‘1967. In a quiet village in the wild lands of the Scottish borders, disgraced academic Cordelia Hemlock is trying to put her life back together. Grieving the loss of her son, she seeks out the company of the dead, taking comfort amid the ancient headstones and crypts of the local churchyard. When lightning strikes a tumbledown tomb, she glimpses a corpse that doesn’t belong among the crumbling bones. But when the storm passes and the body vanishes, the authorities refuse to believe the claims of a hysterical ‘outsider’. Teaming up with a reluctant witness, local woman Felicity Goose, Cordelia’s enquiries all lead back to a former POW camp that was set up in the village during the Second World War. But not all Gilsland’s residents welcome the two young women’s interference. There are those who believe the village’s secrets should remain buried … whatever the cost.’
The Mausoleum by David Mark takes place mostly in 1967. Cordelia Hemlock has just lost her young son to illness. She’s taken to finding odd places to sit and read, to remember, to mourn. Cordelia lives in remote Gilsland and has yet to bond with any of the locals. One day, Cordy startles Felicity Goose who stumbles across her as Cordelia is resting among the gravestones of the little church cemetery. The two begin to talk, and when it starts to storm, Felicity invites Cordelia back to her own cottage, which is closer. Before they can even clear the cemetery, the storm worsens, spitting lightning. One bolt hits a dead tree and topples into a mausoleum, breaking it open. And there, amidst the rubble, lies a fresh body only days old. Thus begins the friendship of Cordelia Hemlock and Felicity Goose.
The two women, pluckier than they seem at first, begin to dig into the corpse’s mysterious appearance after they tell Felicity’s neighbor, Fairfax who then dies in a car accident after he rushes out in the storm to locate the body and alert the constable. The fresh mausoleum corpse vanishes, leaving few clues behind. Fairfax’s home lends a few more clues, harkening back to a terrible war-time atrocity and governmental devil’s deals. This mystery and its unfortunate aftermath give Cordelia something to focus on to let her grief over her son begin to soften and heal.
I adore Cordy and Flick! They each helped t’other to grow and learn. Both women had steel underneath, that began to show through more and more. They each still have vulnerability though, and I love how at times Felicity’s pragmatic country nature takes over, leading her to treat Cordelia as a daughter, or younger sister. Likewise, there are times Cordelia treats Flick as a sister. Despite the circumstances, or as like as naught because of them, they develop a close friendship that lasts decades. Each grows over the course of the story, especially Cordelia. She ends up with a pretty sweet job from the whole affair! I’d love to read about her further adventures.
I would have loved to have interacted more with Fairfax. He was a gentleman after my own heart, with his interest in writing. He was quite the historian! As for other secondary characters, I liked John, Felicity’s husband. I think I could have liked her son James too, but we didn’t get to see him as much as his brother Brian. I’d love to have gotten an explanation over James’ notebook, but we don’t get final follow-up with him, and there’s not enough page time with him for me to gauge personality. If he was supposed to be a foil to Brian, it didn’t work for me. He was easy to overlook. Brian, on the other hand, was a pita, and needed his ass tanned.
I really enjoyed the slow unraveling of the mystery. It was less suspense/thriller, and more a historical investigation. Through Fairfax’s papers, and Cordy and Flick’s persistent research, we get to learn about events that happened during World war II, and there were some surprising revelations toward the end. Thinking back, I see the hints, but it really stunned me at first. Overall, a great read! If you enjoy historical mysteries, be sure to check it out!
***Many thanks to Netgalley/ Severn House for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review. Reviewed for Love Books Tours
