The Rachel Savernake books are the first crime novels for about half a century to include a Cluefinder, a long-forgotten trope of Golden Age detective fiction. Readers’ enthusiasm for this type of mystery game-playing has delighted me; so has the fact that other crime writers are now joining in the fun. Hemlock Bay offers perhaps the most extensive Cluefinder there has been, highlighting forty-six of the hints and tips to the various puzzles within the story.
The impersonation of Sadie
Page 27: He’d become her guardian while she was still a babe in arms, after her parents were killed in a car crash in San Diego.
Page 83: Like Sadie, she was slender, dark, and pretty.
Page 83: Sadie was always a sickly one.
Page 182: The same disease killed my mother. In those days it was rare and seldom diagnosed until it was too late.
Page 182: Birthdays are bad news in my family. Mom died on my sixteenth.
The Jacksons’ relationship
Page 99: Harold Jackson oozes charm, but I’d say his wife is the power behind the throne.
Hooker Jackson’s risk-taking nature and opportunism
Page 77: Let alone the scar above his left eyebrow, caused by a fencing accident at school when, with typical bravado, he dispensed with his mask.
Page 81: He was reckless, I was irredeemably respectable.
Page 83: When Hooker’s mind was made up, he was quite unstoppable.
Page 84: Hooker was spontaneous and bold, a man who lived for the moment.
Page 84: He was always mischievous as well as opportunistic.
Hooker’s ability to identify Basil after so many years
Page 85: Hooker always had a keen eye
Hooker’s experience of forgery
Page 84: On one occasion he even forged a cheque from a rich uncle for a dare.
The secret entrance to Shepherd’s Cottage
Page 25: The fishermen and farmers of Hemlock Bay supplemented their income by smuggling contraband through a maze of underground passages.
Page 72: Tunnels beneath Hemlock Heights were used to smuggle ill-gotten gains to their homes.
Winnie’s connection with the libidinous Johnny Gratrix
Page 45: I don’t want my girlfriend hanging round the Rose Garden, either.
Page 114: A brawny gardener in a purple string vest paused in the act of deadheading faded blooms to give her a salacious wink, followed by a tuneless whistle.
Page 175: I keep my distance from that one. Not like some I could mention.
The Welsh connection between Bellamy, Virginia, and Ffion
Page 37: His accent was as Welsh as bara brith.
Bellamy shifted in his seat. ‘Hard to say, Mr Flint. I only caught a few snatches of conversation.’
‘Did they sound as if they were local to the area?’
An evasive look flitted into the small eyes.
Page 140: Ffion is Welsh for foxglove
Page 234: Ffion and I are Welsh. So was Bellamy. Apparently, he came from Bangor, not far from Llangefni, where I grew up.
Page 246: She comes from Machynlleth in mid-Wales
Ffion’s determination to murder Carson
Page 97: A head-and-shoulders portrait of Ffion Morris, wearing an expression of uncompromising resolve.
‘A wonderful likeness!’ Rachel exclaimed. ‘You have such lovely features!’
Ffion gave a curt nod of acknowledgment. ‘Ginny calls it The Vow.’
Pearl’s interest in Sir Harold
Page 104: ‘He’s a remarkable man.’ A faraway look came into Pearl’s eyes, but quickly she pulled herself back together.
Page 106: ‘He’s very good-natured, not at all like some rich folk who wouldn’t give the likes of you and me the time of day.’
Page 112: ‘If you ask me, she’s besotted with the man.’
Page 236: Was it her imagination, Rachel wondered, or did the man’s very presence cause Pearl Carson to brighten?
Pearl’s pharmaceutical knowledge and access to thallium
Page 16: ‘His wife’s name is Pearl. She’s worked in shops and as a nurse, but mostly she’s been in service.’
Page 104: When I met Louis, he was selling wine for a merchant with premises next door to the pharmacy where I worked.
Page 195: I’ve introduced her to Max Factor make-up and Koremlu Cream for removing superfluous hair.
Pearl’s willingness to contemplate crime
Page 107: We all know what it’s like to be tempted to behave in a way that is… out of the ordinary.
Carson’s health and symptoms
Page 76: With a sallow complexion and irregular bald patch on the crown of his head, he hardly looked like a vicious criminal.
Page 108: ‘I must see how Louis is feeling. He’s been under the weather lately, so he needs to take it easy.’
‘Sorry to hear that,’ Martha said. ‘What seems to be the trouble?’
‘Gastric influenza, the doctor says.’
Page 128: A sallow-faced man who had lost quite a lot of hair
How McAtee was poisoned
Page 147: At least they left some chocolates on my pillow. A special treat, I thought, but apparently they give them to all the guests.
Pearl’s access to McAtee’s bedroom to plant the poisoned chocolates
Page 106: Sometimes I give the maids a hand. I’m not too proud to tidy up bedrooms or make beds.
McAtee’s illness
Page 132: He was pasty-faced and his breathing was strangely laboured
Page 133: There was a faint bleariness in his eyes and he winced as he gave his stomach a quick rub.
Page 134: The other man rubbed his stomach again.
McAtee muscling in on Carson’s territory
Page 153: He put his inquiry agency on the market. His nice little semi-detached in Wimbledon, too. Seems he’s thinking of making a move up north.
‘To Hemlock Bay?’
‘So it seems.’
How Ffion created her alibi
Page 116: One patch of lower hedging had died away; a determined intruder could wriggle through
Page 176: Surely he wouldn’t crawl through that small gap in the hedge into the Sun and Air Garden?
Page 235: Making friends with the watchman’s Alsatian. We miss not having a dog of our own here.
Bellamy’s plan to make money from blackmail
Page 226: He was about to come into a good deal of money and would be able to set them up in comfort far from Hemlock Bay.
Page 246: Winnie said he was hoping for some sort of windfall.
Basil’s hiding place for his journal
Page 272: He told her he didn’t want her dusting his precious books