The Masters of the House

By Robert Barnard

In the late winter of 1979, Leeds housewife Ellen Heenan dies in childbirth – abandoning a guilt-stricken husband to insanity’s grasp and leaving four young children to find for themselves.

Thirteen-year-old Matthew and Annie, age twelve, know what the authorities will do if the learn of Father’s debilitating madness. A close-knit family will be speedily unravelled, its threads scattered carelessly to the winds. So deception is the only recourse – a façade of normalcy that must be carefully constructed to fool prying neighbourhood eyes. And resourceful young Matthew and his sister have the situation well in hand – until a freshly slain corpse turns up beneath the kitchen window . . .

‘Gripping and satisfying’ Chicago Tribune

‘Subtle and surprising . . . Robert Barnard at his best’ San Diego Union-Tribune

‘A sad, sweet horror of a story . . . the suspense is delicious.’ New York Times Book Review

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Nov 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781447239581

Robert Barnard

Robert Barnard (1936-2013) was awarded the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Nero Wolfe Award, as well as the Agatha and Macavity awards. An eight-time Edgar nominee, he was a member of Britain's distinguished Detection Club, and, in May 2003, he received the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement in mystery writing. 

Reviews for The Masters of the House

[someguyinvirginia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

**SPOILERS AHEAD**Entertaining account of children taking on adult roles and making a life for themselves while hiding the fact that they are alone in the world. Masters ultimately is about damnation and salvation, and how people create one or the other in their lives, rather than either state being a judgment passed by G-D. I’ve always liked books about kids making a life for themselves, it seemed to be a theme for YA books written when I was a pre-teen and they always resonated with me; and probably led to my long-held distrust of authority. Masters of the House does read as a YA book, rather than a commuters’ mystery, but that’s fine. The one gaping hole in the story is the lack of tension after the second murder; the kids don’t seem particularly concerned about who did it or if they’re in more danger.It’s a small point, really, Masters of the House is a great cozy.