In the Crypt with a Candlestick

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What to expect

LONGLISTED FOR THE COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT AWARD

'Sharp, funny . . . the best sort of murder mystery' Tatler

'A perfect antidote to all the real-life craziness going on' Daily Mail

Sir Ecgbert Tode of Tode Hall has survived to a grand old age - much to the despair of his younger wife, Emma. But at ninety-three he has, at last, shuffled off the mortal coil.

Emma, Lady Tode, thoroughly fed up with being a dutiful Lady of the Manor, wants to leave the country to spend her remaining years in Capri. Unfortunately her three tiresome children are either unwilling or unable (too mad, too lefty or too happy in Australia) to take on management of their large and important home, so the mantle passes to a distant relative and his glamorous wife.

Not long after the new owners take over, Lady Tode is found dead in the mausoleum. Accident? Or is there more going on behind the scenes of Tode Hall than an outsider would ever guess....?

In the traditions of two great but very different British writers, Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse, Waugh's hilarious and entirely original twist on the country house murder mystery comes complete with stiff upper lips, even stiffer drinks, and any stiffs that might embarrass the family getting smartly brushed under the carpet...

What everyone's saying about In the Crypt with a Candlestick...

'I couldn't put it down' Santa Montefiore

'Deliciously entertaining' Andrew Wilson

'An irresistible champagne bubble of pleasure and laughter' Rachel Johnson

'A perfect antidote to wintry gloom' The Literary Review

'What a triumph!' Antonia Fraser

'A masterclass in how to write a rollicking good read' Sarah Vine

'A jolly farce that never takes itself too seriously' Red Magazine

'Fizzles, crackles and sparkles' Elizabeth Buchan

'A work of sublime silliness' Simon Brett

'An effervescent madcap whodunnit' Metro

'A marvellous rollicking read' Mary Killen

'She's skewered her targets brilliantly' Imogen Edwards-Jones

Critics Review

Fans of PG Wodehouse and Agatha Christie should bag this madcap comedy whodunnit . . . Outrageous and over-the-top, a perfect antidote to all real-life craziness going on
Daily Mail
It's sharp, funny and just the right amount of farcical - the best sort of murder mystery
Tatler
I couldn't put it down
Santa Montefiore
What a triumph! It gave me enormous pleasure to read, plus of course a few appropriate shudders. [In the Crypt] lightens the darkness in a way that is both dark and light
Antonia Fraser
An irresistible champagne bubble of pleasure and laughter
Rachel Johnson
Agatha Christie but with a bit of Julian Fellowes's Snobs and Downtown Abbey thrown in . . . A masterclass in how to write a rollicking good read
Sarah Vine
A jolly farce that never takes itself too seriously
Red Magazine
Fizzles, crackles and sparkles
An irresistible, high-camp crime caper - deliciously entertaining
A perfect antidote to wintry gloom
The Literary Review
An effervescent madcap whodunnit
Metro
A country-house murder mystery with nods to Agatha Christie and Evelyn Waugh. From the deceased's name (Sir Ecgbert Tode of Tode Hall) to the art deco cover, it's a delightful treat
The Lady
A work of sublime silliness. The knife-edge between crime and comedy is a tricky one, but Daisy Waugh negotiates it magnificently. The story is preposterous, as it should be in a book of this kind, and the author is clearly less interested in the finer points of crime plotting than she is in sharp observations and social satire. The result is a delightful book, witty, pacy and beautifully written.
This is a marvellous rollicking read with brilliantly drawn characters. I finished it within 24 hours
Mary Killen
She's spot on; she's skewered her targets brilliantly
Imogen Edwards-Jones
One imagines that Waugh had nearly as much fun writing it as we do reading it
Catholic Herald
This whodunnit, set in a twisted version of PG Wodehouse's terrain, is deeply funny
Morning Star

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