Murder at Malenfer

By: Iain McChesney

Narrated by: Meral Mathews

Those in line to the Malenfer estate are succumbing to terrible ends - is a supernatural legacy at work, or something entirely more human?

Young Irish mercenary Dermot Ward retreats to Paris at the close of World War I where he drinks to forget his experiences, especially the death of his comrade, Arthur Malenfer. But Arthur has not forgotten Dermot.

Dead but not departed, Arthur has unfinished business and needs the help of the living. Upon his arrival at Malenfer Manor, Dermot finds himself embroiled in a mystery of murder, succession, and ambition. Dermot falls in love with the youngest Malenfer, the beautiful fey Simonne - but in his way are Simonne's mismatched fiancé, her own connections to the spirit world, Dermot's guilt over the circumstances of Arthur's death...and a curse.

©2013 Iain McChesney (P)2016 Wayzgoose Press

VG historical mystery with supernatural element

If you could sum up Murder at Malenfer in three words, what would they be?

Gothic, historical, mystery.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I did enjoy the mystery and the dark atmosphere at the Malenfer estate.

Have you listened to any of Meral Mathews’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't listened to any of Meral's performances before but I would certainly listen to more.
I thought the accents were cleverly done- subtle rather than particularly accurate which made it easier to listen to.
Dermot's Irish accent was a generic southern Irish accent rather the northern Donegal but I was glad that the narrator didn't attempt a complicated regional accent. Dermot sounded suitably Irish in a gentle way that didn't grate on this Donegal girls' nerves. His pronunciation of Donegal wasn't correct but he did a great job when he had to speak a cúpla focail as Gaeilge. As a non native speaker he did a great job of speaking in Irish.
Arthur and the Malenfer family's accent contrasted well with Dermot's Irish accent. They didn't necessarily sound particularly French but they were easily identifiable as European. I found that I preferred this approach. An affected French accent for the length of a book can be difficult to understand to an English speaking audience.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I thought that the war scenes were very well written. We get a brief glimpse into the horrors of war; the camaraderie and friendships between soldiers driven by a shared experience rather than their social status, the claustrophobic conditions in the trenches and the particularly horrific effects of chemical warfare. The war scenes were few and concentrated on the time surrounding Arthur's death.
I enjoyed listening to the descriptions of post war Paris (1919) and I would have liked the characters to have stayed there a little bit longer. The gaiety of city contrasted well with the gloomy atmosphere in Malenfer.
Arthur mentions the flag of the Irish Free State displayed alongside the French Tricolor. In 1919 the national flag would have been referred to as the flag of the Irish Republic as the Free State was not created until 1922, under the Anglo Irish Treaty following the War of Independence (1919-1921)

Any additional comments?

I voluntarily wrote a review after receiving a copy from the author/publisher.

Murder At Malenfer

Great paranormal historical mystery book! I listened to it straight through to the end. Glad I bought it.

Murder at Malenfar

This was a good book.Simone is getting engaged to a man her parents approve of, but is he right for HER? She is from a family where the oldest son inherits everything.Sadly her brothers are dropping like flies.She gets a notice before each death.Her oldest brothers friend shows up with a message from him, after his death.Meral Matthews is a good narrator for this book.I was provided this book free for review by the author, narrator r publisher.

Murder at Malenfer

I really enjoyed the story, however in the beginning I did have a little trouble keeping up with the back and forth of the characters. The story has a nice plot twist of who the murder is. I love how the narration brought the story to life.

Not My Cup of Tea

What would have made Murder at Malenfer better?

I don't know. The story was slow and I just couldn't get into it. I didn't really care what was going on with the characters and got a little confused as to who was who.