Review: Death in the Spires by KJ Charles

Title: Death in the Spires

Author: KJ Charles

Length: 273 Pages

Category: Historical Mystery

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: Death in the Spires is a brilliant story of the illusory invincibility of dreams and the powerful provocation of betrayal. If you love moral gray areas, this story serves a delicious one. It ties things up with the happiest ending these characters could reasonably salvage from the detritus of their youth.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: The newspapers called us the Seven Wonders. We were a group of friends, that’s all, and then Toby died. Was killed. Murdered.

1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.

Jem begins to track down the people who were there the night Toby died – a close circle of friends once known as the ‘Seven Wonders’ for their charm and talent – only to find them as tormented and broken as himself. All of them knew and loved Toby at Oxford. Could one of them really be his killer?

As Jem grows closer to uncovering what happened that night, his pursuer grows bolder, making increasingly terrifying attempts to silence him for good. Will exposing Toby’s killer put to rest the shadows that have darkened Jem’s life for so long? Or will the gruesome truth only put him in more danger?

Some secrets are better left buried…

Review: Words. Sometimes they don’t suffice, yet here we are. KJ Charles has crafted such a compelling story of carefree youth, unbridled jealousy, and the hubris of privilege wrapped in progressively darker academia and shrouded in secrets that continue to haunt a group of former friends long into their adulthood. Indelible is the truth that with Toby Feynsham’s murder, lives were altered. Secrets and lies have stalked the remaining “Seven Wonders” for a decade now. And Jem Kite has finally had enough.

The investigation of Toby’s death, provoked by an anonymous accusation that causes Jem to lose his job, is the proverbial straw and the camel’s back. It leads him back to his past at Oxford, knowing all too well he won’t find peace in the present until he uncovers the truth and reveals the identity of the killer. The chink in his commitment to putting an end to the torment is that the murderer is, beyond any shadow of a doubt, one of his former friends. And they, each and every one of them, practiced to deceive at the time to protect their own secrets. Nicky, Hugo, Aaron, Ella (Toby’s twin sister), and Prue are each subjected to Jem’s tenacity. Whether they had motive, and what those motives were, are revealed with Charles’s unfaltering acumen, flair and finesse.

Death in the Spires is a brilliant story of the illusory invincibility of dreams and the powerful provocation of betrayal. There are some cautions the interested should be aware of: mentions of rape, queerphobia, racism, and gaslighting are some of the darker subjects the story confronts in addition to the murder itself. These injustices each serve to demonstrate motive as well as depict the characters and their fears, and what they endure. Some elicit sympathy while others invite contempt. And thanks to the tangled web weaved, I wasn’t sure, at times, who deserved my sympathy and who didn’t.

As Jem comes ever closer to the truth, a stalker is emboldened to put an end to the investigation by putting a definitive end to Jem himself, using his physical disability against him so blatantly and cruelly. From these incidents come confession. From these confessions come an ending, new beginnings, and a semblance of justice that is neither entirely right nor entirely wrong. If you love moral gray areas, this story serves a delicious one. It ties things up with the happiest ending these characters could reasonably salvage from the detritus of their youth.