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Helen Susan Swift
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The Malvern Mystery Kindle Edition

by Helen Susan Swift (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 219 ratings
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England, 1859. After schoolteacher Lorna Buchanan witnesses a strange ceremony on the grounds of St. Anne’s College, she is sacked by the tyrannical headmistress.

Soon, Lorna is entangled in a web of mysticism and murder. Together with class troublemaker Margaret and the staunch Police Sergeant Caswell, Lorna investigates the cryptic clues that surround the deadly crimes happening in their small town.

But are supernatural forces really to blame, or is someone with a more sinister motive behind the crimes?

Praise:

★★★★★ - “A good old-fashioned mystery.”

★★★★★ - “Absolute delight to read. Swift's knack for historical detail enables the reader to savor the tale in glorious, imaginative color.”

Previous page
  1. Print length
    254 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    June 15, 2017
  5. Reading age
    16 - 18 years
  6. Grade level
    10 - 12
  7. File size
    1934 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B071XHH2WF
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Creativia; 3rd edition (June 15, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 15, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1934 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 254 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 219 ratings

About the author

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Helen Susan Swift

Helen Susan Swift

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Born in Edinburgh and bred in the Scottish countryside, Helen Susan Swift currently lives in the north-east of the country. Happily married, she works two jobs as well as writing in a variety of genres. Her interests include folklore and history, as well as hill-walking, nature and football, following Aberdeen FC and Ayr United. She grew up visiting castles and stories, which gave her books a slight quirk when compared to others of the genres in which she writes. It is foibles and cares of people that interest her, the impact of image over reality and the realisation of the true depth of love rather than the shallow desire for material advantage.

When Helen Susan wrote her first book, The Handfasters, she intended it to be a one-off, but one thing led to another, her love of history intervened and others followed. She thinks the same about each book she produces: this will be the last, so it is a surprise when the desire for another arises.

Helen Susan is one of the shyest people it is possible to meet. Very few people know she writes. She keeps herself to herself and does not encourage photographs.

From her small house, Helen Susan can see the North Sea on one side and the country on the other. The moodiness of nature inspires long walks along the coast, with its shattered castles and splintering waves, coves where Vikings once landed and houses that once sheltered smugglers. The hills constantly beckon, where the wildlife is more important than humans. Above, Helen can contemplate the void of the sky. Yet at home, one person awaits, always.

Her Dark stories reveal her interest in the supernatural, the impact of superstition on the mind of man and woman. Life on this planet is a constant battle between good and evil, in whatever guise that takes. Sometimes good is victorious, as in the romance stories, sometimes the other side triumphs.

Perhaps Helen Susan's life walks along the shaded fringe of both, as her writing can be cosy and fun. . . or dark.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
219 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars The Malvern Mystery
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
This was an interesting and entertaining novel, certainly educational, while maintaining a sensible pace. I would liked to have given it 5 stars but, because of the few editing errors (grammatical, an incorrect word here and there etc.), could not. I truly appreciated the author's historical details that increased my interest, as well as a great ending.
3 people found this helpful
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Jill Thornhill
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining!
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2017
Verified Purchase
An entertaining and enjoyable read. Druids, a school that's not what it seems, a tangled plot of mayhem and murder in a respectable 19th century English town, and a ladylike heroine who has many surprises in store for the reader.
4 people found this helpful
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bex
3.0 out of 5 stars Low 3 star
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2019
Verified Purchase
The pacing is good and I like the MC. However, it needs another proofread. For example, the MC switches gender midsentence twice yet there are no signs that she is actually gender fluid.
One person found this helpful
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Arkietype
4.0 out of 5 stars Improbable but engaging period mystery
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2018
Verified Purchase
This was a lovely tongue in cheek mystery solved by a young woman in 1857. Her background as being raised in India gave some plausibility to the plot that was well crafted. The characters were quirky and nicely developed. Entertaining read.
3 people found this helpful
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Berk Rourke
5.0 out of 5 stars "Miss" on the trail.
Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2017
Verified Purchase
I always start any book which I intend to review, as I did The Malvern Mystery, with a five star review as my base. If I am persuaded by something amiss in the story, the pace, the lack of a complete description of the characters so they become real, something amiss in great distracting detail with the editing of the book, I may take away a star or two. If I come to the place where I cannot say I enjoyed the book at all I will tell the author privately about my feeling and withdraw my intent to review. None of those things were evident in this story. The characters were well fleshed out and believable. The story line was well developed and planned, and the weaving of the mystery tale was very well done. There were no grand clues to the identity of the killer until the very last of the book, immediately before the rather explosive ending. There were a few editing errors. I rarely ever see a book, even by Stephen King, where there are none. I will not describe the story. I will leave it to you to read the tale and enjoy, hopefully as much as did I. This is a tale which could be read by anyone from early teens to adulthood with great pleasure. Good Read!
18 people found this helpful
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kat
4.0 out of 5 stars Page turner!
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2020
Verified Purchase
I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good British mystery. It's well written and held my interest from the very first. I will be looking for more by this author!
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cindy e
5.0 out of 5 stars Great, but...
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2018
Verified Purchase
I could not help but give this book a 5 star rating. The writing flows, the story line is delightful, and the characters are wonderful. However, this book needs a good editing. There are many pronoun errors, as well as name slip-ups, and the blocking leaves much to be desired.
3 people found this helpful
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Bobetta Douglas
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2020
Verified Purchase
This book was poorly edited and written at about high school English level. The plot wasn’t too bad and overall it could have been an interesting story but I couldn’t get past the simplistic language and bad typos.
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Top reviews from other countries

Carol
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2024
Verified Purchase
Good story and flows well with some surprises and a bit of amusement and mystery. Characters all interesting. Great read
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Miss Clarke
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
An engaging story beautifully told with delightful characters. There were, however, too many inconsistences - the prior stood up and then a few lines after stood up again. Occasionally he was used instead of she and vice versa, but the one bloomer that made me smile was the children filling baskets with fruit from the garden in MARCH. Hmm, I don't think so! Nevertheless, it's well worth reading and were it not for the errors I would have given it five stars.
One person found this helpful
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Maree Croxon
4.0 out of 5 stars Finding your place in life
Reviewed in Australia on December 4, 2022
Verified Purchase
Lorna felt that finding her place in England would be difficult and she was right. But she took all the learning her father gave her, her confidence and found a path.
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, terrible editing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
I’m not sure why I liked this. There was an odd mix of naivety and experience in both main characters and not a lot of fleshing out of the other characters. The obvious and repetitive mistakes made parts of it a chore to read.
One person found this helpful
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Russell Ferguson
5.0 out of 5 stars Hopefully the start of a series
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2023
Verified Purchase
This is the second book that I have had the pleasure of reading from this author. It is her first mystery and is as well researched and written as the first book of hers that I have read even though the subject matter is entirely different. Helen's use of language is excellent again, the research thorough and the main characters both likeable an believable. The story held my interest all the way through and really captured the spirit of the Era. I really hope this is the first in a series featuring the 2 main antagonists. I love the Victorian setting and any more books in the same vein I will eagerly await and purchase, meanwhile I will continue working my way through the authors many other books.
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