Death in the Spires

De: KJ Charles

Narrado por: Tom Lawrence

The newspapers called us the Seven Wonders. We were a group of friends, that’s all, and then Toby died. Was killed. Murdered.

1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.

Jem begins to track down the people who were there the night Toby died – a close circle of friends once known as the ‘Seven Wonders’ for their charm and talent – only to find them as tormented and broken as himself. All of them knew and loved Toby at Oxford. Could one of them really be his killer?

As Jem grows closer to uncovering what happened that night, his pursuer grows bolder, making increasingly terrifying attempts to silence him for good. Will exposing Toby's killer put to rest the shadows that have darkened Jem’s life for so long? Or will the gruesome truth only put him in more danger?

Some secrets are better left buried…

From the bestselling, acclaimed author of The Magpie Lord and The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen comes a chilling historical mystery with a sting in the tail. You won’t be able to put this gripping story down!

©2024 KJ Charles (P)2024 Storm Publishing

A mystery is afoot!

This new offering from KJ Charles is a head-scratching murder mystery, and it is a humdinger! I never figured it out!
Jem Kite sets out to solve the decade-old murder of one of his best friends at Oxford University. Jem and his six closest friends were called the Seven Wonders for their all-around excellence, arriving at Oxford from different backgrounds and becoming fast friends despite their differences. When one of their own is murdered before the finals of their last year, they know (because reasons) that one of them did it.
We follow Jem as he sets out to find the killer, and as told in flashbacks, we learn how the Seven Wonders became close, and how they ultimately almost destroyed themselves.
I found this book riveting, with a cast of fascinating characters we’ve come to expect from KJ Charles! Tom Lawrence’s performance for the audiobook is perfect! Brava!

Hated for it to end

Wow! Every once in while Audible's Daily Deal pays off for me. Most days the discounted book they offer is one I wouldn't read if you paid me or something I've already bought. When Death in the Spires came up, I almost passed it by. I like a good murder mystery now and then, but that's not my go-to genre of speculative fiction and I despise graphic depiction of murder. But the ratings from people I respect were quite high so what the heck, it's on sale. Right Decision! I loved this book. It is a murder mystery set in England around the turn of the 20th century. The murder happens at Oxford and only the victim's 6 closest friends can possibly have done it, but there is insufficient evidence to charge anyone. That does not mean the 6 friends go on to HEA - 5 of them are cruelly and horribly impacted by grief and the ongoing suspicion and the friends so badly mistrust each other that none of them maintain contact. One day an anonymous letter to his superior again costs Jem (our main protagonist) his job and that straw broke the camel's back. Jem begins a crusade to find out who actually committed the murder of his college friend. We then get an expertly woven tale of past and present - the history of this grand friendship and the murder investigation by Jem. The author does a great job of leaving clues and providing motivation for all the suspects - most "sleuthy" readers will suss the real killer before the reveal, but that isn't the end of the fun. There are many mysteries in this book - each of the friends has been hiding a grave secret or a real horror - and I loved the surprises that came all the way to the end.

So we have a nice plot that sets and maintains a steady pace, great characterizations, and wonderful atmospheric settings. All I could want in a book. When you add in very nice narration provided by Tom Lawrence, Death in the Spires becomes all I could want in an Audiobook.

Having loved this book, I am off to read a little more from KJ Charles in hopes that I find some more gold.

Fabulous voice, well written story

Loved the characters. They were deep, complex, and all so human. KJ Charles is an incredible writer for all her stories.

the good parts of the relationships

I wish the person who was the killer wasn't the killer but it was now wasn't it

Loved it!!

I thought I knew the answer… I didn’t! I loved this tale of mystery, friendships gone wrong, secrets, and hope. There is a fine thread of romance, but it definitely isn’t the focus. Wonderfully diverse characters make this a great read.

worth reading

I wasn't sure I liked the narration at first, but in the end he was great. I thought I knew who the killer was and was getting bored it was taking so long, but then I was wrong (twice) and the story twisted again. It tied together well. Everything fit. Whenever I'm a little skeptical in KJ Charles' books, she ends up being right in the end. Have faith.
One poor review mentioned intimate scenes being "lacking." They are "fade to black" scenes, not detailed and not like her other romance novels but she was clear - this is a murder mystery, not a romance novel. Still, they added to the story. I can appreciate subtlety. I liked Jem leaving his stocking on in chapter 9, and taking it off in chaper 14.

Original Plot

An interesting story of Oxford students at the end of the 19th century with subtle class conscious features. At times a little slow but the ending was clever and excellent.

Thoroughly enjoyable

The narration was great and the story was full of good twists and turns with character development. Overall really enjoyed and will be looking for more from this author.

Charles proving she can write any genre she wants to

It's been well over a year since I read a book that I didn't want to put down, that made me annoyed that there were other things happening that made me have to put the book down. This book was that book and it was amazing!

This isn't a romance, but it is kind of a love story about friendship, even friendship that is not what you might think it is. I would love to see more of Jem and Nicky, but I want to see more about all of the other characters just as much. I did not want to leave this world behind and contemplated just starting to reread it immediately. This is a mystery, but, for me, that might have been the least important part of the story. The destruction of the friendship of the Seven Wonders, the impact of finding out that the your friends weren't who you thought, and how that continued to affect all of them was so well-done. I loved seeing them come back together to finally resolve Toby's murder to their satisfaction. I loved that they recognized as a group that sometimes things can be resolved without involving law enforcement, that maybe what happened was better for everyone involved, and that payment had been made already was wonderful. Charles has an amazing ability to write morally ambiguous characters that are relatable, and that you can care deeply about. The world that she created was just so all-encompassing and wonderful to live in, the friendships were so deeply felt, and the tension of the who-dunnit and who=was=doing it was perfectly spot on. I would love to see her follow up with these characters because I feel like we need to know what happens next for all of them. I hope that the lives they lead are better for the resolution and their possibly re-kindled friendships.

This is absolutely going on my reread rotation.

Audio: other than giving a bit more nasal tones to Nicky and Aaron than I liked he was wonderful. Everyone was clearly delineated, the female voices sounded female, and the pronunciations were all great. I would listen to more from him.

The characters!!

I love how distinct the characters are, KJC knows how to make the characters lead the book. The more you find out, the more unsurprising the actions feel. It's like getting to say " of course they would do that" or "of course they would feel this way" or even " I would feel the same way". I was yelling at this book, and hollering "beat they ass! Beat they ass!" Or "bitch no you fucking didn't!" ... This is a good book, extremely well written as always. I would relisten again. Audiobook was 10/10 and wouldn't mind purchasing the big so I can study character building.