The dark secrets that lurk in the neglected corners of country houses have always proved irresistible for crime writers. Debut novelist Bonnie Burke-Patel selects her five favourite books set in the sprawling piles.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
In this genre-defining classic, Christie employs the country house to perfection, stocking it with unreliable characters and dark secrets. The denouement is dazzling, and the layout of the house is crucial. I’m envious of anyone reading it for the first time.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Du Maurier’s gloriously gothic novel makes the country manor a character in its own right: as inescapable as the shadow of Rebecca, the first wife whose legacy haunts a new bride.
Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang
In this little-known gem, the late Sir Linwood leaves a will tasking his three adopted children to solve his own murder in order to inherit the estate. Beautifully written and immensely satisfying, Huang asks uncomfortable questions about inheritance.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro’s Booker-winner departs from crime plots in favour of an exquisite, elegiac reflection on a butler’s fierce commitment to his (unworthy) master over his own happiness.
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
With dizzying plotting, Turton turns the crumbling manor of Blackheath into a time-bending prison. The protagonist wakes each day in the body of a different house guest, only to witness the same murder. But who is the protagonist, and why is he there?
