Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are still annoying, but I won’t complain. Yet. Maybe next week. Or maybe things will be better next week. Who knows? Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of June, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I decided to go with a standard mystery with historical and horror-adjacent (not quite horror, but close) elements. The Mask of Merryvale Manor by Pete Sherlock was released on some platforms on the 20th and others on the 25th (which isn’t confusing at all, ugh) by Fairlight Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it!

The Mask of Merryvale Manor follows Ben, a 14-year-old boy who moves in with his rich aunt’s family after his mother dies. At first, he’s seduced by a life of opulence. He’d do anything to fit in. To be accepted. But a few years later, he returns home from university for his cousin’s wedding and finds remains in the lake that’s on the family property. That’s when he really starts to see the family for who they are. In the end, he must decide if fitting in is worth throwing his morals away.

Plotwise, it’s your standard English murder mystery. If you’ve ever watched Midsomer Murders, you can pretty easily guess where this one is going. There’s only one person the remains could be, so the “figuring out who the victim is” part felt a bit drawn out. I also pegged the killer right off the bat, but it was still an interesting journey to uncover them. There was also a weird fixation on the Ooser mask (it has to do with the region’s folklore) that I enjoyed. Nothing super exciting, but a satisfying plot nonetheless.

The characters were interesting, if mostly unlikable. But that’s really the point. As an outside observer, the reader can see how repugnant these people are which ups the pity we feel for Ben as he struggles to fit in with them. Not all of them are evil, some are just so self-absorbed that they fail to see what’s happening around them. I found the book more interesting as a study of human behavior than I did as an actual mystery.

As far as the writing goes, I enjoyed it. There was an old timey feel to it that lent itself well to late ’50s/early ’60s setting. It created a nice atmosphere.

Ultimately, I appreciated The Mask of Merryvale Manor for what it is. It’s not wonderful or groundbreaking or anything, but it’s a perfectly adequate mystery.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It didn’t wow me, but it didn’t disappoint me either. If you enjoy mysteries, especially ones like Midsomer Murders, you’ll probably enjoy this one. It’s worth picking up.