The Murder at World's End: A Gripping Locked-Room Murder Mystery where an Unlikely Duo must Unravel the Truth
About The Murder at World's End: A Gripping Locked-Room Murder Mystery where an Unlikely Duo must Unravel the Truth
Knives Out meets Downton Abbey! Secrets, murder, and mayhem collide as this unlikely sleuthing duo—an under-butler and a foul-mouthed octogenarian—hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world, in this locked-room mystery by #1 New York Times bestselling author Ross Montgomery. Cornwall, 1910.
On a remote tidal island, the Viscount of Tithe Hall is absorbed in feverish preparations for the apocalypse that he believes will accompany the passing of Halley's Comet. The Hall must be sealed from top to bottom—every window, chimney, and keyhole closed off before night falls. But what the pompous, dishonest Viscount has failed to take into account is the danger that lies within...
By morning, he will be dead in his sealed study, murdered by his own ancestral crossbow. All eyes turn to Stephen Pike, Tithe Hall's newest under-butler. Fresh out of Borstal for a crime he didn't commit, he is the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.
His unlikely ally? Miss Decima Stockingham, the foul-mouthed, sharp as a tack, eighty-year-old family matriarch. Fearless and unconventional, she relishes chaos and puzzles alike, and a murder is just the thrill she's been waiting for.
What readers say
Readers adore the elderly, sharp-tongued aristocrat at the heart of this locked-room mystery and her unlikely partnership with a young footman, and many call the book a laugh-out-loud tribute to Golden Age whodunits, with an atmospheric island setting, comet-panic premise, fair clues and quick chapters. The audiobook is a frequent recommendation. Criticisms are that the killer can be guessed early, the young hero is a little bland, the middle drags for some, and the frequent swearing and occasional crude humor put off readers expecting a traditional cozy.
Best for: Readers who love witty, Christie-style locked-room puzzles with a feisty older sleuth.
Summary of public reader reviews, updated November 2026.