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Fall of Angels
(2018)(The first book in the Inspector Redfyre Mystery series)
A novel by Barbara Cleverly
Barbara Cleverly, bestselling author of the Joe Sandilands series, introduces an ingenious new sleuth who navigates 1920s Cambridge, a European intellectual capital on the cusp of dramatic change.
England 1923: Detective Inspector John Redfyre is a godsend to the Cambridge CID. The ancient university city is at war with itself: town versus gown, male versus female, press versus the police force and everyone versus the undergraduates. Redfyre, young, handsome and capable, is a survivor of the Great War. Born and raised among the city’s colleges, he has access to the educated élite who run these institutions, a society previously deemed impenetrable by local law enforcement.
When Redfyre’s Aunt Hetty hands him a front-row ticket to the year’s St. Barnabas College Christmas concert, he is looking forward to a right merrie yuletide noyse from a trumpet soloist, accompanied by the organ. He is intrigued to find that the trumpet player is—scandalously—a young woman. And Juno Proudfoot is a beautiful and talented one at that. Such choice of a performer is unacceptable in conservative academic circles.
Redfyre finds himself anxious throughout a performance in which Juno charms and captivates her audience, and his unease proves well founded when she tumbles headlong down a staircase after curtainfall. He finds evidence that someone carefully planned her death. Has her showing provoked a dangerous, vengeful woman-hater to take action?
When more Cambridge women are murdered, Redfyre realizes that some of his dearest friends and his family may become targets, and—equally alarmingly—that the killer might be within his own close circle.
Genre: Historical Mystery
England 1923: Detective Inspector John Redfyre is a godsend to the Cambridge CID. The ancient university city is at war with itself: town versus gown, male versus female, press versus the police force and everyone versus the undergraduates. Redfyre, young, handsome and capable, is a survivor of the Great War. Born and raised among the city’s colleges, he has access to the educated élite who run these institutions, a society previously deemed impenetrable by local law enforcement.
When Redfyre’s Aunt Hetty hands him a front-row ticket to the year’s St. Barnabas College Christmas concert, he is looking forward to a right merrie yuletide noyse from a trumpet soloist, accompanied by the organ. He is intrigued to find that the trumpet player is—scandalously—a young woman. And Juno Proudfoot is a beautiful and talented one at that. Such choice of a performer is unacceptable in conservative academic circles.
Redfyre finds himself anxious throughout a performance in which Juno charms and captivates her audience, and his unease proves well founded when she tumbles headlong down a staircase after curtainfall. He finds evidence that someone carefully planned her death. Has her showing provoked a dangerous, vengeful woman-hater to take action?
When more Cambridge women are murdered, Redfyre realizes that some of his dearest friends and his family may become targets, and—equally alarmingly—that the killer might be within his own close circle.
Genre: Historical Mystery
Praise for this book
"A novel that will equally satisfy fans of Evelyn Waugh and Dorothy L. Sayers, Fall of Angels is a delicious concoction, showcasing Barbara Cleverly’s prodigious talent. John Redfyre is a detective for the ages." - Tasha Alexander
"Imagine Lord Peter Wimsey attended Cambridge instead of Oxford, and needed a job of work to support himself. And there you have it, Inspector Redfyre, a toff as adept at detection as he is at wordplay. Fall of Angels is sharp, witty, and pleasingly surprising." - James R Benn
"I have been a fan of Barbara Cleverly's ever since her first Joe Sandilands novel, and find her new series quite exciting. I feel as if Dorothy Sayers has been brought back to life! Detective Inspector John Redfyre is Lord Peter Wimsey without the affectations. Many writers can tell us about the 1920s, but so few can transport us there, as Barbara Cleverly does." - Rhys Bowen
"Imagine Lord Peter Wimsey attended Cambridge instead of Oxford, and needed a job of work to support himself. And there you have it, Inspector Redfyre, a toff as adept at detection as he is at wordplay. Fall of Angels is sharp, witty, and pleasingly surprising." - James R Benn
"I have been a fan of Barbara Cleverly's ever since her first Joe Sandilands novel, and find her new series quite exciting. I feel as if Dorothy Sayers has been brought back to life! Detective Inspector John Redfyre is Lord Peter Wimsey without the affectations. Many writers can tell us about the 1920s, but so few can transport us there, as Barbara Cleverly does." - Rhys Bowen
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