Death in the Crypt

A Cressida Fawcett Mystery, Book 5

By: Fliss Chester

Narrated by: Sofia Zervudachi

Lady Cressida Fawcett is expecting the cathedral crypt to be full of dry old bones. But when she finds a body murdered just moments before, she’ll need divine inspiration to solve her most mysterious case yet…

Winchester, 1925. When heiress and amateur sleuth Cressida Fawcett is invited to her aunt’s mansion on Cloister Close, she is looking forward to a quiet stay in the historic town. The views of the cathedral are heavenly–and her aunt’s maid, Nancy, makes devilishly good ginger biscuits! But it seems Cressy and her pug Ruby won’t be allowed to rest in peace… On a tour of the crypt, they are shocked to stumble across the body of Anthony, the gentle, devoted verger. And a wild-eyed Nancy is standing over him, bloodied candlestick in hand…

Since Nancy was caught red-handed and the only other suspect is the Silent Friar, the legendary local ghost, Detective Andrews of Scotland Yard thinks the case is closed. But Nancy swears she would never have killed Anthony; they were in love. And while Cressy may not believe in ghosts, she does believe Nancy. So, whose soul is full of murder most foul? And will they strike again?

As she digs through parishioner gossip, Cressy discovers that for a man of the cloth, the verger had a surprising number of enemies. Was a local antiques dealer driven to murder over an illegal trade in holy relics? Would the head bellringer kill to achieve his musical ambitions? Or is the saintly Dean, whose black-cloaked figure resembles the Silent Friar and whose wife recently drowned, hiding a deadly sin?

The cathedral conceals many secrets, and it seems Cressy will need a miracle to uncover the truth. But then Cressy finds a hidden passageway to the crypt. Is this how the murderer escaped? The sceptical police lack faith in her theories, but can she catch the killer and save Nancy from the hangman’s noose? Or will she be too late to prevent another funeral march?

A totally gripping and deliciously witty historical murder mystery with a gasp-out-loud reveal, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss.

©2024 Fliss Chester (P)2024 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

Great story to go along with the series

this book continues the series well with good writing that's easy to follow. the characters are interesting and the narrator did a great job reading it. I would recommend the whole series.

Excellent

Excellent. So sad this is the last one so far. Cannot wait to have more adventures with these characters. Spot on narrative throughout!

Good wholesome fun!

Great characters, friendship, a budding relationship and fun settings. Of course there is a cute little dog who always helps save the day. A fun light hearted read.

Great little creepy mystery

These audio books are all great performances with the narrator bringing the characters to life in your head. The writing is excellent with snappy, natural dialog and vivid descriptions — just enough to evoke your imagination — although the timeframe is vague. The murder takes place in a crypt — dark, wet, with all the creepy. And Chrissy returns there multiple times to work things out! Listen to this one in the dark for full effect!

New narrator not up to snuff

I’m struggling with change of narrator to Sofia for the main female character, Cressida. I really like this book series previous narrator, Daphne, tone for the Bright Young Things main characters. This narrator’s Cressida doesn’t sound young enough, may be it’s her husky voice I find off-putting. I increased the voice speed for a faster tempo and so far listened through chapter 3 to see if I can accept the change, but I’m leaning to returning for a refund.

This narrator does the other new characters fine and does a good job in distinguishing between male and female characters. However, only Cressida is in this book so far to my listening point and missing her best friend and her friend’s brother (a potential love interest) for full immersion effect of the new narrator.