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The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire
In 1880, a vampire terrorized Barrington Hills, feasting on the locals and leaving their mutilated corpses as evidence. Now, forty years later, it’s happening again.
Detective Rowan Manory and his assistant Walter Williams are hired to investigate. They don’t believe in the undead, but nothing else could explain murders so bloodily impossible. How does the killer walk through walls? Why doesn’t it leave footprints in the snow? Who will it kill next?
Can the detectives solve the case before the vampire strikes again? Can you? You will have all the evidence necessary to solve the mystery including:
1. A map of the first murder
2. A floor plan of the house
3. Footprint diagrams showing all movement in the snow
4. A challenge to the reader featuring eight questions you must answer before the final chapter.
The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire is a thrilling impossible-crime murder mystery from the author of Goodnight Irene and The Opening Night Murders.
Detective Rowan Manory and his assistant Walter Williams are hired to investigate. They don’t believe in the undead, but nothing else could explain murders so bloodily impossible. How does the killer walk through walls? Why doesn’t it leave footprints in the snow? Who will it kill next?
Can the detectives solve the case before the vampire strikes again? Can you? You will have all the evidence necessary to solve the mystery including:
1. A map of the first murder
2. A floor plan of the house
3. Footprint diagrams showing all movement in the snow
4. A challenge to the reader featuring eight questions you must answer before the final chapter.
The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire is a thrilling impossible-crime murder mystery from the author of Goodnight Irene and The Opening Night Murders.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 14, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
December 21, 2020
I have never before read a murder mystery which contains near the end a ‘challenge to the reader’ - what a great idea! The second to last chapter of the book, contains a message from the author, which challenges the reader to solve a number of mysteries before progressing. These include a list of things like “who killed X” “why” “what was the motive” etc. This is such a good idea and really forces the sleuth of the reader to really consider their guesses. I tend to do this anyway when reading murder mysteries as I’m sure everyone does, but it was great to have the chance to solve the list of mysteries before progressing!
Alas, I didn’t solve any of the numbered mysteries of the book, or guess the ending but I had a great time reading it!
This is the second of this author’s works I’ve read and I enjoyed it just as much if not more than the previous. Byrnside has a very eloquent and clever way of writing and that is what adds to my enjoyment of his stories. He is also able to craft a wonderfully impossible locked room murder! This time we find ourselves trying to solve the impossibility of a vampire living in Barrington Hills, killing off the guests one by one. With our lead detective Rowan and his very own ‘Watson’ Williams, the pair are tasked with trying to debunk a seance, and a legend of Dracula proportions.
5 footprints in the snow stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the author, the publisher and Booksirens for this.
Alas, I didn’t solve any of the numbered mysteries of the book, or guess the ending but I had a great time reading it!
This is the second of this author’s works I’ve read and I enjoyed it just as much if not more than the previous. Byrnside has a very eloquent and clever way of writing and that is what adds to my enjoyment of his stories. He is also able to craft a wonderfully impossible locked room murder! This time we find ourselves trying to solve the impossibility of a vampire living in Barrington Hills, killing off the guests one by one. With our lead detective Rowan and his very own ‘Watson’ Williams, the pair are tasked with trying to debunk a seance, and a legend of Dracula proportions.
5 footprints in the snow stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the author, the publisher and Booksirens for this.
December 17, 2023
This is an entertaining and thrilling mystery with all the elements fans of the genre love, from a purportedly supernatural villain to a locked-room mystery, and from footprints in the snow to a dying message. The characters are delightful and the sarcastic volley of wisecracks Rowan and Walter keep sending each other's way is half the fun in the book. I'm looking forward to cracking more cases penned by James Scott Byrnside.
April 17, 2021
This is the third book by the author and like the preceding two books, it involves impossible crimes.
Thomas Browning, one of the richest men in Chicago and owner of Browning Rail, has settled in his mansion at Barrington Hills (a little town north of Chicago) since six months back with his new wife Madelaine, 34 years younger than him. The other persons living with him are Dr. Sinclair, a psychiatrist kept to look after his wife who sleep-walks, Howard, his biographer, and Belby the butler. His daughter Gertrude from the previous marriage who lived in Atlanta has also joined him recently on his advice.
Thomas has been running a sawmill for the past 22 years in Barrington in partnership with Hadd Mades who owns half the land. Now Thomas wants to sell the sawmill and convert Barrington Hills into a resort town. But Hadd is opposed to this since he has been influenced by a psychic Madame Kuchla into believing that if the land is built upon, then a former resident Ottro Savore, believed to be a vampire will rise from his grave and cause deaths. Forty years ago, according to legend, he terrorized Barrington Hills, feasting on the locals and leaving their mutilated corpses as evidence.
Thomas invites Rowan Manory who heads a detective agency to visit his house and attend a séance at night to be managed by Madame Kuchla. He wants Manory to debunk the séance and explain the phenomena rationally to Hadd so that he is drawn away from spiritualism. Manory along with his assistant Walter Williams visit the house.
Before the séance, several photographs of various rooms of the house are taken first by Hadd and then Thomas with the same camera. Hadd plans to take the film roll to his house for developing them.
Besides Kuchla, eight persons attend the séance: Mr and Mrs Browning, Gertrude, Howard, Dr Sinclair, Hadd, Rowan and Walter. Various mysterious phenomena take place during the seance including the appearance of Otto Savore the vampire who speaks and whose face appears on the ceiling. After the séance, though Rowan is able to explain most of the phenomena, there are some things that he is not able to explain fully. Also, the psychic Kuchla seemed genuinely frightened after the séance.
Next day morning, Hadd comes rushing to the house frightened and shows the developed photos. One of the photos which was of the landing with Madelaine in it shows the vampire Otto Savore looking into the camera through the balcony glass door !
There are further mysterious and crazy events including two murders , both in impossible circumstances. In both cases, in addition to other injuries there are two equally-sized punctures oozing blood on the neck appearing to be teeth marks. (I am not revealing most of the details here)
Rowan Manory is finally able to solve the case and explain all the impossibilities.
The plot is engrossing and intriguing. After a slow start, it becomes highly suspenseful and virtually unputdownable. It is also well clued. There is an Ellery Queen type challenge to the reader at the end before the solution is announced. The solutions of the two impossible crime murders as well as the explanation for the appearance of the vampire on the photo are quite clever. There is also a lot of humour especially the repartee between Rowan and Walter.
Considering the above factors, I have no hesitation in highly recommending this book.
Thomas Browning, one of the richest men in Chicago and owner of Browning Rail, has settled in his mansion at Barrington Hills (a little town north of Chicago) since six months back with his new wife Madelaine, 34 years younger than him. The other persons living with him are Dr. Sinclair, a psychiatrist kept to look after his wife who sleep-walks, Howard, his biographer, and Belby the butler. His daughter Gertrude from the previous marriage who lived in Atlanta has also joined him recently on his advice.
Thomas has been running a sawmill for the past 22 years in Barrington in partnership with Hadd Mades who owns half the land. Now Thomas wants to sell the sawmill and convert Barrington Hills into a resort town. But Hadd is opposed to this since he has been influenced by a psychic Madame Kuchla into believing that if the land is built upon, then a former resident Ottro Savore, believed to be a vampire will rise from his grave and cause deaths. Forty years ago, according to legend, he terrorized Barrington Hills, feasting on the locals and leaving their mutilated corpses as evidence.
Thomas invites Rowan Manory who heads a detective agency to visit his house and attend a séance at night to be managed by Madame Kuchla. He wants Manory to debunk the séance and explain the phenomena rationally to Hadd so that he is drawn away from spiritualism. Manory along with his assistant Walter Williams visit the house.
Before the séance, several photographs of various rooms of the house are taken first by Hadd and then Thomas with the same camera. Hadd plans to take the film roll to his house for developing them.
Besides Kuchla, eight persons attend the séance: Mr and Mrs Browning, Gertrude, Howard, Dr Sinclair, Hadd, Rowan and Walter. Various mysterious phenomena take place during the seance including the appearance of Otto Savore the vampire who speaks and whose face appears on the ceiling. After the séance, though Rowan is able to explain most of the phenomena, there are some things that he is not able to explain fully. Also, the psychic Kuchla seemed genuinely frightened after the séance.
Next day morning, Hadd comes rushing to the house frightened and shows the developed photos. One of the photos which was of the landing with Madelaine in it shows the vampire Otto Savore looking into the camera through the balcony glass door !
There are further mysterious and crazy events including two murders , both in impossible circumstances. In both cases, in addition to other injuries there are two equally-sized punctures oozing blood on the neck appearing to be teeth marks. (I am not revealing most of the details here)
Rowan Manory is finally able to solve the case and explain all the impossibilities.
The plot is engrossing and intriguing. After a slow start, it becomes highly suspenseful and virtually unputdownable. It is also well clued. There is an Ellery Queen type challenge to the reader at the end before the solution is announced. The solutions of the two impossible crime murders as well as the explanation for the appearance of the vampire on the photo are quite clever. There is also a lot of humour especially the repartee between Rowan and Walter.
Considering the above factors, I have no hesitation in highly recommending this book.
December 24, 2020
Well, I came and went a bit with this book. I truly loved all the local references, having loved in the Chicago burbs for a time, not in Barrington, but fun to think about some of that being virtually untouched at one time. Also the police corruption versus gangs being trustworthy. I guess when I felt a little lost was when Rowan appeared to feel a little lost. Holmes always seemed confident even when he might have only had a vague clue. It was a good read, although short
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 24, 2024
James Scott Byrnside provides a wonderful setting for this novel. A creepy settlement in snowbound Illinois reputedly the home of a vampire. Though of course the killer is all too human.
The first half of the book is wonderfully described, the plot is tight and the setting localised. This draws the reader in, the country house is atmospheric and gothic and works very well. The second half of the book takes on a more human element as Manory sets about solving the case.
The relationship between Manory and Walter is a fun one and I really liked the way you see Manory's thoughts in italics instead of the usual way an author will convey clues, namely through the 'Watson' asking questions or getting things wrong.
The last chapter is very well done and ties in nicely with an element at the beginning of the book. All in all, an easy 5 stars.
The first half of the book is wonderfully described, the plot is tight and the setting localised. This draws the reader in, the country house is atmospheric and gothic and works very well. The second half of the book takes on a more human element as Manory sets about solving the case.
The relationship between Manory and Walter is a fun one and I really liked the way you see Manory's thoughts in italics instead of the usual way an author will convey clues, namely through the 'Watson' asking questions or getting things wrong.
The last chapter is very well done and ties in nicely with an element at the beginning of the book. All in all, an easy 5 stars.
January 9, 2022
You can feel the author’s enthusiasm for impossible crime mysteries when reading this book, which is great. I’m a very big fan of this genre and I enjoyed this book. The mystery behind the first death had some tricks that I had never encountered before. I also liked the atmospheric vampire legend surrounding the story, the challenge to the reader, and the framing of the whole story as something to bring to the detective meeting.
I did feel like there were a few more moving pieces to keep track of than I prefer (there are cult leaders and gangsters and police and private detectives and various business firms to keep track of, it’s a lot) and I personally don’t like to read about pet deaths so gentle warning to others who are sensitive to that.
Overall I do recommend this book to impossible crime fans!
I did feel like there were a few more moving pieces to keep track of than I prefer (there are cult leaders and gangsters and police and private detectives and various business firms to keep track of, it’s a lot) and I personally don’t like to read about pet deaths so gentle warning to others who are sensitive to that.
Overall I do recommend this book to impossible crime fans!
November 14, 2020
This Is A Must Read
I accidentally stumbled across this fascinating mystery. If you love locked room mysteries you will love this one. This is no cozy. It truly is in the league of John Dickson Carr, etc. A highly rated private investigator is hired to debunk a seance that is set to prove that a vampire really did exist years ago in a remote village. During the seance the vampire speaks and threatens death to anyone who wishes to improve the land. The investigator is able to basically debunk the seance but over two nights there are two deaths that clearly appear to have been caused by a vampire. Well written. All the clues are there and the reader is challenged in the next to the last chapter to solve it before the solution is presented in the final chapter.
This is the third book from this author and I am definitely going to read the first two.
I accidentally stumbled across this fascinating mystery. If you love locked room mysteries you will love this one. This is no cozy. It truly is in the league of John Dickson Carr, etc. A highly rated private investigator is hired to debunk a seance that is set to prove that a vampire really did exist years ago in a remote village. During the seance the vampire speaks and threatens death to anyone who wishes to improve the land. The investigator is able to basically debunk the seance but over two nights there are two deaths that clearly appear to have been caused by a vampire. Well written. All the clues are there and the reader is challenged in the next to the last chapter to solve it before the solution is presented in the final chapter.
This is the third book from this author and I am definitely going to read the first two.
January 10, 2022
I couldn't help myself; with the snow falling in sheets over here where I live and having just finished my first Byrnside (his newest work, The 5 False Suicides,) I had to immediately jump back into his writing with his third novel. Being the third published but first chronological mystery from Byrnside's series detective, Rowan Manory, it also has the honor of being the highest-rated of any of Byrnside's novels. And I can't disagree with that assessment. Case/Barrington/Vampire (as the author himself has abbreviated it for the paperback spine) is a perfect combination of impossible crime, closed circle mystery, superstitious suspense, and Nero-Wolfe-esque detection rolled into one 223-page explosion of plotting. The multiple impossibilities are excellently presented and clued, paced throughout the narrative so as to pile on to the mystery. There is a series of impossibilities at a seance, a materializing monster, a no footprints problem, and a combination locked-room and invisible-killer murder, following a pretty similar (but not exact) course of events to Hake Talbot's Rim of the Pit, which is clearly an inspiration here. This is my first time with Manory and Williams, and I absolutely loved their characters and their repartee. They are a new and absorbing take on Wolfe and Goodwin, and the detecting duo we see here have a lot of character development while not strictly being shown as the irritating genius and the lascivious assistant. The rest of the characters were as memorable as I thought they would be, and there being a set cast of six suspects after the first death allows the characters to become their own people. My favorite of the bunch were Hadd, who becomes shrouded in mystery as he shrouds everything else in superstition; Howard, who believes himself brilliant but is ultimately subservient to Thomas Browning; and Gertrude, the socialite daughter whose motives become clearer throughout the novel's run. I loved the explanation to the impossibilities, how Rowan knew who the killer was, and the killer's motive (bravo to that one especially!), alongside the rest of the 8 questions posed in Byrnside's lovely Challenge to the Reader. I did suspect the correct killer and their motive for a while, but as usual I threw it out for something ridiculous once the Challenge came around. And I had no clue as to any of the impossibilities, meaning that those solutions especially surprised me. The setting of the solution at the Detectives' Club, which gives Rowan one more enemy in the form of Genevieve Pond, was especially enjoyable. Now that I've seen multiple facets of the writing Byrnside is capable of, I am even more excited for the work of his I have yet to read, and the work which he will write in the future. I can tell that Byrnside is one of the few authors who may soon spearhead a return to some kind of popularity in English-language fair-play detective fiction, on top of the shin honkaku movement in Japan and the rise of Paul Halter in France.
March 16, 2021
Private detective Rowan Manory and his sidekick, Walter Williams, are hired by Thomas Browning. Perhaps the richest man in Chicago, he wants Manory to attend and then debunk a seance. A seance to contact a local resident. Who is a vampire...
The Strange Case of the Barrington Hill vampire is an enjoyable and complex "locked room" mystery. It kept me on tenterhooks for the majority of the story and reminded me of early Sherlock Holmes cases. It was well paced but did go a bit bizarre at one point, which I felt could have been dealt with more neatly (no spoilers!). Manory and Williams are well rounded and the banter between the two showed the close relationship (Williams is perhaps not as idolising of Manory as other sidekicks have been, which added to the fun). However, some of the other characters could have been more fleshed out, as they came across as a bit flat.
The story was well developed enough to stand on it's own but what stood out for me was the challenge from the author. The second to last chapter is a list of questions to see if the reader can solve the case. I haven't seen this done before and felt that it was a great inclusion! I admit here that I didn't solve the case and would probably make a terrible detective.
All in all, this was a gripping murder mystery. I would recommend it to any fan of the genre. I have just discovered that this is not the first of this series and have just downloaded the other two books from this author.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
The Strange Case of the Barrington Hill vampire is an enjoyable and complex "locked room" mystery. It kept me on tenterhooks for the majority of the story and reminded me of early Sherlock Holmes cases. It was well paced but did go a bit bizarre at one point, which I felt could have been dealt with more neatly (no spoilers!). Manory and Williams are well rounded and the banter between the two showed the close relationship (Williams is perhaps not as idolising of Manory as other sidekicks have been, which added to the fun). However, some of the other characters could have been more fleshed out, as they came across as a bit flat.
The story was well developed enough to stand on it's own but what stood out for me was the challenge from the author. The second to last chapter is a list of questions to see if the reader can solve the case. I haven't seen this done before and felt that it was a great inclusion! I admit here that I didn't solve the case and would probably make a terrible detective.
All in all, this was a gripping murder mystery. I would recommend it to any fan of the genre. I have just discovered that this is not the first of this series and have just downloaded the other two books from this author.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
March 13, 2021
I immediately likened the protagonist Roman Manory and his amiable companion Walter Williams to Sherlock Holmes and Watson and the author acknowledges the similarities with a tongue in cheek reference in the invitation the pair receive to a gathering of detectives. There is more banter and sarcasm between this pair though which I smiled at on numerous occasions.
I also found myself thinking of the other great literary detective, Hercule Poirot, in Manory’s interrogation style which is a positive for me.
But what made this book unique is the author’s challenge to the reader to try and solve the crime before the big reveal at the end. The narrative is interspersed with maps, lists and notes of evidence to help the reader in this quest which I enjoyed. I won’t be giving up my day job any time soon though; I was completely off the mark!
A couple of the secondary characters blurred a little for me and I would have liked a little more background into what makes Manory and Williams tick but overall, this was an entertaining read.
I’m giving this 3.5 stars out of 5 and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Agatha Christie whodunnits.
I also found myself thinking of the other great literary detective, Hercule Poirot, in Manory’s interrogation style which is a positive for me.
But what made this book unique is the author’s challenge to the reader to try and solve the crime before the big reveal at the end. The narrative is interspersed with maps, lists and notes of evidence to help the reader in this quest which I enjoyed. I won’t be giving up my day job any time soon though; I was completely off the mark!
A couple of the secondary characters blurred a little for me and I would have liked a little more background into what makes Manory and Williams tick but overall, this was an entertaining read.
I’m giving this 3.5 stars out of 5 and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Agatha Christie whodunnits.
April 18, 2021
This was an absolute blast. Imagine Edgar Allan Poe, John Dickson Carr, Hake Talbot and Mickey Spillane all sitting down together to chew the fat, throw back some beers and plot a mystery. The result might well be something akin to James Scott Byrnside's latest novel.
Creepy, wryly amusing, and effortlessly clever, this blend of no footprints in the snow and locked room impossibilities brings together a group of oddballs and grotesques for a seance in a remote Illinois mansion. The entire setup, a cursed village and a vampire legend, is a real joy and the solution (preceded by an old school challenge to the reader) proves equally satisfying.
Creepy, wryly amusing, and effortlessly clever, this blend of no footprints in the snow and locked room impossibilities brings together a group of oddballs and grotesques for a seance in a remote Illinois mansion. The entire setup, a cursed village and a vampire legend, is a real joy and the solution (preceded by an old school challenge to the reader) proves equally satisfying.
February 26, 2021
A do it yourself murder mystery. A series of murders, are happening, just as they did many years ago, and attributed to vampires. However, the detectives don’t believe in vampires, but, how did the villain move through walls, leave no footprints and generally be invisible?? There are clues and questions for the reader so that the it is possible to solve the mystery before the book ends. An engaging, fun read with the added bonus of being a solve-it-yourself book! This book wins on all levels! No disappointment here!
April 18, 2021
Oh man! I loved this whodunnit! Manory and Williams are so cool! A real page turner, I pretty much read until late hours, because every twist and turn in the plot had me thinking. Reminded me of a 1930s movie. A real pleasure to read.
October 26, 2020
"There are lies more believable than truth."
Man is a complex being, endowed with reason, who distinguishes himself from the other living creatures for his ability to think, to process data, to ask question and to get answer about various natural phenomena.
Yet, no matter how rational, each of us at least one time in our life felt that both disturbing and bewitching sensation, that mood in which you start to question everything, in which nothing seems real and you let go to the most perverse thoughts: the fear.
Fear is an emotion that from time immemorial grips the human mind facing the unknown, the incognizable. From here superstitions, myths generate, destined to spread like wildfire to unfold phenomena which seem lacking of every logical explanation.
In that field, one of the most famous legends, which has both fascinated and shocked over time, so much that lots of writers and screenwriters have taken inspiration in to create their plots, is that of the vampire.
Who is not familiar with that frightening creature, bloodthirsty, with two long protruding fangs, ready to bite the first unfortunate?
Its macabre figure, possessing supernatural powers, has since ever aroused admiration and terror and it isn't strange that it has joined the detective-fiction world: mystery and supernatural are a perfect mix upon which building complex criminal plots.
Many recognizable detective writers have tried to use this creepy monster in their stories, exploiting inter alia its numerous paranormal powers (which include the ability to make itself invisible, to transform itself into a bat, to fly...) to create astounding impossible crimes, from Carr with "The Hollow Man" and "He Who Whispers", to Doyle, with the short story "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire".
Also contemporary mystery authors let themselves be enchanted by the tenebrous fascination of Dracula, as shown by "The Vampire Tree" by Halter and, published only few days ago, "The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire" by James Scott Byrnside.
James Scott Byrnside is a contemporary American writer of detective novels, whose first two books, "Goodnight Irene" and "The Opening Night Murders" I read months ago and appreciated very much. Through these, the author demonstrated to have great narrative skills, combined with a dynamic, highly adrenalinic style, frequently traversed by tension and anguish.
"The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire" is an intricate, extremely gripping novel, focused on a series of atrocious impossible crimes related to the legend of a vampire that seems to haunt the small village of Barrington.
The author, after the hard-boiled atmospheres which have characterized GI and TONM, engages now with a more traditional setting, plunged in the superstitious and supernatural world.
The story begins in 1920, in the investigative study of the protagonist, Rowan Manory, sat behind his desk, with the usual cigarette between his lips, apparently in idleness. All of a sudden the door bursts open and, like a hurricane, his assistant Walter Williams rushes in the room, this time as a messenger of good news: a letter has in fact arrived from the "Detectives Club", exclusive circle founded in 1897 that gathers the wittiest british investigators, with which they invite Manory to attend the next conference that, exceptionally, will take place in Wisconsin on the 27th of November. The gruff detective will open the debates, discussing about his last case, which has brilliantly solved and that has brought him a great notoriety. Manory is thrilled to have been selected, especially because he can demonstrate his abilities to Genevieve Pond, sleuth of whom he was a collaborator and who has always made fun of him.
The joys, on the other hand, never come alone: in that precise moment the office phone rang. A new work for Manory, for a long time without any case in his hands.
On the other hand of the line there is Thomas Browning, rich enterpreneur, and boss of the railroad tracks of the city, who wants to hire Manory, whom he considers the finest in his field, in order to unmask a medium. Apparently his business partner, Hådd Mades, was persuaded by Madame Cuchla, woman with medium powers, not to convert Barrington Hills, of which he is the co-owner with Browning, in a resort town -that is the intention of the other- because of an ancient legend regarding a vampire that haunts the area. So the rich businessman can't realize his projects, not even drive out the small nomad congregation that has settled in a shantytown nearby, in a place called "The Hollow, if his partner doesn't come to his senses and understand that Madame Cuchla is a quack. Browning's plan is therefore as follows: Manory has to go to his villa in Barrington, where a seance will take place, at the end of which the detective will reveal all the trick used for the various supernatural phenomena there occurred. Manory, though this isn't his speciality, doesn't miss this tempting chance to earn 750$ for a sinecure.
So he goes with his assistant in the north-Illinois, in Barrington Hills. Arrived at the station, they are accompanied by Browning's factotum, Belby, to the huge magnate residence.
As soon as they enter in the large drawing room, Manory perceives something dissonant: the habitation, although it appears full of luxurious and opulent items, looks like it has been built without any sense of taste. It's as if Browning wanted the best of all things, no caring about the overall harmony.
The two investigators are soon welcomed by the host's daughter, Gertrude, who entertains them pleasantly.
Shortly thereafter Thomas Browning arrives, busy with Mades in taking photos of himself in several rooms of the house for a city's magazine.
The arrival of Madame Cuchla for the seance is imminent and the other guests are introduced to them: there are Howard Amorartis, a writer instructed to compile the host's biography, Madeleine, the young wife of Browning and dr. Sinclair, charged to cure the last one from her sleepwalking disturbs.
The drumming of the carriage's wheels foretells the coming of the famous medium: dressed with a turban, with a slight Eastern Europe's accent, her same figure seems to emanate an aura of mysticism. Immediately she gives proof of her great gifts, revealing some details of Williams's past which she couldn't have been aware of. The guests are dumbfounded, but not Manory, who knows all the tricks used for this "cold reading".
After several arrangements in the billiard room, where the famous seance will take place, all the participants are gathered in the dark around a circular table, forming a mystic circle with hands and feet in order to summon the forces from beyond.
The otherwordly presences don't delay to arrive: all the participants sense that something is touching them, the table lifts itself as having a life of its own. At the end, through some knocks on the same table, the strange presence reveals its identity: it's Otto Savore, blacksmith who 40 years back was accused of vampirism and, for this reason, was buried alive by the community. In fact it seems that in the village, digging up some corpses, it was discovered that some of them instead of being rotten, were enlarged and they presented haematic traces on their mouths. As if they were come back to life and satiated themselves with human blood. The culprit was found in the person of Otto, who was executed, but not before he had pronounced, on the verge of being buried, these terrible words: "You cannot bury me. I'm not dead".
The legend tells that, soon thereafter, Otto Savore came back to life, making a bloodbath in the village.
The presence of the vampire disturbs the participants' spirits, but the room falls into a crazy chaos when on the ceiling the emaciated, greenish and frightening face of the aforementioned Otto appears, announcing the imminent death of Browning, Mades and of everyone who will stay another day in that residence. It suddenly disappers, but that is enough to break the circle and to turn on the lights.
Madame Cuchla seems upset and, in a hurry, she goes away, promising firstly to perform a ceremony on the blacksmith's tomb to prevent a tragedy. The bystanders are still shocked by what they have just seen, they can't figure out an explanation for those strange and macabre events. Yet Manory, with great logical ability, manage to reveal all the stratagems utilized to make them believe in the vampire's existence.
Browning is triumphant, seeing the dejected expression of Mades who, finally, must admit that Madame Cuchla is only a charlatan.
Taking the photos to develop, Mades goes back to his home, whilst the others are ready to go to sleep. Manory is satisfied, the next morning he can go away and pocket a huge amount of money, without too much effort. Or so he believes in that moment. The morning doesn't begin in the best way: frequent knockings on the front door make the two detective and Belby wake up. They go downstairs to see who is doing such a racket. It's Mades, who enthusiastically announces that the vampire in reality exists and that the host is in danger, but he doesn't have the time to explain himself that a cry of agony reaches their ears: it was Browning's and that moan seems to come from the garage, in a structure separated from the central building. Manory goes to the kitchen, where a back door leads to the entrance of it. It has briefly snowed that morning and, in fact, two footprints tracks can be recognized, beginning from that back door: one leads to the garage, the other towards the wood. Following the first trail, Manory and Williams enter in the garage, where they find Browning's dead body. He's on the floor, strangely twisted, with his left collarbone and shoulder broken and two creepy wounds on the neck, which remind the bite of a vampire. In the room there is nobody, the only window is shut. There is an open skylight and, inspecting the roof, Williams discovers that there are only two footprints, left by Browning, who, for a strange reason, went up there.
By comparing the victim's shoes with the first tracks on the snow, Manory notes that they match, so the first series of footprints was made by Browning. But then how manage the murderer to escape? There aren't any other tracks, if not those left by Madeleine, the victim's wife, who, as it seems, went out in one of her sleepwalking fits. Yet the woman had firstly turned towards the wood, then she went in front of the garage window, which can't be opened, going back later to where she had come. From a preliminary investigation several things don't add up: the victim, after having done a quick breakfast, went for an unknown motive to the garage, climbed the stairs till the skylight, where he has remained standing, and then he descended it, maybe falling down for a peg which yielded. But then the signs on his neck? And the strange wound on his wrist, inflicted with a knife found right there? On top of that, the victim has in his hand a sheet, on which several rooms of the villa are recorded in a certain sequence. Could it be a dying message?
Rowan Manory has to use all his acumen to get to the bottom of an impossible riddle, in which the culprit seems provided with supernatural powers. But this won't be the only happening which defies every physics law: Mades shows the detective the developed photos, taken the previous day, which is why he came in a rush that same morning in Browning's villa. In one of them, behind the glass of a window that leads to a balcony, the creepy figure of the vampire can be seen, with its hands ready to clutch its victim. Yet in that moment everyone was in the drawing room under the eyes of Manory and, in addition, nobody could have climbed on that balcony without leaving a trail. How was it possible? Could they have to deal with a real vampire?
The detective is puzzled, he can't find a rational explanation for this last event.
But the worst is yet to come: a terrible whiteout breaks out, which forces all the guests to barricate themselves in the house, without a way out. Manory and Williams decide to board up every window in order to made impossible for everyone to escape, blocking so the mysterious vampire in there, under their surveillance. Manory will stand guard upstairs, while Williams in the groundfloor. Nothing happens during the night and yet, in the morning, Mades doesn't show up. They knock at his door but nothing, no answer. Unquiet, they decide to break down the door and they find Mades's corpse, with two wounds in his neck and his severed hands placed in a macabre way at the foot of the bed. All is locked from the inside and the only key is hanged in the hook next to the victim, dead for many hours. How did the murderer do to kill Mades in a locked room under Manory's strict surveillance? Could it be a vampire able to go through the walls?
Manory has to reason eagerly to find a solution to this stunning case, not before having endangered his own life and discovered obscure and murky secrets which the suspects have hidden to him. And he has to move quickly, before the vampire could strike one more time.
James Scott Byrnside shows once again, with this extraordinary novel, his great narrative skills and his capacity to create creepy and distressing plots. The author engages here with the supernatural world, drawing from one of the most iconic figure of the Gothic genre, managing however to create a very original, smooth, atmospheric and interesting plot, at all banal. The risk of using the vampire's theme, overused both in literature and in cinema, is to fail to devise something new and to re-present thus already seen expedients. Byrnside, instead, manage to handle the supernatural aspect, the detection and the tension with a very astonishing mastery. His strong point, there too, lies on the style: a dense, steeped in grim omens, engaging, bewitching and estranging writing. It's easy to insert the horror inside a deductive mystery, less to recreate those sensations of panic and terror which this mix has to provoke on the reader: ça va sans dire, the author succeed in being convincing both in the development of the macabre and tenebrous sides and in the deconstruction of the esoteric atmosphere in terms of the purest rational logic.
Byrnside is so talented in narrating that the reader finds himself constantly perturbed, in balance between reality and madness, in a nightmarish atmosphere from which he no longer seems to be able to get out.
Man is a complex being, endowed with reason, who distinguishes himself from the other living creatures for his ability to think, to process data, to ask question and to get answer about various natural phenomena.
Yet, no matter how rational, each of us at least one time in our life felt that both disturbing and bewitching sensation, that mood in which you start to question everything, in which nothing seems real and you let go to the most perverse thoughts: the fear.
Fear is an emotion that from time immemorial grips the human mind facing the unknown, the incognizable. From here superstitions, myths generate, destined to spread like wildfire to unfold phenomena which seem lacking of every logical explanation.
In that field, one of the most famous legends, which has both fascinated and shocked over time, so much that lots of writers and screenwriters have taken inspiration in to create their plots, is that of the vampire.
Who is not familiar with that frightening creature, bloodthirsty, with two long protruding fangs, ready to bite the first unfortunate?
Its macabre figure, possessing supernatural powers, has since ever aroused admiration and terror and it isn't strange that it has joined the detective-fiction world: mystery and supernatural are a perfect mix upon which building complex criminal plots.
Many recognizable detective writers have tried to use this creepy monster in their stories, exploiting inter alia its numerous paranormal powers (which include the ability to make itself invisible, to transform itself into a bat, to fly...) to create astounding impossible crimes, from Carr with "The Hollow Man" and "He Who Whispers", to Doyle, with the short story "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire".
Also contemporary mystery authors let themselves be enchanted by the tenebrous fascination of Dracula, as shown by "The Vampire Tree" by Halter and, published only few days ago, "The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire" by James Scott Byrnside.
James Scott Byrnside is a contemporary American writer of detective novels, whose first two books, "Goodnight Irene" and "The Opening Night Murders" I read months ago and appreciated very much. Through these, the author demonstrated to have great narrative skills, combined with a dynamic, highly adrenalinic style, frequently traversed by tension and anguish.
"The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire" is an intricate, extremely gripping novel, focused on a series of atrocious impossible crimes related to the legend of a vampire that seems to haunt the small village of Barrington.
The author, after the hard-boiled atmospheres which have characterized GI and TONM, engages now with a more traditional setting, plunged in the superstitious and supernatural world.
The story begins in 1920, in the investigative study of the protagonist, Rowan Manory, sat behind his desk, with the usual cigarette between his lips, apparently in idleness. All of a sudden the door bursts open and, like a hurricane, his assistant Walter Williams rushes in the room, this time as a messenger of good news: a letter has in fact arrived from the "Detectives Club", exclusive circle founded in 1897 that gathers the wittiest british investigators, with which they invite Manory to attend the next conference that, exceptionally, will take place in Wisconsin on the 27th of November. The gruff detective will open the debates, discussing about his last case, which has brilliantly solved and that has brought him a great notoriety. Manory is thrilled to have been selected, especially because he can demonstrate his abilities to Genevieve Pond, sleuth of whom he was a collaborator and who has always made fun of him.
The joys, on the other hand, never come alone: in that precise moment the office phone rang. A new work for Manory, for a long time without any case in his hands.
On the other hand of the line there is Thomas Browning, rich enterpreneur, and boss of the railroad tracks of the city, who wants to hire Manory, whom he considers the finest in his field, in order to unmask a medium. Apparently his business partner, Hådd Mades, was persuaded by Madame Cuchla, woman with medium powers, not to convert Barrington Hills, of which he is the co-owner with Browning, in a resort town -that is the intention of the other- because of an ancient legend regarding a vampire that haunts the area. So the rich businessman can't realize his projects, not even drive out the small nomad congregation that has settled in a shantytown nearby, in a place called "The Hollow, if his partner doesn't come to his senses and understand that Madame Cuchla is a quack. Browning's plan is therefore as follows: Manory has to go to his villa in Barrington, where a seance will take place, at the end of which the detective will reveal all the trick used for the various supernatural phenomena there occurred. Manory, though this isn't his speciality, doesn't miss this tempting chance to earn 750$ for a sinecure.
So he goes with his assistant in the north-Illinois, in Barrington Hills. Arrived at the station, they are accompanied by Browning's factotum, Belby, to the huge magnate residence.
As soon as they enter in the large drawing room, Manory perceives something dissonant: the habitation, although it appears full of luxurious and opulent items, looks like it has been built without any sense of taste. It's as if Browning wanted the best of all things, no caring about the overall harmony.
The two investigators are soon welcomed by the host's daughter, Gertrude, who entertains them pleasantly.
Shortly thereafter Thomas Browning arrives, busy with Mades in taking photos of himself in several rooms of the house for a city's magazine.
The arrival of Madame Cuchla for the seance is imminent and the other guests are introduced to them: there are Howard Amorartis, a writer instructed to compile the host's biography, Madeleine, the young wife of Browning and dr. Sinclair, charged to cure the last one from her sleepwalking disturbs.
The drumming of the carriage's wheels foretells the coming of the famous medium: dressed with a turban, with a slight Eastern Europe's accent, her same figure seems to emanate an aura of mysticism. Immediately she gives proof of her great gifts, revealing some details of Williams's past which she couldn't have been aware of. The guests are dumbfounded, but not Manory, who knows all the tricks used for this "cold reading".
After several arrangements in the billiard room, where the famous seance will take place, all the participants are gathered in the dark around a circular table, forming a mystic circle with hands and feet in order to summon the forces from beyond.
The otherwordly presences don't delay to arrive: all the participants sense that something is touching them, the table lifts itself as having a life of its own. At the end, through some knocks on the same table, the strange presence reveals its identity: it's Otto Savore, blacksmith who 40 years back was accused of vampirism and, for this reason, was buried alive by the community. In fact it seems that in the village, digging up some corpses, it was discovered that some of them instead of being rotten, were enlarged and they presented haematic traces on their mouths. As if they were come back to life and satiated themselves with human blood. The culprit was found in the person of Otto, who was executed, but not before he had pronounced, on the verge of being buried, these terrible words: "You cannot bury me. I'm not dead".
The legend tells that, soon thereafter, Otto Savore came back to life, making a bloodbath in the village.
The presence of the vampire disturbs the participants' spirits, but the room falls into a crazy chaos when on the ceiling the emaciated, greenish and frightening face of the aforementioned Otto appears, announcing the imminent death of Browning, Mades and of everyone who will stay another day in that residence. It suddenly disappers, but that is enough to break the circle and to turn on the lights.
Madame Cuchla seems upset and, in a hurry, she goes away, promising firstly to perform a ceremony on the blacksmith's tomb to prevent a tragedy. The bystanders are still shocked by what they have just seen, they can't figure out an explanation for those strange and macabre events. Yet Manory, with great logical ability, manage to reveal all the stratagems utilized to make them believe in the vampire's existence.
Browning is triumphant, seeing the dejected expression of Mades who, finally, must admit that Madame Cuchla is only a charlatan.
Taking the photos to develop, Mades goes back to his home, whilst the others are ready to go to sleep. Manory is satisfied, the next morning he can go away and pocket a huge amount of money, without too much effort. Or so he believes in that moment. The morning doesn't begin in the best way: frequent knockings on the front door make the two detective and Belby wake up. They go downstairs to see who is doing such a racket. It's Mades, who enthusiastically announces that the vampire in reality exists and that the host is in danger, but he doesn't have the time to explain himself that a cry of agony reaches their ears: it was Browning's and that moan seems to come from the garage, in a structure separated from the central building. Manory goes to the kitchen, where a back door leads to the entrance of it. It has briefly snowed that morning and, in fact, two footprints tracks can be recognized, beginning from that back door: one leads to the garage, the other towards the wood. Following the first trail, Manory and Williams enter in the garage, where they find Browning's dead body. He's on the floor, strangely twisted, with his left collarbone and shoulder broken and two creepy wounds on the neck, which remind the bite of a vampire. In the room there is nobody, the only window is shut. There is an open skylight and, inspecting the roof, Williams discovers that there are only two footprints, left by Browning, who, for a strange reason, went up there.
By comparing the victim's shoes with the first tracks on the snow, Manory notes that they match, so the first series of footprints was made by Browning. But then how manage the murderer to escape? There aren't any other tracks, if not those left by Madeleine, the victim's wife, who, as it seems, went out in one of her sleepwalking fits. Yet the woman had firstly turned towards the wood, then she went in front of the garage window, which can't be opened, going back later to where she had come. From a preliminary investigation several things don't add up: the victim, after having done a quick breakfast, went for an unknown motive to the garage, climbed the stairs till the skylight, where he has remained standing, and then he descended it, maybe falling down for a peg which yielded. But then the signs on his neck? And the strange wound on his wrist, inflicted with a knife found right there? On top of that, the victim has in his hand a sheet, on which several rooms of the villa are recorded in a certain sequence. Could it be a dying message?
Rowan Manory has to use all his acumen to get to the bottom of an impossible riddle, in which the culprit seems provided with supernatural powers. But this won't be the only happening which defies every physics law: Mades shows the detective the developed photos, taken the previous day, which is why he came in a rush that same morning in Browning's villa. In one of them, behind the glass of a window that leads to a balcony, the creepy figure of the vampire can be seen, with its hands ready to clutch its victim. Yet in that moment everyone was in the drawing room under the eyes of Manory and, in addition, nobody could have climbed on that balcony without leaving a trail. How was it possible? Could they have to deal with a real vampire?
The detective is puzzled, he can't find a rational explanation for this last event.
But the worst is yet to come: a terrible whiteout breaks out, which forces all the guests to barricate themselves in the house, without a way out. Manory and Williams decide to board up every window in order to made impossible for everyone to escape, blocking so the mysterious vampire in there, under their surveillance. Manory will stand guard upstairs, while Williams in the groundfloor. Nothing happens during the night and yet, in the morning, Mades doesn't show up. They knock at his door but nothing, no answer. Unquiet, they decide to break down the door and they find Mades's corpse, with two wounds in his neck and his severed hands placed in a macabre way at the foot of the bed. All is locked from the inside and the only key is hanged in the hook next to the victim, dead for many hours. How did the murderer do to kill Mades in a locked room under Manory's strict surveillance? Could it be a vampire able to go through the walls?
Manory has to reason eagerly to find a solution to this stunning case, not before having endangered his own life and discovered obscure and murky secrets which the suspects have hidden to him. And he has to move quickly, before the vampire could strike one more time.
James Scott Byrnside shows once again, with this extraordinary novel, his great narrative skills and his capacity to create creepy and distressing plots. The author engages here with the supernatural world, drawing from one of the most iconic figure of the Gothic genre, managing however to create a very original, smooth, atmospheric and interesting plot, at all banal. The risk of using the vampire's theme, overused both in literature and in cinema, is to fail to devise something new and to re-present thus already seen expedients. Byrnside, instead, manage to handle the supernatural aspect, the detection and the tension with a very astonishing mastery. His strong point, there too, lies on the style: a dense, steeped in grim omens, engaging, bewitching and estranging writing. It's easy to insert the horror inside a deductive mystery, less to recreate those sensations of panic and terror which this mix has to provoke on the reader: ça va sans dire, the author succeed in being convincing both in the development of the macabre and tenebrous sides and in the deconstruction of the esoteric atmosphere in terms of the purest rational logic.
Byrnside is so talented in narrating that the reader finds himself constantly perturbed, in balance between reality and madness, in a nightmarish atmosphere from which he no longer seems to be able to get out.
January 14, 2021
Slow clap... furious applause.
If you love GAD, this is your next favorite book. Supernatural legends! Snowbound house party! Mysterious footprints! Femme fatales! Diagrams galore! Fair play! Challenge to the reader! An ending! That makes sense!
One of my vices is this exact type of book: an impossible whodunit. Preferably in a closed setting and dripping with atmosphere, yet not without wit. This drug is hard to find nowadays. How this writer has escaped my attention until now is a mystery in and of itself.
I loved it. I loved all the references (Delbert Grady!), I loved the style, I loved the substance. My initial impression was that it read like a John Dickson Carr wearing Rex Stout. Atmosphere and impossibilities like the former with banter like the latter: a delicate balance, as too much funny can let the air out of spooky right quick. The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire (what a long ass title) is a very harmonious marriage of the English and American styles of the GAD mystery: the bones are cozy but the meat is hard-boiled. Or vice versa? There was also a very much welcomed injection into the proceedings of what some might call Grade A, American testosterone. You don’t usually find this much violence in these kinds of books, nor this much moral ambiguity for that matter. This book’s unadulterated Americanness and its more R-rated aspects set The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire, and Byrnside, apart from others writing these kinds of books today or yesterday.
Setting it in the Jazz Era, in Chicago, no less, also sets The Strange Case apart. Opium, bootleggers, and crooked cops always add a lot of color and flare to a story. And kudos to the writer for not doing two things: gilding the lily with superfluous contemporary references and restraining from imposing 21st century morals onto his characters.
Speaking of characters, Rowan Manory is cast in the mold of the great detectives of the past: he drops cryptic hints, he keeps his cards close to his chest, he’s superior, his Watson’s lack of brain power fuels his own. I kept picturing Simon Brimmer, John Hillerman’s lovably supercilious character from Ellery Queen. As for Manory’s Watson, Walter Williams, he gave me Archie Goodwin. He’s a very good Watson. (I especially like his un-Watsonian penchant for taking credit that doesn’t belong to him.) And I really enjoyed the Detective’s Club stuff too. It was nice world-building, and reminded me of an Edward Hoch book, The Shattered Raven. I was pleasantly surprised, not for the first time while reading this, we got to see their meeting as I’d assumed it would take place off-page (Genevieve Pond lived up to her promise.)
Downsides? Can’t think of any. Maybe there was one cheat. When you read so many of these types of books you get used to certain things. Like eyewitness accounts being accurate, say. It’s not technically cheating, fair play, my expectations were subverted, but kind of a cheat nonetheless.
If Paul Halter is the French John Dickson Carr, then James Scott Byrnside is the American Paul Halter. And I’m so glad I have two more of his books to read, and I’m looking forward to many, many more. Congratulations to Byrnside. Keep up the good work!
If you love GAD, this is your next favorite book. Supernatural legends! Snowbound house party! Mysterious footprints! Femme fatales! Diagrams galore! Fair play! Challenge to the reader! An ending! That makes sense!
One of my vices is this exact type of book: an impossible whodunit. Preferably in a closed setting and dripping with atmosphere, yet not without wit. This drug is hard to find nowadays. How this writer has escaped my attention until now is a mystery in and of itself.
I loved it. I loved all the references (Delbert Grady!), I loved the style, I loved the substance. My initial impression was that it read like a John Dickson Carr wearing Rex Stout. Atmosphere and impossibilities like the former with banter like the latter: a delicate balance, as too much funny can let the air out of spooky right quick. The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire (what a long ass title) is a very harmonious marriage of the English and American styles of the GAD mystery: the bones are cozy but the meat is hard-boiled. Or vice versa? There was also a very much welcomed injection into the proceedings of what some might call Grade A, American testosterone. You don’t usually find this much violence in these kinds of books, nor this much moral ambiguity for that matter. This book’s unadulterated Americanness and its more R-rated aspects set The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire, and Byrnside, apart from others writing these kinds of books today or yesterday.
Setting it in the Jazz Era, in Chicago, no less, also sets The Strange Case apart. Opium, bootleggers, and crooked cops always add a lot of color and flare to a story. And kudos to the writer for not doing two things: gilding the lily with superfluous contemporary references and restraining from imposing 21st century morals onto his characters.
Speaking of characters, Rowan Manory is cast in the mold of the great detectives of the past: he drops cryptic hints, he keeps his cards close to his chest, he’s superior, his Watson’s lack of brain power fuels his own. I kept picturing Simon Brimmer, John Hillerman’s lovably supercilious character from Ellery Queen. As for Manory’s Watson, Walter Williams, he gave me Archie Goodwin. He’s a very good Watson. (I especially like his un-Watsonian penchant for taking credit that doesn’t belong to him.) And I really enjoyed the Detective’s Club stuff too. It was nice world-building, and reminded me of an Edward Hoch book, The Shattered Raven. I was pleasantly surprised, not for the first time while reading this, we got to see their meeting as I’d assumed it would take place off-page (Genevieve Pond lived up to her promise.)
Downsides? Can’t think of any. Maybe there was one cheat. When you read so many of these types of books you get used to certain things. Like eyewitness accounts being accurate, say. It’s not technically cheating, fair play, my expectations were subverted, but kind of a cheat nonetheless.
If Paul Halter is the French John Dickson Carr, then James Scott Byrnside is the American Paul Halter. And I’m so glad I have two more of his books to read, and I’m looking forward to many, many more. Congratulations to Byrnside. Keep up the good work!
December 28, 2020
A excellent, intriguing period murder mystery with a strong lead detective character, the usual mix of suspects and an unusual twist . I loved the fact that the author deliberately gives you a series of questions in the penultimate chapter in order for you to discover the murderer yourself before the final reveal in the final chapter, something that I have never encountered before, I admit I have no idea and could not answer any of them. The reveal was intelligently done although I though the killers motives a little weak, this was still a great read and look forward to reading more by this author
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 1, 2020
This is Byrnside's strongest book in terms of puzzle plotting and the impossibility. I am glad he gets better and better as he writes more and for the first time feel like there is a return to Golden Age in 2020 which I never thought possible. Using tropes like challenge to the reader was a bold choice which mostly pays off. The motive may not be as strong but the puzzle is top notch. You can always have minor quibbles if you look too closely to some of the elements but overall the imaginativeness of the performance is great.
January 2, 2021
I was really excited to read another book of this series (Opening Night Murders being my first)! Yet again, the atmosphere created within these pages is quite captivating - I read the book in one sitting 😄 what I love about it is this Hemingway-ish vibe I get reading the description of the characters and the events unfolding. On top of that, the mystery itself is really well crafted, and I liked the interactive touch at the end - but didn‘t come to any meaningful conclusion 😉
Great book, can‘t wait for the next one!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Great book, can‘t wait for the next one!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
January 2, 2021
This book has a great fast-paced plot with many twists that kept me guessing until the end. I would have loved spending a bit more time with the characters, to become more invested in them. But the story was interesting and fast enough to maintain my interest to the end and I loved the finale! (Miss Pond put a huge smile on my face!)
I would highly recommend this novel to everyone who enjoys Poirot/Holmes-type of mysteries! And I am definitely interested in reading more from this author.
Thank you to BookSirens and the author for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I would highly recommend this novel to everyone who enjoys Poirot/Holmes-type of mysteries! And I am definitely interested in reading more from this author.
Thank you to BookSirens and the author for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 3, 2021
A well written locked room mystery. Put on your stuthing hats. Put all the clues together and solve the impossible crimes.
A remarkable mystery! Fascinating, imaginative writing, with unique characters that capture your interest. A crafty some what humorous good read. Brilliently well written. Enjoy!
I received an ARC free from BookSirens and this is my voluntary honest review.
A remarkable mystery! Fascinating, imaginative writing, with unique characters that capture your interest. A crafty some what humorous good read. Brilliently well written. Enjoy!
I received an ARC free from BookSirens and this is my voluntary honest review.
August 23, 2023
Wasn't a fan honestly. I enjoyed parts of it, such as the humor and partnership of Rowan and Walter, but there's issues I had with the solution personally:
- first, I hate that Hadd just gave up on life after learning of the vampire and cut his wrists, then the murderer left their own key in to make the locked room. Had Maddie not coincidentally walked out and Rowan and Walter followed, they would've checked the key and known immediately. (It'd be a different story if doctor was the villain and he timed his words to make the men run out, but Howard's plan seems much weaker) [Hadd not fighting fate means he wouldn't fight back against the vampire, but it doesn't mean he'd be necessarily willing to just slit his wrist prematurely; I question whether this is legitimately fair play.]
- I find Browning, the rich man, and his plan extremely cumbersome given his power and wealth. We know he's hired others to commit murders, such as Benny's, so why would he go to such lengths to scare his business partner to giving up the land? He could just have the guy murdered more simply instead of paying a detective to debunk a fake seance (it also didn't make it clear if Browning and Cuchla was in cahoots, but they must be if Browning gave Howard instructions and Howard/Browning knew how the seance would work)
- my alternative solution is that with a pair of shoes of both the wife and husband, you could step in the snow's tracks to imitate the position of the shoes at the door going to the shed. My thought was the list of rooms was Browning searching for his missing cat (which was already missing upon Rowan's arrival, as Gert says) and he even stood on the roof of the shed to look around to see if it escaped in the distance. Then he fell on ladder and was unconscious. Culprit (I had guessed Gert given she had motive for the land and to scare off the partner) saw him fall from house's window, came over, and injected him with poison into his neck, then used spare shoes to replicate how it looked at the steps.
- side note, but the dying message being a list of rooms pointing to Browning's order for the photos also feels illogical. Wouldn't he want to just detail what the photo is each step and who is in it plus the position? Ex 1. wife on stair facing right 2. German statue of this 3. Howard in position (and so on, etc). It being a list of rooms is much more difficult to remember exactly how to match up the photos. Plus, why was the guy holding onto it the next morning in the first place? Why was he carrying/gripping it? Wouldn't he just trash the paper right away after giving the film to Hadd?
- Then I also don't like the motive of Howard's. He wants to be an active writer, but it feels a bit weak to be completing murders to make it seem like a vampire (after all, there's other things he could write, and he's not the only one who could write about the attacks so he's not guaranteed the infamy alone), plus coming to murder Gert so she doesn't rebuild the place is a bit extreme (see next bullet). Howard's writings are creepy, but he struck me as wanting to write stories he himself wanted/believed in like that weird passage, not some made up vampire one. I much prefer Gert's motive more of wanting the land for herself.
- the detective party showed that the legend of the vampire never spread in the news, so there's no point to murdering Gert to stop her from building the Barrington location as there's no 'legend' to preserve in the first place. If he truly wanted to spread a fake legend, he should just target villagers, murder them with bite marks, and let them spread the legend. He should not start commencing the attacks in an isolated closed circle after communications were cut - that would ensure no one would hear/know of it, and it feels like flimsy timing with a flimsy motive. (Murdering Browning makes sense as he knows Howard can dress up as a vampire, but afterward, it's unnecessarily risky to do more murders under two detectives noses. Howard can just as easily spread a legend via the gullible townsfolk.)
- in addition, how do the detectives know it would be then and there that Howard attacks Gert? In reality, he could target her at any time. Plus even if she does start building up the place, he could still commence the attacks to make the vampire legend spread. It doesn't really truly force his hand, does it?
- lastly, I think showing the confrontation scene with Howard would be more climactic, as the party at the end was less exciting and moved slower. The humor with Walter was fun, but it would be more exciting to get a one-on-one of detective-vs-murderer and would be much more tense too.
Caveat: I did figure out some things, like the hand holding during the seance and the cold reading, but for the most part, I did get most of this incorrect, so these complaints may partly be due to my disappointment at my guesses being off, but I just don't like the canonical solutions, especially Hadd's murder and the motive.
As for technical thoughts: there's more grammar issues I noticed in this one than Opening Night Murders. Ex missing periods (I recall one missing after an italicized "Arrrgh" or so), misplaced quotation marks, and then stylistic things I dislike. For example, Mallory calls his partner Walter I think, but the narrator voice swaps between Williams/Walter at times. The thing is that Mallory is essentially the focal character, so the reader should be reading character names from his point of view. Swapping trips the reader up unnecessarily. Similarly, swapping to first person during italics feels off; I'd prefer sticking to third person in italics or not having italics at all.
(Side note again, but the diagrams are great, though I'm confused why there's no Character List, given the previous Opening Night had something of one. Am I missing something? That said, I liked the Challenge to the Reader even if I disliked the section afterward.)
Overall, I liked parts of this but found it disappointing overall in terms of its solutions. I found the Hadd murder particularly irrational on the murderer's part, motive rather weak, and think the shed had alternative footsteps solution possibilities. So not for me. But I liked the partnership between the lead pair and think they make a good dynamic, plus the humor was solid, and it reads very well and is written better than most other self published stuff. (Will leave as 2/5 instead of 1/5 because it's still above average for self published stuff, and I want people to experience this. Byrnside is a very capable author, and I hope his next piece will work better for me.)
EDIT: Oh, and I loved the cutting up the corpse's fingers (to get the dying message) and the "relishing" of the dying message by the detective, which was enjoyable on a meta level.
- first, I hate that Hadd just gave up on life after learning of the vampire and cut his wrists, then the murderer left their own key in to make the locked room. Had Maddie not coincidentally walked out and Rowan and Walter followed, they would've checked the key and known immediately. (It'd be a different story if doctor was the villain and he timed his words to make the men run out, but Howard's plan seems much weaker) [Hadd not fighting fate means he wouldn't fight back against the vampire, but it doesn't mean he'd be necessarily willing to just slit his wrist prematurely; I question whether this is legitimately fair play.]
- I find Browning, the rich man, and his plan extremely cumbersome given his power and wealth. We know he's hired others to commit murders, such as Benny's, so why would he go to such lengths to scare his business partner to giving up the land? He could just have the guy murdered more simply instead of paying a detective to debunk a fake seance (it also didn't make it clear if Browning and Cuchla was in cahoots, but they must be if Browning gave Howard instructions and Howard/Browning knew how the seance would work)
- my alternative solution is that with a pair of shoes of both the wife and husband, you could step in the snow's tracks to imitate the position of the shoes at the door going to the shed. My thought was the list of rooms was Browning searching for his missing cat (which was already missing upon Rowan's arrival, as Gert says) and he even stood on the roof of the shed to look around to see if it escaped in the distance. Then he fell on ladder and was unconscious. Culprit (I had guessed Gert given she had motive for the land and to scare off the partner) saw him fall from house's window, came over, and injected him with poison into his neck, then used spare shoes to replicate how it looked at the steps.
- side note, but the dying message being a list of rooms pointing to Browning's order for the photos also feels illogical. Wouldn't he want to just detail what the photo is each step and who is in it plus the position? Ex 1. wife on stair facing right 2. German statue of this 3. Howard in position (and so on, etc). It being a list of rooms is much more difficult to remember exactly how to match up the photos. Plus, why was the guy holding onto it the next morning in the first place? Why was he carrying/gripping it? Wouldn't he just trash the paper right away after giving the film to Hadd?
- Then I also don't like the motive of Howard's. He wants to be an active writer, but it feels a bit weak to be completing murders to make it seem like a vampire (after all, there's other things he could write, and he's not the only one who could write about the attacks so he's not guaranteed the infamy alone), plus coming to murder Gert so she doesn't rebuild the place is a bit extreme (see next bullet). Howard's writings are creepy, but he struck me as wanting to write stories he himself wanted/believed in like that weird passage, not some made up vampire one. I much prefer Gert's motive more of wanting the land for herself.
- the detective party showed that the legend of the vampire never spread in the news, so there's no point to murdering Gert to stop her from building the Barrington location as there's no 'legend' to preserve in the first place. If he truly wanted to spread a fake legend, he should just target villagers, murder them with bite marks, and let them spread the legend. He should not start commencing the attacks in an isolated closed circle after communications were cut - that would ensure no one would hear/know of it, and it feels like flimsy timing with a flimsy motive. (Murdering Browning makes sense as he knows Howard can dress up as a vampire, but afterward, it's unnecessarily risky to do more murders under two detectives noses. Howard can just as easily spread a legend via the gullible townsfolk.)
- in addition, how do the detectives know it would be then and there that Howard attacks Gert? In reality, he could target her at any time. Plus even if she does start building up the place, he could still commence the attacks to make the vampire legend spread. It doesn't really truly force his hand, does it?
- lastly, I think showing the confrontation scene with Howard would be more climactic, as the party at the end was less exciting and moved slower. The humor with Walter was fun, but it would be more exciting to get a one-on-one of detective-vs-murderer and would be much more tense too.
Caveat: I did figure out some things, like the hand holding during the seance and the cold reading, but for the most part, I did get most of this incorrect, so these complaints may partly be due to my disappointment at my guesses being off, but I just don't like the canonical solutions, especially Hadd's murder and the motive.
As for technical thoughts: there's more grammar issues I noticed in this one than Opening Night Murders. Ex missing periods (I recall one missing after an italicized "Arrrgh" or so), misplaced quotation marks, and then stylistic things I dislike. For example, Mallory calls his partner Walter I think, but the narrator voice swaps between Williams/Walter at times. The thing is that Mallory is essentially the focal character, so the reader should be reading character names from his point of view. Swapping trips the reader up unnecessarily. Similarly, swapping to first person during italics feels off; I'd prefer sticking to third person in italics or not having italics at all.
(Side note again, but the diagrams are great, though I'm confused why there's no Character List, given the previous Opening Night had something of one. Am I missing something? That said, I liked the Challenge to the Reader even if I disliked the section afterward.)
Overall, I liked parts of this but found it disappointing overall in terms of its solutions. I found the Hadd murder particularly irrational on the murderer's part, motive rather weak, and think the shed had alternative footsteps solution possibilities. So not for me. But I liked the partnership between the lead pair and think they make a good dynamic, plus the humor was solid, and it reads very well and is written better than most other self published stuff. (Will leave as 2/5 instead of 1/5 because it's still above average for self published stuff, and I want people to experience this. Byrnside is a very capable author, and I hope his next piece will work better for me.)
EDIT: Oh, and I loved the cutting up the corpse's fingers (to get the dying message) and the "relishing" of the dying message by the detective, which was enjoyable on a meta level.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2021
Should be 3.75 stars, ideally. Very atmospheric, and plays pretty fair with the reader in terms of clues to the solution. Despite the rushed ending and cardboard characters, all the ingredients of a good locked-room mystery are there. James Scott Byrnside is an author I will be keeping my eyes on.
November 26, 2020
The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire is not the first book in the series, and I have not read the others, but I didn't feel hampered by that. The only slight drawback was that I didn't have a clear image of what the main character, Rowan Manory, looks like, but I didn't feel that is detracted from the story. The book works well as a standalone novel.
It's hard to review a mystery without spoilers. I can't refer to specific pieces of evidence that I found a bit lacking without giving away clues. The book promises to give the reader all the evidence needed to solve the mystery, yet in one instance the author presupposes knowledge of a chemical reaction that might not be universally known, and in another instance, the reader is required to assume that a certain object would naturally be found in a household, so no hint of its existence is given prior to the reveal. Even so, the rest of the resolution made sense, so I can't complain too much.
And since I don't read mysteries solely for the mystery, I have to say I really enjoyed the interactions between characters; especially between the detective and his "Watson". Each character in the story is unique, with his/her own motivations and believable emotions. It wasn't hard to imagine them reacting to the circumstances the way they did.
There were a few typos throughout, mostly missing quotation marks or the use of periods where question marks would have worked better, but not enough to be truly irksome. There are also some very funny lines and beautiful descriptions, so I guess it all balances out.
I very much enjoyed this book, and I would certainly recommend it to a friend.
Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
It's hard to review a mystery without spoilers. I can't refer to specific pieces of evidence that I found a bit lacking without giving away clues. The book promises to give the reader all the evidence needed to solve the mystery, yet in one instance the author presupposes knowledge of a chemical reaction that might not be universally known, and in another instance, the reader is required to assume that a certain object would naturally be found in a household, so no hint of its existence is given prior to the reveal. Even so, the rest of the resolution made sense, so I can't complain too much.
And since I don't read mysteries solely for the mystery, I have to say I really enjoyed the interactions between characters; especially between the detective and his "Watson". Each character in the story is unique, with his/her own motivations and believable emotions. It wasn't hard to imagine them reacting to the circumstances the way they did.
There were a few typos throughout, mostly missing quotation marks or the use of periods where question marks would have worked better, but not enough to be truly irksome. There are also some very funny lines and beautiful descriptions, so I guess it all balances out.
I very much enjoyed this book, and I would certainly recommend it to a friend.
Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 19, 2020
After reading the second one I figured why the author had to write this prequel. The shout outs to Hound of Baskerville are plenty to be found in it however the author goofed up with continuity as Rowan had referred to the murder of two women in regard to this case in the second book however the author has changed this in the book to two male victims. The author has also poked fun at his series detective and has him upstaged at the denouement by a Agatha Christie/ Dorothy Sayers Expy though he does get the final word. The detective storyline is supported by many props and clues but I found it to be tedious and didn't see the solution to most conundrums but did guess the perpetrator though albeit not his motive which is absurd to say the least. The author does have a penchant for having clients that always deceive the detective having ulterior motives for the detective to investigate the case and a taste for using dreary poisons as the murder weapon. However it did successfully capture my interest till the end. A decent pastiche combining sherlock Holmes with a touch of Carr. It does flag a bit when touches of humour are forcefully inserted and one trippy scenario where the detective is seemingly lynched by being buried alive but overall it's a good read. It will be interesting if the author will follow up with another prequel or start another series starring a pastiche of Poirot or Wimsey or something.
January 15, 2021
I enjoyed this mystery. I never know “who done it” until the end although my husband always seems to so maybe I’m just no good with mysteries. I’m not sure if there were enough facts given to solve it without finishing but I appreciate the offer to be able to do so.
One thing I would have liked from a more “clue”-like stand point would have been a list of key characters. Sometimes the narrator and characters would use first and last names making it slightly confusing at times to remember who’s who. I liked the map of the garage and would have enjoyed more such as house layout, town map, etc.
I did find it a little disappointing/frustrating when Rowan would come up with a clue or answer but not relinquish it to Williams (or us the reader). There were also a lot of quick dialogues that were hard to follow at times and I’m not sure I’d they are meant to help or purposely confuse the reader.
Overall a fun winter mystery.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
One thing I would have liked from a more “clue”-like stand point would have been a list of key characters. Sometimes the narrator and characters would use first and last names making it slightly confusing at times to remember who’s who. I liked the map of the garage and would have enjoyed more such as house layout, town map, etc.
I did find it a little disappointing/frustrating when Rowan would come up with a clue or answer but not relinquish it to Williams (or us the reader). There were also a lot of quick dialogues that were hard to follow at times and I’m not sure I’d they are meant to help or purposely confuse the reader.
Overall a fun winter mystery.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
November 29, 2020
A fairly clued story, reminiscent of the Golden Age (it’s set in 1920, near Chicago), with a breathtaking pace, where:
a Vampire buried 40 years before makes an appearance at a séance;
the first victim gets murdered in a garage – with a single line of footprints on the snow, between it and the house, and is seen fighting with an invisible assailant;
and then a second victim is found dead in a Locked Room that had also been under surveillance;
plus, both victims had two marks on the neck, like a Vampire’s bite.
If that isn’t enough for you, there also a Dying Message, and a Challenge To The Reader -- and more.
There’s much Humour and some moments of Horror as Detective Rowan Manory and his assistant, Walter Williams, struggle to reach a satisfying conclusion.
it’s a must read, especially for fans of Impossible Crimes.
a Vampire buried 40 years before makes an appearance at a séance;
the first victim gets murdered in a garage – with a single line of footprints on the snow, between it and the house, and is seen fighting with an invisible assailant;
and then a second victim is found dead in a Locked Room that had also been under surveillance;
plus, both victims had two marks on the neck, like a Vampire’s bite.
If that isn’t enough for you, there also a Dying Message, and a Challenge To The Reader -- and more.
There’s much Humour and some moments of Horror as Detective Rowan Manory and his assistant, Walter Williams, struggle to reach a satisfying conclusion.
it’s a must read, especially for fans of Impossible Crimes.
December 1, 2020
First I just want to say that I had so much fun reading this book! It wasn’t what I expected and I loved the sarcastic banter. The range of characters was entertaining to say the least and I found myself laughing quite a few times and had to explain to my family what I was laughing at lol. While reading I could picture in my head Sherlock Holmes meets Clue. I loved it!! And I totally got it wrong in the end! That was fun too, I really enjoy trying to figure out the mystery and I flunked lol!! I look forward to reading this author again. This should totally be made into a movie:).
I received an ARC of this book from BookSirens and my opinions are my own.
I received an ARC of this book from BookSirens and my opinions are my own.
November 18, 2020
A locked room mystery full of impossibilities and mysterious happenings. Throw a seance and a vampire into the mix and you have a remarkable mystery. The only thing that jars is the relation between the detective and his assistant. Why do they always have to fight? And before the final revelation the assistant is off with two ladies for the night. This has absolutely nothing to do with the story. It actually ruins what could have been a near perfect story. This is a self published story. Perhaps an editor would have removed these flaws. Then I would have given it five stars.
January 21, 2024
I didn't think the Detectives Club plot device with Holmeses and Watsons being treated inequally was a brilliant idea. I got the joke, but the whole thing seemed too meta.
The puzzle was certainly elaborate and the misdirections were handled expertly, but the motive for the murders seemed particularly absurd to me. Regarding the seance, ?
I learned from Raylan Givens that marshal is not spelled with two l:s.
The puzzle was certainly elaborate and the misdirections were handled expertly, but the motive for the murders seemed particularly absurd to me. Regarding the seance, ?
I learned from Raylan Givens that marshal is not spelled with two l:s.
February 16, 2021
Disturbingly-fantastic and shockingly-twisted! Intense and riveting! Compulsive and gripping! Will keep you swiping the pages furiously. Suspenseful and addictive! Dark and complex! If you like dark and twisted reads as much as I do, you can't go wrong with this book! This book brings it ALL! Truly a MUST for your TBR list!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
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