I never suspected I needed a humorous gaslamp fantasy horror murder mystery in my life, but here we are. Murder at Spindle Manor was a delight. I devoured it in two sittings and immediately delved into the sequel upon finishing. What made it so immersive? I’ll try to answer this question.

Huntress Isabeau Agarwal lives to slay monsters. She serves Nobles (inhuman giants with dope powers) and in some ways is above the law. Her mission is simple - track down Doppelvyrm, a shape-shifting creature able to pose as a human, before it gets to the city of Lamplight. She ends up in a spooky haunted mansion, where someone is murdered, which makes her life more complicated. More work, two cases to solve.

Outside the mansion, there’s a tumultuous thunderstorm. Inside the mansion, all hell breaks loose. The story weaves together elements of comedy, horror, fantasy, and murder mystery, and it works on every level. Everyone gathered in the mansion has a motive for murder. Being trapped between a murderer and a skin-wearing monster isn’t exactly fun. Especially since Isabeau has until morning to unveil the true identity of the creature, or no one, including herself, will make it out alive. Why? That’s a spoiler.

I loved how well-crafted and well-timed comedic interludes were and how they balanced darker moments and broke the tension when needed. The sense of danger and suspense never goes away, and horror elements, while chilling, never fall into poor taste. The story kept me on the edge of my seat, but it also offered humorous relief and a hopeful tone amid its darker moments.

The narrative may seem pretty straightforward, but both mysteries (Who killed? Where’s the monster? Who's the monster?) turn surprisingly complex, and I doubt anyone will guess the truth early on. The characters are vibrant and multi-dimensional, each with their own secrets and motives. And if you crave excitement, you’ll get lots of it, complete with seances, specters, mesmers, and monsters.

The review is already long, but I need to say a few words about the characters. Isabeau Agarwal is a great protagonist. She’s focused and excellent with guns and logic. Turns out she’s also good at solving murders and dealing with ghosts. She gives the impression of someone stern and cold, but when you get to know her, you realize she’s good people. Her sidekick, Evie, is incredibly fun. And then, there’s Penny: a young woman who recently passed away and was revived through the fusion of mesmer and medium magic, now existing as a “living doll person.” She cannot speak as her mouth is perpetually sewn shut - if it were ever unsealed, her soul would leave her body, and she’d die for good this time. You’ll come to love her.

Murder at Spindle Manor will keep you guessing until the very last page. I loved the book and highly recommend it to others.

MIHIR

Murder At Spindle Manor is a book that isn’t Morgan Stang’s debut but might seem like it for many a reader who are reading his works with this one. I’m not disparaging Morgan’s writing but would like to highlight its freshness. Murder At Spindle Manor is a fascinating mix of locked room mystery set within in a fantasy world.

It begins with our main mysterious protagonist Isabeau Agarwal who’s hunting a specific type of creature called Doppelvyrm. It’s scary as it can inhabit the skin and adopt its mannerisms thereby making it very hard to discern. Isabeau or Izzie is hot on its trial, however weird weather circumstances force her and a few others in an inn called Spindle Manor. Things are dire enough as it is with a doppelvyrm but then the inn residents start getting murdered and Izzie has to take action before all of them end up dead and the doppelvyrm is loose upon the world.

For fantasy readers who haven’t read outside the genre, this might be a very novel concept but for any previous mystery reader, this trope of locked room and murder has been highlighted quite ebulliently by Agatha Christie and since then has been taken forward by many others. In the fantasy genre, it was previously highlighted by Mark Charan Newton in his roman-inspired world called Drakenfield. That book also dealt with a locked room mystery but the world settings were very, very low fantasy. Herein however the magic is very much evidient as it the Victorian era-level of technology.

It is however never quite clear whether this is Victorian-esque secondary fantasy world that is akin to ours or an alternate historical one and the author purposefully keeps this distinction vague and I believe the future sequels do make this distinction a bit more clear. Speaking of characters while we do get a POV thorough Isabeau, another character is also introduced who become vital and is absolutely crucial to the our main character and the plot as well. I very much enjoyed this unique story that combines mystery and fantasy in such a cracking manner and it is absolutely meant to thrill.

For new readers, this might be a fantastic story to dive into, for older & experienced readers, they might find some things that jar them such as the prose which isn’t the purple kind. The twists and plot pace are absolutely jam packed and the story never quite settles down as it just keeps racing towards its climax. The main character is a cipher and we never got to experience why she is the way she is. This isn’t usually an issue but ideally needs to explained via the plot and mannerisms as to the mystery of the character. An excellent example of such a character is Agent Pendergast from the tales by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. He’s very much a cipher similar to Isabeau but is presented in such a fabulous manner that the reader can’t help but be enamoured. This isn’t the case over here and while we are intrigued by Isabeau but never quite a clear picture as to why. Another oddity about her is her surname which is very Indian but it isn’t quite explained within the aspect of this world. Is there an India? Is she bi-racial? Does this mean that this is an alternate history? Such questions remain but we aren’t provided with any clues. This let me a bit stymied.

Overall Murder At Spindle Manor is a wonderful start to a new Fantasy-mystery series that needs to be read more widely for all the amazing twists that the author is planning as well as the fascinating worldbuilding done within. Morgan Stang has written a fantastic opener, dive in and find out what really happened at Spindle Manor, trust me you will be left with mysteries and then wanting to read more about Isabeau Agarwal and the strange world she inhabits. 

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