Overview
From award-winning children's author Ross Montgomery comes the first in a gripping new crime series, where Downton Abbey meets Knives Out with a sprinkle of wickedness. Downton Abbey meets Knives Out in the gripping new crime series from the bestselling author where an unlikely sleuthing duo - an under-butler and a foul-mouthed octogerian - hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world. Cornwall, 1910. On a remote tidal island, the Viscount of Tithe Hall is absorbed in feverish preparations for the apocalypse that he believes will accompany the passing of Halley's Comet. The Hall must be sealed from top to bottom - every window, chimney and keyhole closed off before night falls. But what the pompous, dishonest Viscount has failed to take into account is the danger that lies within... By morning, he will be dead in his sealed study, murdered by his own ancestral crossbow. All eyes turn to Stephen Pike, Tithe Hall's newest under-butler. Fresh out of Borstal for a crime he didn't commit, he is the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. His unlikely ally? Miss Decima Stockingham, the foul-mouthed, sharp as a tack, 80-year-old family matriarch. Fearless and unconventional, she relishes chaos and puzzles alike, and a murder is just the thrill she's been waiting for. Together, this mismatched duo must navigate secret passages, buried grudges and rising terror to unmask the killer before it's too late...
Full Product Details
Author: Ross Montgomery
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint: Viking
Dimensions:
Width: 15.10cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 23.30cm
Weight: 0.427kg
ISBN: 9780241766170
ISBN 10: 0241766176
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 30 October 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Not yet available
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.
Reviews
A tantalising whodunnit with some of the funniest dialogue I’ve read in a while. I enjoyed it immensely -- Jennie Godfrey Ingeniously plotted and highly addictive. Fans of P G Wodehouse will enjoy this! -- Alexander Armstrong Get ready to add this to your Book of the Year list. This is impeccable writing, with a plot as sharp as cut glass and characters that jump right out of the pages. A joy from start to finish -- Janice Hallet
Author Information
Ross Montgomery is the author of award-winning books for children. His novels have been twice shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book of the Year and twice selected for the Waterstones' Children's Book of the Month, as well as chosen for the Sunday Times 'Top 100 Modern Children's Classics'. His latest, I Am Rebel, was an immediate bestseller, chosen by Waterstones as their Children's Book of the Year 2024. He lives in London with his wife, a baby, and a cat named Fun Bobby. The Murder at World's End is his first adult novel.
