When Nicola Bridge moves back to Dorset after years as a CID detective in the big city, the last thing she expects is for the picturesque village of Fleetcombe to become a grisly crime scene.
Jim Tiernan, landlord of the White Hart pub, has been found dead, the body staged with macabre relish on an isolated country road. As soon as she starts asking questions, Nicola realises everyone in the village has something to hide.
Frankie, the hairdresser who isn’t a skilled enough actor to conceal they’re lying about the night of the murder.
Eddie, the delivery driver whose heart starts racing every time he drives past the crime scene.
Deakins, the embittered farmer still living in the shadow of a supposedly murderous ancestor.
And even the little girl, hidden at the top of the playground slide, who’s watching them all.
Whispers. Rumours. Lies. But Nicola knows that somewhere among them, a killer is hiding in plain sight.

IN A NUTSHELL
This debut novel by the creator of ‘Broadchurch‘ carried me along happily until almost the end. It was entertaining and occasionally surprising. It would make great TV. But the book went on for too long after the crime was solved. 

I loved how cleverly the story was structured to set up the situation, introduce the characters and sustain suspense. The opening scene was dramatic but, as the newly-arrived-in-the-area-and-newly-promoted police officer, headed towards the dead body, I thought I was in familiar serial killer police procedural territory where I’d be able to predict the next move. I was quickly proved wrong when Chris Chibnall started to tell the story from multiple points of view, rather than following the police. Each point of view had a secret. Any of them could have been the killer or have known who the killer was. 

The writing moved the plot along smoothly. The dialogue worked well, as did the mix of plot-related disclosure and the disclosure of personal backstories for the two main police officers. The nine-year-old girl in the story stole the show but all the characters were convincing. None of them felt as though they were just there to move the plot along. 

The plot itself was satisfying. I liked the way the main police officer, Nicola Bridge, kept pulling everyone’s attention back to gathering the facts rather than letting the dramatic flourishes of the murder plunge them into pointless speculation, while her less experienced but earnest subordinate filled the reader in on all the local legends and fed my imagination with wild ideas. 

As I read along, I was thinking that this was going to be one of those rare debut novels that I gave a four-star rating. That dropped to a (perfectly respectable) 3.5-star rating in the last fifteen per cent of the book. This wasn’t one of those times when the resolution of the mystery was a letdown. The mystery and its resolution were satisfying. Unfortunately, the final chapters of the book dragged, firstly because the murderer’s explanation of how the murder was done was tediously long and secondly because the author wanted to give all of the characters a few moments of Happily Ever After before closing the book. I lost patience with both efforts. 

Still, if there is a second book, I’ll be happy to read it.

I recommend the audiobook version of ‘Death At The White Hart’, narrated by Jessica Gunning. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.

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Chris Chibnall is a BAFTA, Royal Television Society, Broadcasting Press Guild and Peabody award-winning screenwriter, executive producer, and playwright whose work has been seen, translated and remade all around the world. He is the recipient of the prestigious FIPA Prix D’Honneur, and honorary doctorates from Edge Hill University and Sheffield Hallam University.

His television work includes Broadchurch – remade as Gracepoint in the US and Malaterra in France – The Great Train Robbery, Doctor Who, Torchwood and Life on Mars. His theatre work includes One Last Push, Worst Wedding Ever!, Kiss Me Like You Mean It and Gaffer!

Death At The White Hart, is his first novel.