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The Folly: A Murder Mystery
A country house unveils its new folly. The hermit paid to sit in it is shot dead.
August 1926. Wexcombe Park throws the party of the season to show off its restored hermitage, complete with a live-in hermit hired to sit in the doorway and be admired.
A cannon opens the fete, and half an hour later the hermit is dead at his table, a service revolver by his hand.
Roderick Fane has a personal tie to the man, and Nell Blackwood is beside him to find answers.
When the dead man is revealed to be Rupert Vereker, the family's disgraced brother, paid to stay abroad for the sake of the family's reputation, the number of people who could have wanted him dead grows.
The Folly is the fourth Fane & Blackwood Mystery, a clever, character-driven whodunnit perfect for fans of classic English country house crime.
August 1926. Wexcombe Park throws the party of the season to show off its restored hermitage, complete with a live-in hermit hired to sit in the doorway and be admired.
A cannon opens the fete, and half an hour later the hermit is dead at his table, a service revolver by his hand.
Roderick Fane has a personal tie to the man, and Nell Blackwood is beside him to find answers.
When the dead man is revealed to be Rupert Vereker, the family's disgraced brother, paid to stay abroad for the sake of the family's reputation, the number of people who could have wanted him dead grows.
The Folly is the fourth Fane & Blackwood Mystery, a clever, character-driven whodunnit perfect for fans of classic English country house crime.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 8, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 13, 2026
"The Folly" is book #4 in the "Fane and Blackwell Mystery" by A. G. Barnett.
Fane is invited to a fete celebrating the restoration of a hermitage at the home of a family he does not know, but feels compelled to attend due to an enclosed note with the invitation. Nell and Mrs Latch accompany him on the trip. Before the afternoon is out the hermit who had been paid to sit in the hermitage is dead. The head of the family attempts to cover it up as an accident but can't when the police and Fane get involved.
The true identity of the hermit and the gradual reveal of his various connections to people at the fete proved to be very interesting. It came down to a few viable suspects but who had the most to gain - or lose by the killing? Just how far the person responsible goes to protect their secret is shocking and disturbing.
I do enjoy this series. Fane isn't the easiest person to deal with but the interactions he has with both Nell and Mrs Latch can be strained at times but there is also an unspoken level of respect.
Fane is invited to a fete celebrating the restoration of a hermitage at the home of a family he does not know, but feels compelled to attend due to an enclosed note with the invitation. Nell and Mrs Latch accompany him on the trip. Before the afternoon is out the hermit who had been paid to sit in the hermitage is dead. The head of the family attempts to cover it up as an accident but can't when the police and Fane get involved.
The true identity of the hermit and the gradual reveal of his various connections to people at the fete proved to be very interesting. It came down to a few viable suspects but who had the most to gain - or lose by the killing? Just how far the person responsible goes to protect their secret is shocking and disturbing.
I do enjoy this series. Fane isn't the easiest person to deal with but the interactions he has with both Nell and Mrs Latch can be strained at times but there is also an unspoken level of respect.
September 24, 2026
1926. Fane is invited to a garden party to reveal a hermitage, of a family he does not know. In the afternoon the hermit is shot dead. With the Sergeant and Nell, Blackwood investigates.
An entertaining historical mystery
An entertaining historical mystery
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews