Little Victim

Country House Crime Mystery #4

by R.T. Raichev

Praise for R.T. Raichev:

"Deftly mixes dark humor and psychological suspense, its genteel surface masking delicious deviancy.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Mixes Henry James’s psychological insight with Agatha Christie’s whodunit plotting skills. . . . Raichev once again triumphs.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Except for its modern-day setting, the book could have been published during Agatha Christie's heyday, the so-called Golden Age of detective fiction, and readers who relish that period will be delighted.”—The Denver Post

"Raichev's use of characterization and allusion will keep the reader turning pages to the end."—The Oklahoman

It promised to be the perfect holiday with every modern convenience: exotic terraced gardens complete with an English folly, thirty-eight varieties of ice cream, and cocktails with names like “Widow’s Wink” and “Mumbay Mule.” Antonia Darcy and Hugh Payne never seriously imagined they would encounter anything worse than extravagance in this idyllic setting.

But an uninvited guest at the garden party given in their honor makes Antonia his confidante. Not only does he claim to have witnessed the strangling of beautiful, wayward Marigold Leighton, he also insists it was their host Roman Songhera, the “uncrowned King of Goa,” who had committed the murder.

R.T. Raichev is a researcher and writer who grew up in Bulgaria and wrote a university dissertation on English crime fiction. He is the author of four novels in the Antonia Darcy series and has lived in London since 1989.

Genres: Mystery

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

R. T. Raichev is a researcher and writer who grew up in Bulgaria and wrote a university dissertation on English crime fiction. He has lived in London since 1989.

Series:
* Country House Crime Mystery

Reviews

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retired judge Toby Leighton is heartbroken: his daughter Marigold (aka Ria) has gone off to live a dissolute life of prostitution and drugs, and she makes sure to write letters to him detailing her exploits just to rub salt in the wound. When she turns up in India, Toby hires a private investigator, the deeply alcoholic ex-Scotland Yard man Julian Knight, to keep him informed of her activities. Meantime, Antonia Darcy and her husband Hugh Payne are invited to travel to India with a friend of Hugh’s aunt, Charlotte Depleche, who is considering buying a mansion owned by wealthy gangster Roman Songhera - who happens to be Ria’s boyfriend despite the fact that he is married to someone else. When Antonia and Hugh are drawn into this circle of distasteful people, murder cannot be far behind….This is the fourth book featuring Antonia and Hugh, and it has many of the trademarks of the Golden Age mystery genre, including a wide cast of (mostly unpleasant) characters, a great deal of subplotting and huge heaps of misdirection. Plus, the chapter titles are often, if not always, book titles such as “The Mirror Cracked,” “The Bone Collector,” “Witness for the Prosecution” and “The Knight’s Tale,” to name a few. I liked this one more than the previous book, although it still feels a little stilted and self-consciously erudite; mildly recommended.

[Elisa Schiorlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Antonia Darcy, scrittrice di gialli inglese, e suo marito sono costretti ad accompagnare una riccaed eccentrica signora inglese a Goa.
Si ritroveranno, loro malgrado, ad indagare sulla morte di Ria, figlia di un giudice inglese e fidanzata del boss della malavita locale.

Scorrevole, si legge velocemente.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only decent part of this book was the fact that there were 39 ice cream flavors at the Coconut Grove resort and that I now know what the jalebi flavor is. The British characters were completely condescending and racist and once again, the motive for the crime made no sense. I will not even go into the wandering narration which jumbled up the reading experience.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery writer Antonia Darcy and her husband Hugh Payne accompany an aged friend of the family on a trip to Goa to buy a villa from Roman, the local criminal mastermind. They are both fascinated and disgusted by the so-called tropical paradise, but when an expatriate detective tells Antonia that he saw Roman kill his well-born English mistress, they become involved in a twisty mystery. Can the detective be trusted? Is he even still alive? And what of Roman's jealous wife, whose lottery win was the foundation of his fortune? Raichev calls his series "Country house murders" and he's stretching the boundary with this one, but it is a constantly surprising read nonetheless.

[Margaret Quarrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like it. Struggled to get through it. I quite liked the other Raichev books I have read but this one was boring in the extreme. I wondered if the author had ever been to India - perhaps he should keep Antonia and her husband in England. Nothing about it was believable or easy to relate to. Would not recommend it.

[Cece · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the Kirkus Review and the Library Review gush, I found the last two books by this author to be missing something. Not much detecting, a lot of talking, and POP! Mystery solved.

[Kel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange people and plot. Major Payne was in rare form and Antonia was a stick-in-the-mud.

[Deb]

Thought I would like this but it failed to hold my interest.

[Francine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best, too much of Major Payne superfluous verbiage.