very real and well observed. There's also a great exploration of how times have changed, how we can preserve the past while looking towards the future and, ultimately, how women in society's challenges have changed (yet still remain).

Simply put, it's a gorgeous debut.

I would highly recommend it for autumn or winter reading lists and to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with a lot of heart.

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this slow paced country house murder mystery, I found its pace refreshing, and the plot was really captivating.

Anna works on the garden at Fallow Hall. She lives in a run-down gardeners cottage and sells what she grows and makes at the village market and knows all of her regulars. What she doesn't expect to find in her vegetable plot is a human skeleton, but one autumnal day she does.

Hitesh is not local to the village, he is new to the police team yet is still facing everything that a city policeman would! And Anna's discovery brings their worlds together in a life changing way.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute and cosy read with cottage core / small town mystery vibes that still touched on current themes. The pacing was a bit odd at times but overall it was a quick and fun read that genuinely kept me guessing until the end.

[Beatrice Prosser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small village murder mystery packaged as literary fiction - I highly anticipated this and didn’t disappoint- perfect summer reading

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an atmospheric and cozy small-town murder mystery with twists and turns and surprising modernity. Unfortunately, I found it less cozy and overall less convincing than I had hoped, but I had high expectations given the premise and blurb.
The first general part I found atmospheric and intriguing, to a point, although I didn't always feel a desire to pick it up again after a break in reading.
I have to say personally, the descriptions of the main character squicked me a few times and the feminist stance that is given to the main character Anna felt quite on the nose and somewhat unwarranted considering the little backstory we got of her:

"Anna has already evened out her skin with foundation and powder; now she picks up a pen and lines her eyes with great care - at the top and at the bottom to make them wider still, doe and appealing. After, her eyes, her cheeks. A wash of colour so that she appears to blush, and red lipstick, which will remind men of fucking."

The last part of the book, however, left me disappointed and somewhat bewildered. I didn't think the ultimate conclusion both to the murder mystery and the main characters' fates was logical or what the book had been building towards.
Also, I feel like the blurb was selling things that weren't in the book. The murder isn't actually bound up with issues of race or British identity, is it?

Overall, I personally was too critical of the book to really enjoy it, but I do appreciate that is is a worthwhile exploration of country life in a little unusual constellation, and I was interested in how it examined a woman's role in a small community, at different points in time. I found genuine connection to happen only between side characters, and couldn't really warm up to the female main character who to me felt like a fabricated ideal of woman with attempts of a feminist take.

[Nadhirah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the first half of the book. It felt like a cosy mystery ala Midsomer Murders. Pacing was a bit off and the chapter breaks felt disjointed but I could ignore those gripes. But then it became so overdramatic from the relationship to the reveal. The last 10% of the book had me rolling my eyes so hard.

[Diane Challenor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! The best story I've read in a long time. I read it on a Kindle and found that the book's structure was missing chapter breaks and scene breaks, however the story was so good I overlooked my need for scene breaks and enjoyed every word.

[Kayte Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was Fall incarnate. It was cozy, warm, mysterious, and hopeful. To me the season of fall isn’t just about the leaves changing color, but also about the letting go… the slow unwind… the falling into oneself. I’m not sure how to explain it precisely - but this story is all of those things.

I was saving this book because it was the only story of the authors I had left at the moment. It is just as bittersweet as I expected to have finished it already.

Both of Bonnie’s novels are modern fairy tales. The vibes, the heart, and the ending - all truly chef’s kiss.

[Hannah Cade · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cosy murder mystery in a sleepy Cotswold village - this is the perfect autumn read!

There is so much depth in this short story. Author, Bonnie, highlights subjects like race and misogyny in a way that is relatable to today’s society, as well as accurately portraying minorities and stereotypes, and exploring different family dynamics. This book felt relatable and intriguing.

The story was spread over multiple timelines and different POVs. Although there are a lot of characters, each one gets their time to shine and a chance to be understood. Shout out to David the golden retriever, he is my favourite character 🥹

[Erin Crane]

Bored 🤷‍♀️

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterfully written, reflective, and deeply humane. Absolutely not a comfort read or a “cozy mystery” - and all the better for it. Layered characters, and themes of gender expectations, family, community, race, loneliness, and belonging. Prose so well written I didn’t care who’d done it in the end, I just wanted to keep reading.

Two of my favorite excerpts:

"The art critic, John Berger, said that, of all those paintings of women looking at themselves in a glass - the Rokeby Venus and her sisters - the male painters, the male patrons, put a mirror in women's hands and called them vain. Anna knows the truth of this: that women are always to watch themselves, to know precisely how they look as they cross the room. They are to watch their own lives and to perform their womanhood. But if they are caught taking a glimpse in the mirror they have been given, that is vanity. Perhaps Anna often wonders, perhaps I only listened to Berger because he was a man. Still, she wants to put her fingers under the edges and peel it back, this dual vision she has been taught since birth, this watching of herself."

"Hitesh’s notes are full of vulnerable women. Single mothers, addicts, waifs, and strays. It is true that those on the margins are always more at risk of violence. No one thinks the woman found at Fallow Cottage was like them. She was a victim, but somehow an expected one, after a life that differed sharply from their own. They don’t blame her, per se, but somehow her death was a sad consequence of her life. In the gossip they gave him, none of the village bridge players described the horror that Hitesh knows goes on in nice houses too. After more than a decade’s policing, he knows that women aren’t safe anywhere there are men."

[Paula Learmouth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anna Deerin, once a ballerina until she got hurt. Anna now lives a simple life, off-grid on Upper Magna, a little village in the Cotswold. Anna Grows her own fruit and vegetables to sell at the weekly farmers market. While tendering to the gardens, Anna digs up more than just vegetables. The bones she finds are of a young female, but who is it? Detective Inspector Hitesh Mistry has been assigned to the case. It's not long before Anna and DI Mistry are trying to find out more about the body. But has someone got other ideas about them finding out more... Both Anna and DI Mistry have came here from London and have a past that they are happy to leave behind.
Gender, family, community, identity and race all related within this book.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cosy murder mystery is the perfect read for autumn, evoking cottagecore vibes that make you want to curl up with a blanket and a cup of tea. The story is beautifully written, drawing you in with its descriptive language and engaging prose. The dual timeline adds depth and intrigue as past and present events unravel, while the multiple POVs enrich the narrative, providing a comprehensive understanding of the mystery from different angles.

What truly sets this book apart are the elements of current issues woven into the plot, including stereotyping and racism in semi-wealthy small towns. These themes are handled thoughtfully, adding layers of realism and contemporary relevance to the story. It's a compelling and thought-provoking read that keeps you guessing until the end, while also addressing important societal issues.

Thank you so much to the author, Netgalley and Bedford square publishers for providing me with an eARC in return for an honest review. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

[Anna Mullin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna lives in a cottage within the bounds of a small but beautiful town in the Cotswolds. She enjoys a simple life free of technology and has a love of Gardening. Whilst out in the garden one day she unearths a mystery that turns her life upside down.

This book is beautifully written and I really enjoyed the descriptive writing which made me feel like I was right there. I really enjoyed the characters in this book especially Anna and David (if you read the book you know).

The story kept me guessing which I loved and I didn’t see the twist coming at the end.

If you like cosy small town mysteries then this book is for you.

[Wendy Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely read. The death happened a long time ago, so there's no threat to anyone in the current time, making it a bit more relaxed than some mystery novels. The story jumps back and forth from Anna & Hitesh, to the victim back in the day (hence the title), as you learn about their lives and how they've come to be where they are now.

[Samantha (A Dream of Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow...

[Lotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Is there anything more female than waiting?”

[Blasr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bog-standard whodunnit, being augmented with much about loneliness & relationships. Sentimental at the end? Perhaps.

[Daniel Patterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes you just need a cozy British mystery that’s very Midsomer Murders-coded.

[Tilly Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 4.5.

Well this was the most gorgeous surprise! I’ve been a bit hit and miss with gothic novels lately (and maybe that’s not even what it’s meant to be, but throw in a posh country house and murder and I leap to gothic 😂), but I was absolutely hooked from the very first chapter with this beautiful and poignant mystery.

Without going too cringe, there’s a quietness and sense of place to this novel which just felt like autumn - of crisp brown leaves and farmers markets. I absolutely adored our three main characters, and the dual timeline that allowed us to slowly unravel the story of the bones Anna had found.

I also thought it was so spot on about many contemporary issues, from depictions of class to casual racism - whilst the villagers mean well, they still make a lot of assumptions and uncomfortable comments to Hitesh. It definitely gives a great insight into small communities, both the good and bad! Throw in a great supporting cast of characters, a boisterous dog and a wonderful love story and you’ve got yourself a rather brilliant debut!

[Amy Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up. Having grown up in a small English village, I instantly identified with the setting for Bonnie Burke Patel’s debut novel, I Died at Fallow Hall.

Upper Magna is the sort of place where everyone knows everyone. Where those seeking a quiet life – like ballerina-turned-gardener Anna – can find privacy, anonymity, and peace. But Anna’s rural idyll is rudely interrupted when she unearths the bones of a young woman in the vegetable bed of Fallow Cottage. A young woman who no one in Upper Magna claims to remember. Determined to discover the woman’s identity, Anna teams up with Detective Inspector Hitesh Mistry – another newcomer to Upper Magna – to uncover her identity and, perhaps, to seek justice for her death. And it isn’t long before they discover that some of the residents of Upper Magna may be able to recollect this young woman after all.

Although blurbed as a country house murder mystery, I Died at Fallow Hall is a slightly more meditative read than your average crime novel. Whilst Upper Magna is, on the surface at least, a setting straight out of Midsomer Murders, some very contemporary tensions simmer under its peaceful surface and the experiences of Anna, Hitesh, and the unknown victim touch upon issues of gender, family, community, race, Britishness, and belonging.

Alternating between the viewpoints of Anna and Hitesh – and with occasional flashbacks to life in the titular Fallow Hall in the late 1960s – belonging is a central motif in the novel. All three narrators struggle with their sense of belonging. Anna’s quiet off-grid existence in Upper Magna is an attempt to strip away her previous, very different, life whilst Hitesh is struggling to come to terms with the death of his beloved mother, the weight of familial and cultural expectations, and his challenging relationship with his elderly father. For the narrator of the segment set in the 60s, life in Upper Magna – and the expectations that attend to being an unmarried woman in a small English village – has become stifling. All three characters are seeking to escape from something and, for all three, Upper Magna becomes a loci for their conflicted feelings about constraint, community, escape, and home.

As I mentioned above, I am very familiar with English village life and Bonnie Burke-Patel has got the cadences of it absolutely spot on in I Died at Fallow Hall. One particular section, in which Hitesh asks the local bridge club if they remember any women who may have gone missing from Upper Magna, really stood out to me as capturing the well-meaning but sometimes misguided sense of belonging that can be encountered in small communities:

Hitesh’s notes are full of vulnerable women. Single mothers, addicts, waifs, and strays. It is true that those on the margins are always more at risk of violence. No one thinks the woman found at Fallow Cottage was like them. She was a victim, but somehow an expected one, after a life that differed sharply from their own. They don’t blame her, per se, but somehow her death was a sad consequence of her life. In the gossip they gave him, none of the village bridge players described the horror that Hitesh knows goes on in nice houses too. After more than a decade’s policing, he knows that women aren’t safe anywhere there are men.

This passage resonated with me so much because I know I’ve had similar sentiments expressed to me over the years. Bad things happen, yes. But not round here. And not to the sort of people who really ‘belong’ here.

The subtext of that thinking – that if you live here and bad things happen to you, you clearly don’t really ‘belong’ – is often left unspoken and one of the things that I most admired about I Died at Fallow Hall insists upon dragging those uncomfortable subtexts to the surface and using them to question ideas about community, identity, and heritage. In another passage, Burke-Patel brilliantly captures everyday racism when Hitesh is concluding an interview with a man named Geoff:

The get up to leave. ‘Do you know Madj at the Bombay Spice?’ Geoff asks, suddenly. ‘We get takeaway from there most Thursdays.’

‘Uh, no. I’m new to the area.’

Geoff hums thoughtfully. ‘Good luck with it all, then.’

Geoff is friendly, polite, and he wants to help. His question is not asked out of malice but ignorance. But he still assumes Hitesh will know the people who run the Indian takeaway. And that assumption is entirely based on the perceived racial and cultural identities of Hitesh and Madj. So in just those few lines we get not only a sense of Geoff but a sense of the community he is part of. A place where people like Hitesh are, on one level, welcomed. But where it is assumed that they will become part of another, smaller, community that is proscribed on racial identity. It’s brilliantly done and, I hope, gives you a sense of the ways in which I Died at Fallow Hall uses the conventions of the country house mystery to peel back and excavate the complex undercurrents of community life.

This is not to say that I Died at Fallow Hall is not also a corking mystery novel. Alongside the meditations on village life, there’s a solid plot with all the usual twists and turns. But this is very much a character-focused novel in which Anna, Hitesh, and the village of Upper Magna itself are as much part of the novel’s focus as the crime that has occurred. So be prepared for a slightly slower pace and a little more reflection going in.

Overall, I Died at Fallow Hall is a compelling take on the country house murder mystery that combines an intriguing narrative with insightful reflections upon community, belonging, and identity. It’s a fantastic autumn read that I would highly recommend to crime fiction fans.

NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpre... as part of the blog tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

[Sue Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel.
This was a bit of a slow start but once I got into it I did start to enjoy it. This is a new author for me. I did like Anna straight away. That did surprise me. This was a twisty and surprising read. It wasn't what I thought had happened. I did like the ending. 4*.

[Ella Edelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fun, atmospheric escapism for the fall, complete with English manors, lots of gardening content, and quaint village life. Some things about the central characters grated and certain tropes were a bit obvious and cliché–the twist at the end had me rolling my eyes a bit–but I was thoroughly entertained nonetheless.

[Steph · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 34% 💔
The story itself was based on a great plot concept, but I got bored and the story just wasn’t progressing quick enough for me… If I’m not gripped by 100 pages in, the story just isn’t for me.
Great concept, just not quite my style.

[Lisa Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am only giving it 3 Stars because you could have had the same with ending, without Edmund losing his shit at the end. I liked the guy, and hated seeing him go out like that.

[David Prestidge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although set in a beautiful village near Cirencester, with glowing limestone cottages, a jolly white-haired vicar, and the squire’s mansion up on its hill, this is as far away from a ‘Midsomer’ type Cosy Crime as you can get. Instead it is a beautifully written tale, full of poetry, some very dark corners and people who, if not severely damaged, are fighting their own demons. Anna Deerin, a former ballerina who had to quit through ligament damage has moved to the village of Upper Magna. She lives in a grace and favour cottage in the grounds of Fallow Hall. She lives rent free because she has undertaken to work and restore what was once the Hall’s extensive kitchen garden. She keeps chickens and earns a slender living by baking cakes and selling them – and her fruit and vegetables – at the weekly farmers’ market on the village green.

She lives in a kind of self-imposed exile, with no mobile phone and no current close friends. This all changes when, while attacking a long neglected part of the garden with a pick-axe, she finds human remains. Into her life comes Detective Inspector Hitesh Mistry, another London exile. He heads up the search for the identity of the skeleton – subsequently proved to be that of a woman. Like Anna, he is a complex individual. He is deeply immersed, emotionally, in a well of sadness caused by the recent death of his mother. While he respects his elderly father, the way that his mother was treated rankles with him. Although it seems nothing unusual in Indian families, he resents the fact that his mother was just seen as a cook, child-bearer and housemaid, while her obvious intellectual and emotional talents (she was a part-time hospital administrator) seemed to count for nothing in the family home. He has little left of her now, except the fragrance of her skin and cooking – and a treasured red cardigan which he describes, chillingly, as ‘empty’.

Screen Shot 2024-08-20 at 12.36.36

Bonnie Burke-Patel (left) intersperses contemporary events with brief but telling episodes from 1967. We meet a young woman, living locally (almost certainly in Fallow Hall) She has a younger brother, away at university. Her mother is rather inadequate, particularly at household skills, and her father is a domineering and demanding WW2 veteran, hideously disfigured by a facial injury. One morning, she escapes into Cirencester (to buy the ingredients for her own birthday cake) and meets a young Canadian man. There is an instant attraction and, after very little courtship she, belatedly – in the time-honoured phrase – loses her virginity.

This sets up the puzzle to perfection, but the author plays her cards very close to her chest. Mid way through the book there are so many questions. Is the authoritarian father related to Lord Blackwaite, the current Lord of the Manor? Is the body in the garden his daughter? Who tried to batter their way in to Anna’s cottage a couple of nights after she uncovered the remains?

Reviewing crime novels is not particularly difficult when the books are thrillers, police procedurals or basic whodunnits. The reviewer has a few simple tasks: outline the plot, describe the characters and setting, and then describe how well the book works. I am neither a professional writer nor a journalist, and so I tend to read books that I know I will be happy with. Just occasionally, there comes a book which challenges my ability to do it justice. I Died at Fallow Hall is one such.

As I said earlier, despite the familiar rural tropes, this is something rather special. The startling violence near the end, and the emotional intensity with which Anna empathises with – and is determined to identify – the girl whose skull she cradled in her hands on that fateful autumn afternoon, sets this novel aside as something very special. Putting on my reviewer’s hat I can answer the potential readers’ question, “What do I get.” In no particular order you get a murder mystery, a grim account of the cruelties that family members can inflict on each other, a poignant study of loneliness and isolation, a gimlet-eyed look at English class structure and, above all, a testimony to the power of love.

[Marles Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The paths of a retired ballerina, a detective inspector looking for a more quiet borough, and a woman who felt smothered by her family and life decades earlier have crossed un Upper Magna, a village in The Cotswolds. Anna Deerin, the retired ballerina turned gardener is astute and engaging even in her quiet ways with so much emotional intelligence and insght. Her baking and prowess with the local flora is admired, as is she by Hitesh Mistry, the local detective inspector and Lord Blackwaite. Steward of Fallow Hall, the estate where Anna resided in a cottage on its grounds, where the remains of a skeleton are uncovered.
This is a story about identity as much as it is about a murder and discovering who the killer was. Everyone seemed to be grappling with their own identity. There is a sense that each of the characters in this sorry, have some point in time, have struggled without a sense of identity, feeling disconnected, and having no idea about who or what they will be. There are misunderstandings and misconceptions about class and culture. There are assumptions about the value of a solitary life. There is an element of disjointedness that is created from the writing to aid the story in order to keep that feeling that there is something that is just not right. The writing style with no chapters, long sections that move between the 1960s and present day are a great tool to illustrate the discontinuous illusion of a tight knit village and a story that does not make sense. Anna knows that she cannot let go of finding out who that body belonged to, dug up in her cottage garden, and it is her genuine determinedness to uncover the true identity of the skeletal remains that carries this story forward: this woman was someone, and she should be remembered.
The contrasts between classes was also interlaced within this story: Lord Blackwaite wanting to keep alive an estate renowned for decades at the expense of community input, the nastiness of parents and siblings and the excuse of class to explain its origins, and the way in which families try so hard to show love which can backfire as a demonstration of disdain.
There is a real investment to make with these characters and this story, wrapped up in a small village where nothing is sacred, and no one ca escape from the truth in the end. Highly recommended reading!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good country house mystery so I was excited to read this book. Set in the fictional village of Upper Magna in the Cotswolds, I Died At Fallow Hall follows Anna Deerin, who has recently moved to a remote cottage in the village to become the gardener at Fallow Hall. But one day she digs up more than she anticipated in the vegetable beds: the bones of a young woman that have been hidden there for years. Detective Inspector Hitesh Mistry is sent to investigate, but it seems no one has missed this woman and there are few clues. Anna can’t shake her thoughts of the unknown woman and is determined to give her back her identity and find out what happened, so she begins to make her own enquiries, getting closer to DI Mistry in the process. But it seems there is someone who doesn’t want this mystery to be solved, and Anna and Hitest soon find that their own lives are in danger…


Mysterious, tender, pensive and compelling, this is a wonderful debut. Layered, intricately woven, cleverly plotted and full of surprising twists, Bonnie Burke-Patel crafted an intriguing mystery that kept me guessing up until the final page. The story moves seamlessly between the dual timelines and I really enjoyed the added mystery and tension that arose from the past narrative as we get to know the lady of Fallow Hall and search for clues to her identity and fate as she tells her story. The dual timelines are also used to explore themes such as identity, prejudice, sexism, family, community, and starting again. 


But what shined brightest for me in this book were its characters. Richly drawn and acutely observed, I really cared about them and was invested in their lives. I loved the dynamic between Anna and Hitesh and how they related to each other on so many different levels. I admit that I’d expected a more Christie-esque large cast of characters, but I was pleasantly surprised by the smaller cast. I think this not only helped me feel like I was getting to know the characters better, but it also added to the small, quiet village atmosphere that I loved. 


Gorgeous, alluring and full of heart, this cosy debut is perfect for reading on a cold autumn or winter night. Highly recommended.