Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder

A Novel

By: T. A. Willberg

Narrated by: Karen Cass

Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

"This is the most fun I've had with a book this year. Every page is a delight and the mystery got its hooks into me from the first chapter.” (Stuart Turton, best-selling author of The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle)

The letter was short. A name, a time, a place.

Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder plunges listeners into the heart of London, to the secret tunnels that exist far beneath the city streets. There, a mysterious group of detectives recruited for Miss Brickett's Investigations & Inquiries use their cunning and gadgets to solve crimes that have stumped Scotland Yard.

Late one night in April 1958, a filing assistant at Miss Brickett's receives a letter of warning, detailing a name, a time, and a place. She goes to investigate but finds the room empty. At the stroke of midnight, she is murdered by a killer she can't see - her death the only sign she wasn't alone. It becomes chillingly clear that the person responsible must also work for Miss Brickett's, making everyone a suspect.

Marion Lane, a first-year Inquirer-in-training, finds herself being drawn ever deeper into the investigation. When her friend and colleague is framed for the crime, to clear his name she must sort through the hidden alliances at Miss Brickett's and secrets dating back to WWII. Masterful, clever, and deliciously suspenseful, Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder is a fresh take on the Agatha Christie-style locked-room murder mystery with an exciting new heroine detective.

©2020 T. A. Willberg (P)2020 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Harry Potter meets the Baker St Irregulars

Very average story wrapped around a now standard format. Young, unprepared orphan dealing with terrible authorities. During the entire story I never got the sense of any characteristic which made Marion worthy of the opportunity to join the agency. Not moving onto the next story.

Reminds me of Connie Willis Blackout/all clear

I love the twist of history in this book, the addition of steampunk gadgets and underground world of London that was “there” all along, just hidden in the shadows. For some it might feel slow but the narrator is so good and really separates out the characters that I was hooked from the first sentence. Really enjoyed and hopeful the series continues with the same vibe!

Hope this is just the beginning!

I loved this story and hope this just the beginning of more adventures with Marion Lane & Miss Brickets!

Too twee for me

This was just too “cute”. Could not get interested, listened about 4 hours, did not finish.

Intriguing, Entertaining Story. Lots of Suspense!

Didn't quite know where this story was headed, but I quickly found the story unusually engaging, wanting to hear more. The first half of the book seemed to be taking a different direction than did the last half, which dampened some of my enjoyment. Overall, everything did fit together well, although the narration performance soon outshined the plotline.

Loved the secretive tale of a clandestine investigation agency that solved unsolvable cases of crime and missing children. I had hoped the story might have focused on these events. However, the plotline shifted more to one of solving the unexpected murder of an agency associate and became more macabre and took on darker themes.

This adventure surrounds Marion Lane, a likeable character and an apprentice to the agency's doings in a story set in 1958 London. Appreciated the author's efforts in replicating the historical contexts and economic hardships on people in the languishing times of the postwar recovery.

If this becomes a series, I hope the plotline and storytelling focuses more on the agency's primary role of solving crimes through the many ingenious tools and practices described in this background installment.

Unique? Yes and no

Some people have critiqued this book as being Harry Potter for adults - but honestly, as a mystery fan, I found it closer to a whodunit in a unique technology setting than fantasy. And heck, there were novels with secret worlds in them before HP. It’s enjoyable, characters are interesting, and it’s well narrated. The author could have polished some of the character development but I’m excited to see other books Marion Lane appears in.

A great murder mystery in 1950s London

It's 1958 in London, and Marion Lane is a first-year recruit for Miss Brickett's Investigations & Inquiries, a private investigative service that was started up after the end of WWII by Nancy, who had worked in Bletchley Park and wanted to continue helping her country. Things seem to be going well for Marion and the other first-year recruits, though there is some tension between two of them - Marion's best friend, Bill, and another recruit, David, though Bill won't tell her why.

Then, late one night, a filing assistant who had been an early recruit to the agency received a letter warning that a particularly terrible thing is about to happen. Michelle White goes to investigate, only to find the room empty. But she isn't alone, and she is murdered. While there isn't much evidence available at the murder scene, it quickly becomes clear that whoever the murderer is, they must also work for Miss Beckett's.

Despite not being assigned to the case, Marion finds herself being pulled into the investigation. Hesitant to get involved at first, Marion becomes determined to sort through all the evidence when her friend and mentor is accused of the murder.

I loved the idea behind Miss Beckett's and the world-building that surrounds it. When Marion and Bill discover a map of an area of Miss Bckett's that is off-limits, referred to as The Border, their investigation into who actually killed Michelle White begins in earnest. The map they discover not only maps out the area beyond The Border, but that the hallways in that part of Miss Beckett's Investigations.

The story starts off relatively slowly and doesn't really pick up speed until Marion's mentor, Frank, is accused of the murder. He was caught on camera entering the room where Michelle was discovered - the only person to have done so around the time she was murdered - so he MUST have done it, right? Well, I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say no, he didn't. After all, he's accused at about the 1/3 mark, and Marion's goal is to prove his innocence. It would definitely make her job of defending him against the false accusations a bit difficult. LOL.

Despite that somewhat slow start, it did keep my attention and, once a suspect is identified, the speed, action, and mystery ramp right on up to full speed. The somewhat classic whodunit story is added to with the subterranean setting of Miss Beckett's and the somewhat James Bond-esque feel of the organization as a whole.

In addition, Willberg's construction of Marion is absolutely wonderful. She is a strong young woman who has been living with her grandmother since her mother's death, but she is still dealing with the loss. That complicated character construction isn't just for Marion either. Willberg's characters, whether good or bad, are not just good or bad. They have aspects of both, much like any human being, based upon circumstances and past life experiences. That, more than anything else, is what made this mystery so compelling.

That's not to say the mystery was ignored. It wasn't. The tension that built up as the story progressed was wonderful and while I kind of suspected the who as the reveal got closer, I certainly hadn't pieced together the whole thing.

I'm looking forward to continuing this series and reading more Marion Lane mysteries. For this one, I did listen to the audiobook, which was narrated by Karen Cass. She did a great job and I would definitely listen to more audiobooks narrated by her.

Entertaining Story Marred by Misuse of Language

This otherwise entertaining story was marred for me by the author's frequently inaccurate use of words. For instance, when Marion awakes in bad shape because someone had spiked her drink the night before, the author tells us that "Marion had never looked so destitute." And this is just one of many such instances. (Where was the copy-editor?!!)

meh

I listened for an hour but I couldn't get into it, found it really boring. Will return.

juvenile fantasy

If you're a Harry Potter fan, and I'm not, you may like this . I was glad to get out of the dank, underground London tunnels.