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In the Crypt with a Candlestick by Daisy Waugh

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In the Crypt with a Candlestick

Tode Hall (Book 1)

Publisher
Little, Brown Book Group
Publish Date
20 February 2020
Run Time
7 hours 47 minutes
Format
Audiobook
$13.95

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What to expect

LONGLISTED FOR THE COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT AWARD

'Sharp, funny . . . the best sort of murder mystery' Tatler

'A perfect antidote to all the real-life craziness going on' Daily Mail

Sir Ecgbert Tode of Tode Hall has survived to a grand old age - much to the despair of his younger wife, Emma. But at ninety-three he has, at last, shuffled off the mortal coil.

Emma, Lady Tode, thoroughly fed up with being a dutiful Lady of the Manor, wants to leave the country to spend her remaining years in Capri. Unfortunately her three tiresome children are either unwilling or unable (too mad, too lefty or too happy in Australia) to take on management of their large and important home, so the mantle passes to a distant relative and his glamorous wife.

Not long after the new owners take over, Lady Tode is found dead in the mausoleum. Accident? Or is there more going on behind the scenes of Tode Hall than an outsider would ever guess....?

In the traditions of two great but very different British writers, Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse, Waugh's hilarious and entirely original twist on the country house murder mystery comes complete with stiff upper lips, even stiffer drinks, and any stiffs that might embarrass the family getting smartly brushed under the carpet...

What everyone's saying about In the Crypt with a Candlestick...

'I couldn't put it down' Santa Montefiore

'Deliciously entertaining' Andrew Wilson

'An irresistible champagne bubble of pleasure and laughter' Rachel Johnson

'A perfect antidote to wintry gloom' The Literary Review

'What a triumph!' Antonia Fraser

'A masterclass in how to write a rollicking good read' Sarah Vine

'A jolly farce that never takes itself too seriously' Red Magazine

'Fizzles, crackles and sparkles' Elizabeth Buchan

'A work of sublime silliness' Simon Brett

'An effervescent madcap whodunnit' Metro

'A marvellous rollicking read' Mary Killen

'She's skewered her targets brilliantly' Imogen Edwards-Jones

Critics Review

  • Fans of PG Wodehouse and Agatha Christie should bag this madcap comedy whodunnit . . . Outrageous and over-the-top, a perfect antidote to all real-life craziness going on

    Daily Mail

  • It's sharp, funny and just the right amount of farcical - the best sort of murder mystery

    Tatler

  • I couldn't put it down

    Santa Montefiore

  • What a triumph! It gave me enormous pleasure to read, plus of course a few appropriate shudders. [In the Crypt] lightens the darkness in a way that is both dark and light

    Antonia Fraser

See more reviews
  • An irresistible champagne bubble of pleasure and laughter

    Rachel Johnson

  • Agatha Christie but with a bit of Julian Fellowes's Snobs and Downtown Abbey thrown in . . . A masterclass in how to write a rollicking good read

    Sarah Vine

  • A jolly farce that never takes itself too seriously

    Red Magazine

  • Fizzles, crackles and sparkles
  • An irresistible, high-camp crime caper - deliciously entertaining
  • A perfect antidote to wintry gloom

    The Literary Review

  • An effervescent madcap whodunnit

    Metro

  • A country-house murder mystery with nods to Agatha Christie and Evelyn Waugh. From the deceased's name (Sir Ecgbert Tode of Tode Hall) to the art deco cover, it's a delightful treat

    The Lady

  • A work of sublime silliness. The knife-edge between crime and comedy is a tricky one, but Daisy Waugh negotiates it magnificently. The story is preposterous, as it should be in a book of this kind, and the author is clearly less interested in the finer points of crime plotting than she is in sharp observations and social satire. The result is a delightful book, witty, pacy and beautifully written.
  • This is a marvellous rollicking read with brilliantly drawn characters. I finished it within 24 hours

    Mary Killen

  • She's spot on; she's skewered her targets brilliantly

    Imogen Edwards-Jones

  • One imagines that Waugh had nearly as much fun writing it as we do reading it

    Catholic Herald

  • This whodunnit, set in a twisted version of PG Wodehouse's terrain, is deeply funny

    Morning Star

User Reviews

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Details

Author
Daisy Waugh
Narrator
Penelope Rawlins
Duration
7 hours 47 minutes
Release Date
20 February 2020
ISBN
9781405546959
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Little, Brown Book Group
Genre
Crime and / or mystery fiction, Comical (humorous) crime and mystery, Crime and mystery: women sleuths / detectives

Synopsis

LONGLISTED FOR THE COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT AWARD'Sharp, funny . . . the best sort of murder mystery' Tatler'A perfect antidote to all the real-life craziness going on' Daily MailSir Ecgbert Tode of Tode Hall has survived to a grand old age - much to the despair of his younger wife, Emma. But at ninety-three he has, at last, shuffled off the mortal coil.Emma, Lady Tode, thoroughly fed up with being a dutiful Lady of the Manor, wants to leave the country to spend her remaining years in Capri. Unfortunately her three tiresome children are either unwilling or unable (too mad, too lefty or too happy in Australia) to take on management of their large and important home, so the mantle passes to a distant relative and his glamorous wife.Not long after the new owners take over, Lady Tode is found dead in the mausoleum. Accident? Or is there more going on behind the scenes of Tode Hall than an outsider would ever guess....?In the traditions of two great but very different British writers, Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse, Waugh's hilarious and entirely original twist on the country house murder mystery comes complete with stiff upper lips, even stiffer drinks, and any stiffs that might embarrass the family getting smartly brushed under the carpet...What everyone's saying about In the Crypt with a Candlestick...'I couldn't put it down' Santa Montefiore'Deliciously entertaining' Andrew Wilson'An irresistible champagne bubble of pleasure and laughter' Rachel Johnson'A perfect antidote to wintry gloom' The Literary Review'What a triumph!' Antonia Fraser'A masterclass in how to write a rollicking good read' Sarah Vine'A jolly farce that never takes itself too seriously' Red Magazine'Fizzles, crackles and sparkles' Elizabeth Buchan'A work of sublime silliness' Simon Brett'An effervescent madcap whodunnit' Metro'A marvellous rollicking read' Mary Killen'She's skewered her targets brilliantly' Imogen Edwards-Jones

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