Murder at World’s End (2025) is a mystery, not speculative fiction, but it involves scientific thinking (and hysteria) of 1910, when Halley’s Comet came relatively near to the Earth, and this novel also strongly reminds me of several works of science fiction; therefore, I think it’s worth reviewing here. There are a few points that annoy me a little, but on the whole, I find it quite enthralling, and I look forward to a planned sequel. (But don’t worry, the plot here resolves without leaving the reader hanging.)
Lord Stockingham-Welt, the Viscount of World’s End, is a rich scientist who expects Halley’s Comet to kill a lot of people via poison vapors in its tail, along with tidal waves and other effects (this was actually predicted by some scientists back then, and played up in newspapers). He tells a few guests, mostly family members, that they will ride it out in his sealed-up cliffside manor and then start re-establishing human society (his speech reminds me a lot of The Artilleryman’s “brave new world” plans in H.G. Wells’ 1987 The War of the Worlds). Even the house servants get oxygen tanks, but the Viscount had dismissed all his groundskeepers (to go home and die) after they finished digging some trenches on his grounds, which makes me think poorly of the Viscount’s logistics — who would grow his food in the future? — along with his humanity.
The first science fiction story that I think of in relation to this book is Arthur Conan Doyle’s novella, The Poison Belt (1913), which features Professor Challenger. In that story, Challenger invites his companions from The Lost World to join him at his country house in Sussex. He, too, expects a comet to kill most of the world’s population via a poison belt being dragged along in its tail. He also reminds me very much of the Viscount of World’s End in his heartless treatment of his own servants, leaving them all to die as he provides oxygen only for his invited guests.
There’s also the great 1920 short story “The Comet,” by W.E.B. Du Bois, in which toxic vapors from a comet kill a lot of people, and a black man and a wealthy white girl temporarily overcome their social barriers. The third story this reminded me of was The Hopkins Manuscript, by R.C. Sherriff, a 1939 novel that I reviewed when it was reissued in 2023; that book featured the moon’s orbit changing and wrecking a lot of the Earth, despite initial governmental planning, with nations entering into more world wars over resources afterward.
However, the scientist-Viscount who’s planning for the cataclysm is not the protagonist of Murder at World’s End. Instead, Stephen Pike, a second footman hired as the action starts, is (narrating in first person past tense). His plans for a quiet life of self-effacement in service (after just getting out of prison and a halfway house) are ruined when his master is murdered, and he has to investigate to clear himself of suspicion. Fortunately for him, the 80-year-old spinster aunt who’d been exiled to the nursery wing years ago is a frustrated scientist who relishes the chance to exercise her brain by solving the mystery; unfortunately for him, she is extremely cranky, caustic, and demanding. Most of her relatives and the staff think she’s batty, but Stephen doesn’t have the luxury of holding that opinion.
Stephen is an extremely sympathetic character. He strives to better himself by working on his vocabulary; more importantly, the reason he went to prison was because he got involved in a gang as a means to support his ailing Nan (grandmother). He tries to be observant, although it takes quite a while for some details to resurface, and he is compassionate, although occasionally he bows to pressure.
Miss Decima, the semi-invalid octogenarian, is less sympathetic, due to her arbitrary ways, nasty tongue, and terrorizing of servants. However, her extreme behavior is far more understandable after realizing how badly she’s been treated by her male relatives: isolated, suppressed, and even having her research stolen.
There are several other notable minor characters, including the visiting relatives and several other staff members. Most of the relatives are also awful, in their own ways, and some extremely disturbing family history (including mistreatment of servants) comes to light throughout the course of the investigation.
Also notable in a negative way is Inspector Jarvis of Scotland Yard. The author says in the Acknowledgements that many appalling things that he says are direct quotes from an actual police officer of that era, and I believe it; I wasn’t surprised by his sexism, classism, or attempts to use phrenology, as those were all period-accurate. However, it really bothered me that he turned up at the manor alone, without a partner or subordinate, eight hours before he was expected (after the locals handed it off); this goes against all the British police procedurals that I’ve read, and for a while I was convinced that there was a certain plot-relevant reason for this, but it didn’t turn out to have an explanation after all.
Montgomery has written over 20 children’s books, but this is his first novel for adults. He refers to research that he did and experts whom he consulted, but if his making Jarvis a lone wolf was a deliberate choice, it’s an odd one. However, on the whole, I really enjoyed this book, with its strong main characters, its emotions and interactions, its twists and turns and red herrings, and its really strong confrontations and even a few very exciting action sequences.
MINOR SPOILER: At the end of the book, Miss Decima is planning to move to London and set up her own detective agency, with Stephen as her more mobile eyes and ears. This follows an emerging trend of following up Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin setup (or more recently, Ana and Din from Robert Jackson Bennett’s Leviathan series), although Stephen isn’t blessed with an eidetic memory. I think it’ll be hard to meet the level of this book, but I expect the further adventures of Decima and Stephen to be entertaining.
Content warnings: Murder(s), fighting, coercion and blackmail, references to poverty and starvation, and horrifying sexism and classism, including blaming servants for the misbehavior of their bosses.
Disclaimer: None. I love my library!
