Rules of Murder

"In this cozy mystery set in the early 1930s English countryside, a party at Drew Farthering's country estate proves deadly, Farthering and a clever debutante guest try to catch the killer before he claims another victim"--Provided by publisher.

User reviews

LibraryThing member BookAngel_a

This book is a lovely cozy country house murder mystery with a romance thrown in as well. It was perfect comfort reading for me and I would definitely read more in this series.

Drew Farthering and his friend Nick love murder mysteries, so when a man is killed at a gathering at Drew's house, they

decide to help the police with their investigation. The only complication is the beautiful Madeline Parker, a guest who also wants to help investigate - and she is a huge distraction to Drew.

Drew's friend Nick keeps referring to "the rules" of writing murder mysteries, so there is a lot of reference to other mystery writers and this creates a little bit of humor and satire as well.

This book is labeled as Christian fiction, and I do not normally read Christian fiction. But I love cozy British mysteries so I thought I'd give it a try. The Christian element was very low key and not preachy at all. I really enjoyed it and will look for more Drew Farthering mysteries in the future, when I'm in the mood for cozy, light, comfort reading!

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LibraryThing member karieh

To be perfectly honest, if I would have paid a bit more attention to the book details on “Rules of Murder” by Julianna Deering, I probably would not have chosen it. It is published by a religious publisher – which is absolutely fine – but as such – would not normally be my choice.

However,

once I received and read this book, the religious element was very minor – it probably only comes up about 5 times – mostly having to do with the death of a loved one – and as such, does not stand out much.

“Rules of Murder” is a pleasant English murder mystery – well written and thought out. I don’t think it would put it to the level of Christie or Sayers – but Deering does include more detail and leaves the reader a bit less flabbergasted at the end of the book than either of those two authors.

I wish the author the best with what looks like the beginning of an interesting mystery series.

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LibraryThing member FHC

I loved this book!
As a longtime Agatha Christie fan, I am delited to disover the same appreciation evident in Ms Deering's writing.

Full advantage of the era has been taken in descriptions, locales, dialogue, and the country estate setting. All the accoutrements of a well devised mystery that will

keep a reader curious. The amateur sleuths, Drew and Nick, are likeable, drawing me in with their humour and idiosyncrasies. The budding attractions and romantic inclinations of the visiting American young women on a European tour, add human interest to the efforts of solving the mysterious murder. And will it stop at one...?

Red herrings aplenty and devious plot twists built and kept the tension. My mystery solving concentration was fully engaged. Pleasurably so. Every rule of the ten to Never employ when writing a mystery, according to Nick's favourite author, are employed as the story unfolds. Thus,the title 'The Rules of Murder'. Their sense of humour serves the story well, lightening the tension, yet keeping the focus.

Murder mystery buffs will take an enjoyable reading adventure with this one. And if you solve it, you're a better sleuth than all of us put together.

5* from me.
Highly recommended.

Next in Julianna Deering's Drew Farthering Mysteries?
Death By the Book - due in 2014

*Thank you to Bethany House Publishers for providing a reading copy in exchange for my review.

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LibraryThing member readerbynight

I love this book! A good old English romp with mystery abounding. Fans of the old-type English mysteries will find this debut series reminiscent of bygone eras, Dorothy Sayer's Lord Wimsey in particular comes to mind.

Placed in the year 1932, a not so typical rich, single young heir Drew Farthering,

whose best friend Nick is the son of the butler, lives with his mother and step-father in the family mansion. On the eve of one of his mother's spectacular parties, three young girls arrive from America for a visit. One of the young ladies is the niece of Drew's step-father and a beautiful handful she is. But Drew is not the only admirer at the party. The fiend after prey, Lincoln, has also got his eye on the prize, much to her consternation. Between Madeline, Drew and Nick, he is disgraced and disappears outside with Drew's mother. Shortly afterward, Drew and Madeline stumble across Lincoln's body, or is it? Difficult to tell since his head is blown away.

This is the beginning of a story that will take the reader through many twists and turns. Julianna Deering writes with all the wit the English delivered in pre-WWII mysteries. Nostalgia overtakes me as I read.

As Drew and Nick, sometimes assisted by Madeline, decide to try to solve what has become a string of crimes, there are more mysteries, more deaths. Are they related? It's a possibility, but difficult to link. The more they investigate, the more danger they are in. Yet, the young people feel they are close to the solution often, only to find it to be a red herring. Will they learn the culprit or culprits before the police? Will they learn the true victims of the case? An exciting yet labyrinthian chase through odd places gives added excitement to the quandary. Too many suspects then suddenly too few suspects. Fun and games until it hits too close to home. A different twist to the old-style mystery keeps it fresh. With a surprising ending, I really enjoyed it and look forward to more in the Drew Farthering series.

I received this book from Library Thing Early Reviewers in exchange for an honest review. The words and rating are mine alone.

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LibraryThing member cmbohn

I received this book free in exchange for a review.

This book was billed as Downton Abbey meets Agatha Christie. Not an entirely bad description, but I would add a bit of Grace Livingston Hill or some other Christian writer too. I see that several of the other reviewers objected to that aspect, but

I felt like it really didn't intrude that much into the story.

Secrets, romance, class tensions, house party drama - it really was a lot like Downton Abbey. I thought it was fun. I'd be happy to read the next one in this series.

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LibraryThing member samfsmith

An enjoyable cozy mystery in the style of Agathe Christie, a delightful throwback to an "old-school" murder mystery. The primary attraction of novels like this is figuring out whodunit before the author reveals the answers. There are lots of plot twists, likeable characters, plenty of red-herrings

and false leads, and an unexpected moral slant to the story hat makes it suitable for readers of any age.

Well done.

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LibraryThing member tiegster

I enjoyed this book as I do most cozy mysteries. There were a few punctuation errors, but as I was reading an advanced reader copy, I'm assuming most of that was corrected before final publishing. While it broke Father Knox's rule for mysteries, it was still fun to see how it would break the rules

and if I could solve it before the end. The characters were believable, but their development was not. It kind of annoys me when an author has two people fall in love in 3 days. I know it happens, but still.

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LibraryThing member alans

This was a torturous read. The writing style throughout is poor and the plot is full of terrible cliches. The author tries to style the novel on the old
english country estate classic English mystery that was popularized by such famous writers as Agatha Christie, and this is how the book is being

marketed, but the whole enterprise lacks wit and originality.
Like the other reviewers on this site for this book had I known this book was released by a Christian publisher and the author has a Christian
intent within the story, I would never have signed up for it. I find such
leanings to be most unpleasant, especially when there is little else to redeem the book.
I am not a fan of books that deal with the old English estate and the
fuddy-duddy characters who live there and the smart young folks who
shall inherit the earth one day, so perhaps I was the wrong audience for such a book. Personally I favour more hard-core mysteries and this definitely falls in the category of a cozy, but it is an unremarkable cozy and the characters all come across as being forced. Even the discovery of the body which most of the book then revolves around struck me as being silly and contrived. I would only recommend this book to a huge
fan of the cozy in the english manor style, and certainly to someone who has an interest in Christian themed literature.

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LibraryThing member Holly_Combs

The new novel Rules of Murder by Julianna Deering presents the affable, young country gentleman Drew Farthering in his first attempt at solving a murder.

During a soiree at his family home, a man is murdered and Drew embarks on a quest to use the knowledge he’s learned from popular mystery novels

to solve this real-life crime. With his best friend, Nick, at his side and the beautiful and intelligent American girl, Madeline, to impress, Drew leaves no stone unturned in his hunt to find the killer.

The novel is lighthearted and reminiscent of the popular murder mysteries of the 1930s. However, Deering lost credibility with me along the way as not one, not two, but three murders take place at the Farthering home. The plot leaves something to be desired as clues become almost too obvious to the reader and the mystery is quickly unraveled.

The characters are endearing and incredibly likable, perhaps too likable. At times, Drew just didn’t seem realistic–finding out that his mother isn’t who he thought she was (or his father, for that matter) hardly fazes him. And the death of loved ones that he respects and trusts? It provides him with an entertaining mystery to solve, barely making an impact emotionally. That’s just hard to believe.

Madeline is purported to be a strong character, intelligent, independent and dogged in her determination, but more often than not she is portrayed as fearful, utterly dependent on others and often satisfied to be left behind. What could have been a winning character simply didn’t impress. And the relationship and budding romance between Drew and Madeline is sweet, but oversimplified.

Unfortunately, the characters hardly seem to grow or change at all over the course of the novel, creating a lack of depth. And themes of faith are portrayed only briefly and in terribly cliche moments.

In all, Rules of Murder is a lighthearted and fun step back in time, however I hope any forthcoming Drew Farthering mysteries portray evolving characters and more stimulating plot lines.

I received a complimentary copy of Rules of Murder from Bethany House Publishers, but I was not otherwise compensated for this review. All writing, thoughts, and opinions are solely mine.

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LibraryThing member jcarpentercc

Meh. It was okay, but not great. The evangelical things she threw in just distracted from the story because they weren't integrated well.

LibraryThing member fmgee

To start Bethany House makes a really nice book. For an advanced reading copy it is superb in all facets except content. There are so many things wrong with Rules of Murder that it is hard to know where to start. There was potential here but with so many good mysteries out there it is a genre that

is hard to do well at. The characters had no depth and the relationships between them were often stated but not explored. One sentence they were introduced and a couple of sentences they had advanced to a new level without any exploration of how it happened. There was no suspense, and the surprises packed no punch. I know that Bethany House is a religious publisher and religion was spread through the book but not in excess. However, the voice of the book changed dramatically whenever there was a religious tilt which was distracting to the story. I will not be following the series.

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LibraryThing member timtom

Somewhere in the English countryside in the 1930s, a party comes to an abrupt end when the corpse of a dinner guest is found in the greenhouse. Notwithstanding the police inspector dispatched to the scene, the young heir of the manor, Drew, his friend Nick and Madeline, a visiting American, decide

to conduct their own investigation...

Written in the style of the classic English mystery, this story sadly fails to create the unmistakable atmosphere of a good Agatha Christie novel. Its writing is cumbersome and laden with clichés, and despite the important body count, the intrigue never really picks up. The romantic involvement of Drew and Madeline is impossibly sexist and downright puritan, not to mention boring: what good love story is resolved in the first ten pages, leaving the two characters meekly exchanging platitudes for the rest of the story? Religious undertones further add to the story's clumsiness, making up for a rather disappointing read.

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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50

Rules of Murder by Julia Deering is a cozy mystery story that had many elements that I enjoyed, in particular the setting of a grand English Manor. As this is the first in a planned series, the introduction and establishing of the characters played a large part of the story. Drew Farthering,

Madeline Parker and Nick Dennison are a likeable trio and their efforts to solve the crime had the enough twists and turns to keep the reader involved.

Rules of Murder is marketed as Christian fiction and there is an element of that involved, but it is quite low key and doesn't distract from the overall flow of the story.

Other than some of the classic mystery writers I don't usually read much in the line of cozy mysteries but I would recommend Rules of Murder to those who enjoy this type of mystery.

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LibraryThing member Snowstorm14

The author is obviously a fan of Dorothy Sayers as the protagonist is modeled after Lord Peter Wimsey. But a number of problems arise early on in this whodunit. First we are introduced to so many people in the first chapter it’s hard to keep track of the players without a scorecard. You can tell

who the first victim will be from a mile away. As the story progresses, it seems as though no one could be the murderer. The characters are all one-dimensional and the story lacks suspense.

The basic writing is not bad, and there’s an occasional bit of humor but the plot gets unnecessarily convoluted. It’s a X pretends to be Y but in reality he was Z type of mish mosh at the end, and the reader is left wondering why some characters were even involved in the first place.

Not much here except women dissolving into tears, geezers having heart palpitations, and Drew of the manor strolling arm in arm with someone. There are better books of this genre on the market.

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LibraryThing member saroz

I'm afraid I just couldn't get into this. It felt like pure pastiche: the manor house, the prodigal son, the burgeoning romance,the comic relief sidekick. I spent my teen years reading Agatha Christie and frankly, she wrote so many books in this general vein there's not much need for any more.

(Never mind Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham and other of her contemporaries writing them, too.) I also have to say the faith aspect to the story left me totally cold; I wasn't aware of it when I signed up to receive the book - that detail was not included in the advance summary provided to LibraryThing - and generally, I feel like murder mysteries are quite "black and white" enough without additional moralizing being necessary. In fairness, though, as a non-religious reader, that aspect was never going to appeal to me anyway.

Overall, the book just felt like quick, safe reading for people who like a very specific kind of book and don't test their boundaries very often. That's fine, but it's not me. With a lack of really sparkling characters or dazzling wit, something so...simple...just couldn't hold my attention.

Read a good 1920s or '30s Poirot or Campion mystery instead. They're far more worth your time.

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LibraryThing member Glenajo

For Lovers of Film Noir and Classic Mysteries

This is just a pure work of clean fun! The setting is on an old estate in England with a few Americans thrown in to accent the flavor. When a murder occurs, the characters are intent to solve the mystery by the rules of murder set by a mystery author.

The game keeps twisting creating lots of interest and fun. If you love Agatha Christi or old murder mystery movies, you will enjoy this book. I recommend it to anyone looking for a clean mystery with Christian and romantic theme sunning through. I will definitely pick up the second in the series.

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LibraryThing member Kathy89

I purchased this Kindle book because I like the art work on the cover. It is supposed to be a romantic murder mystery but there's and awful lot going on in this book and it's all confusing and the romance is ridiculous. Drew falls madly in love after a brief introduction, doesn't want her to return

to America but is constantly leaving her behind in a protect the little woman 1930s way of thinking. She feels left out and doesn't understand him. His parents are murdered and he's on a mission to find out who the blackmailer is, who the murderer is and playing at being a detective without any show of affection for his loss.

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LibraryThing member vintagebeckie

Rules of Murder by Julianna Deering is a great book for fans of classic mysteries. Filled with period settings and cultural references, the novel is just what I needed to satisfy my craving for a good puzzle. The characters ring true, the murders are truly mysterious and the style of the book will

appeal to those who like Christie or Sayers. All in all, Rules of Murder is the perfect accompaniment to the long nights of winter.

Drew Farthering, a young English gentleman, is plunged into a mystery just days after returning home from a holiday. An extremely disagreeable person has been murdered during an evening party, and Drew is determined to find out just whodunit. But the bodies continue to pile up and the suspect list grows. With the help of his childhood friend and confidante and a young American woman, Drew endeavors to help the local police solve the case before any more murders occur.

The Rules of Murder gets its name from the famous Father Knox Decalogue, a list of 10 things mystery writers should never include in their novels. Deering has fun breaking every rule, and provides the reader with an amusing and intriguing mystery. Deering also adds a wonderful faith thread to the story — Drew’s search for truth is not confined to the details of murder alone. Witty dialogue and fast action speed this novel to its final twisting conclusion. You may guess at just who the murderer is, but the details may have you wondering to the end. I am looking forward to more Drew Farthering Mysteries.

Recommended.

(Thanks to Bethany House for a review copy. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)

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LibraryThing member laurion

The blurb describes this book as a meeting between Downton Abbey and Agatha Christie. It feels a little more like a meeting between Downton Abbey and Frank Dixon. A couple of young men and the love interest of one of them get caught up in a very perplexing series of murders. False leads, missing

evidence, loosely connected events and characters from the past all swirl around red herrings and dead ends. It doesn't seem too difficult for the reader to figure out whodunnit, but the motives and the critical evidence only appear in the last few pages, leading to a logical, if unfulfilling conclusion, made even worse by the abstruse decision to neuter the value in the apparent motive. The book spends too much time trying to convince the reader to follow the false paths, instead of building enough narrative to let the reader make their own wrong conclusions. Nothing is more convincing than the choice the reader makes on their own, instead of the one pushed on them. The characters aren't bad, if a bit underdeveloped, and the setting is excellent. I suspect future novels will explore more of the rich setting presented and the characters and their connections. Although this book falls short of the drama and intrigue of Downton Abbey, the potential is here, and perhaps with slightly more pivot towards Dorothy Sayers, greater success will follow.

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LibraryThing member lyssa73

To be fair, I think Ms. Deering captured the breezy attitudes of the time very well. It is not her fault that they grate on me. If I had found Drew's manner charming as intended instead of cocky and shallow and slimy, the book probably would have gotten a higher rating. But unfortunately, if you

can't stand the main character, it's probably not going to end well.

Despite trying to give him depth, the constant careless, insincere banter really turned me off.

I thought the romance was kind of ridiculous and unbelievable. Perhaps as a fling, nothing more. Their instant mutual attraction and declarations of love built on nothing was reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. This is not a compliment; while heralded as the greatest romance of all time, those who of us who recognize it for what it really was (a tragedy), place blame where it is due: on the immature, selfish and unstable lovers. But I digress.

The plot was built well enough, I suppose. Except the end when the villain completely broke character for the sake of explaining any and all loose ends (and there were quite a few). The reader is constantly told, in addition to or instead of being shown, and is never really left to make their own conclusions.

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LibraryThing member grandpahobo

This is a very good mystery, with lots of twists right up until the end.

The story is somewhat bogged down by the romance angle, and I found the not so subtle background of Christianity a bit off putting. But neither of those annoyances take away from well crafted mystery.

LibraryThing member Carolee888

This book was a strange reading experience for me. For the first 100 pages, I was easily distracted. I tried and tried and had so much trouble trying to keep reading. The smallest distraction pulled me away. But as the pages slowly turned, I got hooked by the idea of book written with the purpose

of trying to break all ten rules of murder. These rules were made to give the reader a fair chance to solve the mystery. But Julianna Deering thought it would be fun to write a book that breaks all of them. So I kept on reading, wanting to quit the book but then I would think of the rules and I could not quit! So the book began badly for me, the pacing was slow and somehow I did not care about the people who were murdered!

As I started to pick up where the rules were being broken, my interest in the story grew and grew. I was wary of the main character, Drew Farthering. He grinned so much that I never felt I trusted him. He lives on an English estate out in the country. I did trust the American, Madeline Parker and Drew’s best friend Nick Dennison. As the end of the book got closer, I got annoyed when I had to stop reading. The strange thing is that I was ready to follow Madeline Parker into future mysteries. This is a Christian Historical mystery, something I didn’t realize until later but I liked the way that religion was handled in this book. The countryside and the estate became real to me via the description.

There was a mystery that involved some murders but the most important part of it to me was not who did but why?

I enjoyed this book after I got hooked enough to not want to pull away! I hope that Madeline and Nick are continued as characters in the next books. This is the first book of a series.

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LibraryThing member Medievalgirl

Having read two of the author's previous titles (part of a Medieval trilogy) , and as a fan of Marple, Poirot and other classic mysteries I was excited about Rules of Murder the first of a new series by the author. In some ways it didn’t disappoint, with the 1930s setting, details and the

aristocratic protagonist reminiscent of the above. Simon Vance, narrator of the audiobook version of this title which I listened did well as (An)drew Fathering, although his American accent, and other regional linguistic variations were not always so convincing. That said, Vance has narrated a number of other titles, so his style of reading and voice was not boring or monotonous and good enough to keep the listener engaged for eight and a half hours.

Drew and Madeleine’s characters were interesting enough, and the notion of them using and works of a 30s mystery writer to guide them in their amateur sleuthing. Yet those of us not familiar with the works of ‘Father Knox’ might find these references obscure. Books set in Britain by American authors can sometimes have their pitfalls, such as stereotyping, and a lack of understanding for cultural or linguistic differences. I think the author pulled it off well for the most part, with the exception perhaps of some of the characters like Inspector Birdsong, who seemed like a stereotypical Londoner (at least his accent in the audiobook made him seem like this) reminiscent of Inspector Japp of Poirot, and only a few notable Americanisms in the character’s speech.

The main issue I had with this story was its complexity. I understand that in a good whodunit it should not be easy to guess the perpetrator, but in this there seemed perhaps to be too many false starts, twists and turns, possible murderers, suspects or red herrings, and sometimes the story just seemed a little hard to follow. Perhaps this was due to the fact that it took me some time to listen to the story, and there was sometimes a gap of several days before resuming it, but though I grasped the basic thread of the story it could seem a little hard to keep up.

Also the later crimes themselves perhaps seemed a little unnecessary, and when the story was concluded there was a particularly gruesome detail which I found off-putting. The Christian content was not always prominent, and consisted mostly of Madeleine discussing spiritual matters with Drew whose religion was mostly ‘cultural’. There was no real gospel message per-se, but the underlying Christian theme was there, and the notion of how Madeleine’s faith helped her deal with some of the pain her character experienced.

Altogether Rules of Murder is generally an original and clean mystery story inhabited by some colourful characters and a pair of unlikely sleuths (though I’m not entirely sure if some of Drew and Madeleine’s public displays of affection would have been deemed acceptable for an unmarried or non-engaged couple of their social status at this time). I wouldn’t call it a ‘cosy’ mystery due to some issues towards the end, and which may be off-putting and render it not according to everyone’s taste.

Would I read the next book in the series? That may be an open question...

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LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq

Drew & his childhood friend Nick, (the butler's son) arrive home for a house party... Drew finds his mother's alleged lover in his room & proceeds to cause a ruckus by kicking the man out. Drew's step-father requests that the man, be allowed to remain as he is a business partner, to which Drew

relents... only to later find the man murdered in the Greenhouse.

Previous to the man's murder the chemical engineer of the company is found dead in his laboratory and the company secretary allegedly takes himself off to the Canadian offices. Then after the party, Drew's mother is found murdered (possible suicide), and days later Drew's step-father is also murdered.

Bearer bonds go missing, a secret passage is located in the offices, the past murder in the Canadian offices rears its ugly head again... people are just not whom they seem.

During all of these goings on, Drew falls in love w/ his step-father's niece who has come from America w/ two friends to tour the Continent....

I liked the plot, the story line, & the characters; however, the book needed to be 1/2 the length & I still abhor the religious dogma contained therein, one would think that the main character Drew Farthering was a minister rather than a detective.

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LibraryThing member leslie.98

Good mystery but I could have done without the slight Christian emphasis... this was not as marked as I have come across before but there was enough that I noticed and was a bit annoyed.

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