The Mannequin House- Review

 

Publisher: Canelo 

Publishing date: 25th May 2020 ebook / paperback 26th August 2021 

Many thanks to the author and publishing team for sending me a digital copy for my honest review 

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Blurb

Detective Inspector Silas Quinn investigates one of the strangest cases of his career...

London, 1914. Called out to investigate the murder of an employee of the House of Brackley, an upmarket Kensington department store, Silas finds himself investigating one of the most bizarre cases of his career. For the chief murder suspect is a monkey.

One of the store's fashion models has been found dead on her bed, strangled with a red silk scarf. The room is locked from the inside, the only other occupant being a monkey in a red fez hat.

While he is sceptical of the theory that the monkey is the killer, Quinn suspects it holds the key to the mystery. But where has it disappeared to ? And how will he ever get to the truth when faced with the maelstrom of resentment and thwarted passion that is the mannequin house?

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My Thoughts 

So this is part of series and I hadn't read the first book. Not sure if I have missed too much but it didn't feel like it when I was reading. It was a different read for me and it was interesting. 

I did get a bit lost or had to read again some parts as they read in 'old english' so not sure how I felt about that, as sometimes I felt like I missed out on an important part or a quirky remark. But think that was more me trying to read through it. But once I got use to this style of writing it was an interesting read and I did finish the book. 

I like reading different style of a genres and books and recently I have read a few historical ones but this stood out to me because of the store and a locked room which held so much mystery that raises so many questions. 

Working your way through with Quinn and his force, pre forensic days, it was interesting to see how they put the pieces of the puzzle together even through lots of obstruction and interference. A monkey makes a surprising character which I didn't expect at all but again added a different layer/element in the story. 

We get to learn more about Amelia the deceased model and the owner Benjamin Blackley. 

I really liked how upmarket and the high life come side to side with the less fortunate and both have their own secrets and threats.