Eighty years of secrets. A body that reveals them all.
1940. At Yew Tree House, recently widowed Adelaide Stride is raising her two daughters alone – but it's not just the threat of German invasion that keeps her up at night. She is surrounded by enemies posing as allies and, while war rages, she grows sure that something terrible is about to happen.
2023. Soon after Stella Darnell begins her holiday at Yew Tree House, a skeleton is found in a pillbox at the bottom of the garden. The bullet hole in the skull tells her that the person was murdered.
This triggers the unravelling of a mystery eighty years in the making. Soon, Stella will learn that Adelaide was right to worry – the fighting might have been happening abroad, but the true enemy was always much closer to home...
I'm delighted to be hosting the blog tour for The Mystery of Yew Tree House today. Many thanks to Lesley Thomson, Head of Zeus and Poppy Delingpole from Ransom PR for inviting me and for my advance digital copy of the novel, received through Netgalley.
The Mystery of Yew Tree House is the ninth book in Lesley Thomson's Detective's Daughter series. I haven't read the previous novels but having thoroughly enjoyed The Companion, I decided it was worth taking a risk and jumping in here. I'm so glad I did because despite a little initial confusion as I made sense of the relationships between the returning characters, this is such an enjoyable read with a cleverly plotted dual-timeline mystery.
The narrative alternates between the present day and the war years but is set in the same Sussex village of Bishopstone and is centred on what really happened at the titular Yew Tree House. In 1940 it's the home of recently widowed Adelaide Stride who is now raising her daughters alone but has more problems to deal with than solitary motherhood. In the present day, the house is the holiday home for Stella Darnell, her partner, Jack and his seven-year-old twins, Millie and Justin. Despite the passage of time, characters from the past are still around in 2023 and it's their secrets which are gradually revealed after a skeleton is discovered in an old pillbox. The two storylines complement one another perfectly and there's a beautifully immersive sense of place which is reminiscent of a classic English mystery and yet feels entirely fresh.
There can be no doubting that there's a very real tragedy at the heart of this novel, or that it features some truly despicable people. However, Lesley Thomson writes with a delightfully light touch and there are some very funny scenes too. Both Stella and Jack have sombre ties to the area and although I have missed seeing their relationship evolve over the course of the series, there is enough backstory to ensure I became thoroughly invested in them as a couple and as a family. Their different strengths and weaknesses are crucial to the plot and I was soon able to understand why this series has so many admirers. Their domestic situation undergoes changes here which may be unexpected but add a further layer of interest to the plot. Millie and Justin are – perhaps inevitably – the source of much of the humour and I suspect there may be a split between readers who love them and those who are left cold by their behaviour. I thought they were wonderful, especially the precocious, fiercely determined and morbidly fascinated Millie who is clearly a detective in the making.
The identity of the skeleton and what it reveals about the past is compelling, with the chapters that follow Adelaide and her family hinting at something awful which we know will result in murder. The wartime setting, where fear of the enemy and the darkness of the blackout creates an atmospheric, chilling backdrop. While all the stalwarts of village life are here, it's the sinister curate, Snace who is arguably the most intriguing character, especially as there are such divided options about him throughout the novel. It's not surprising that the Home Guard and ARP wardens should feature in a book set in this period but they are far from the Dad's Army image often conjured up, and there's a rather poignant look at the forgotten recruits to the highly secret Auxiliary Units. Also known as Churchill's Secret Army, this last line of resistance in the event of a German invasion were never entitled to any recognition after the war ended. Lesley Thomson's examination of long-held secrets results in the truth finally being told and as much as the fictional tragedy is compulsively heartbreaking, this recognition of the 'stay behinds' is touchingly welcome too.
The Mystery of Yew Tree House is a tense, absorbing exploration of dark secrets, family ties, and the best and worst of what people are capable of; I thought it was excellent and highly recommend this compulsive, entertaining and warm-hearted mystery.
The Mystery of Yew Tree House is published by Aries and can be purchased the publisher's website or from bookshop.org. Hive, Waterstones, Amazon, Kobo or your favourite independent bookshop.
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