Death in the Spires

4.7 | 1,289 ratings

Price: 17.5

Last update: 11-15-2024

About this item

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…

From the bestselling, acclaimed author of The Magpie Lord and The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen comes a chilling historical mystery with a sting in the tail. You won’t be able to put this gripping story down!

Ginger T.

Well worth your time

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2024

Death in the Spires is well written and well paced. The primary characters are carefully drawn and worthy of attention and sympathy. This is a mystery with twists, but no “padding” to stretch the story. I really enjoyed it.

Lisa Perez

Solid mystery with a dash of romance

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2024

This book has a solid, tightly woven who-done-it with great character development, realistic historical detail, many literary references, and a tentative romance. It's a real page-turner!

Aidan

A fun foray into non-romance!

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2024

For many years I’ve felt that many of KJC’s writing and stories could stand on their own without the romantic plot line, so I was intrigued to see how this book would go.

Honestly this book had much more relationship talk than I’d expected. Even though it was advertised as a “queer mystery,” the relationship between the two queer characters was still much more prominent than I’d expected. Not that that’s bad! It was just a surprise.

As always KJ delivered on an interesting mystery. It took me a bit for the book to really hold my attention, but I think that’s more down to my current reading slump than any fault of the story. Once I did get into it the mystery was fun to follow. I’ll admit, I was a bit disappointed by the reveal, simply because it felt a bit too obvious. I was really hoping there would be a twist, like that it was actually one of the “they couldn’t have done it” characters, or even that it actually was just a random passerby. That’s really just a personal complaint though, and they still made the killer an interesting and likable character.

Reader Rivka

Tense, emotionally gripping, FANTASTIC.

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024

(Thanks to KJ Charles, Storm Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC!)

When disabled, working-class Jem won a scholarship to Oxford, he was drawn into a circle of brilliant, talented, intense friends, with the privileged and charismatic Toby Feynsham at its center. We meet Jem ten years after all of that vanished - he left Oxford with shattered nerves and no degree, after Toby was brutally murdered. Jem is now friendless, poor, in pain, and grieving everything he lost when Toby died and his circle of friends broke apart.

When his boss gets a letter calling Jem the murderer and it turns out that there's still more he can lose, Jem starts recklessly investigating old friends and old secrets. The book alternates between past and present; we see the golden buildup and painful breakdown of the Seven Wonders, alternating with Jem's present investigation of them.

I've been a fan of KJ Charles' historical romances for years, and Death in the Spires has everything I love about her writing: vivid characters, intense emotions, themes of difference and belonging, keenly observed and period-appropriate political analysis, and masterfully-built tension. I became a little desperate and teary halfway through the book when I was forcibly reminded that Death in the Spires is NOT a genre romance and that I could NOT expect it to follow romance genre conventions (in particular, a happy ending involving an emotionally satisfying relationship).

I started considering, with dismay, the conventions of the mystery genre: would societal order be restored? Even after that societal order had been thoroughly established as rotten? Or maybe the book was a noir mystery, in which case the ending would be whatever destroyed our poor main character the most? (Apologies to my family, who had to listen to my anxious mid-book rants about genre.)

Fear not: the conclusion of Death in the Spires is both narratively and emotionally satisfying. Highly recommended, both to old KJ Charles fans and to people who aren't romance novel readers.

MidKnight13

Suspense with a Hint of Romance

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024

Charles is one of the best authors writing today. Death in the Spires is just another example of excellent storytelling and strong characters that make it impossible to put the book down.

If you're not familiar with Charles's work, this is a lightweight introduction to an excellent romance writer. The story of seven friends who get intrenched in mysteries and danger and have to put their lives back together without knowing the truth is captivating and a great example of a page-turner.

I don't want to give anything away, but suffice it to say I will be rereading this book very soon. To be honest, I reread all of Charles's books after I finish them. It's impossible not to because the intricacy is subtle and so satisfying to find on the second read.

Yet another excellent story from an exceptional writer.

Megan

Enthralling read

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2024

Could not put this book down! I love the mystery, the deeply flawed but utterly recognizable characters, the atmosphere setting. 10/10

Kindle Cu

Enthralling

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2024

Death in the Spires offers a captivating blend of mystery and rich historical detail. Gripping plot, vivid setting, and compelling characters make it an unputdownable read for historical mystery lovers.

Joyce Hiebert

A mystery is afoot!

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024

This new offering from KJ Charles is a head-scratching murder mystery, and it is a humdinger! I never figured it out!
Jem Kite sets out to solve the decade-old murder of one of his best friends at Oxford University. Jem and his six closest friends were called the Seven Wonders for their all-around excellence, arriving at Oxford from different backgrounds and becoming fast friends despite their differences. When one of their own is murdered before the finals of their last year, they know (because reasons) that one of them did it.
We follow Jem as he sets out to find the killer, and as told in flashbacks, we learn how the Seven Wonders became close, and how they ultimately almost destroyed themselves.
I found this book riveting, with a cast of fascinating characters we’ve come to expect from KJ Charles! Tom Lawrence’s performance for the audiobook is perfect! Brava!

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