Review: The House of Love and Death by Andrew Klavan

Author: Andrew Klavan
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Publication Date: October 2023

When a family is murdered in a wealthy Chicago suburb, English professor Cameron Winters asks the questions that the police aren’t willing to.

Professor Cameron Winters is well known for having a sense about crime. His background as a former spy and his current work investigating themes and motives in literature give him unique insight into why a crime might have occurred and who had the reason to commit it. Which is why he can’t resist getting involved after reading a puzzling news story about a wealthy family killed in the small town of Maidenvale. Three members of the family, along with their live-in nanny, were pulled from their burning mansion, already dead from gunshot wounds. The only survivor is a young boy whose memory of the event raises more questions than answers. The police seem to have settled on a simple explanation and the most obvious suspect, but something isn’t adding up.

While Winters’s investigation is welcomed by many who knew the victims, Inspector Roland Strange makes it clear he not only wants Winters to stop looking for answers, but to stay out of his town altogether. Winters begins to understand why as he slowly uncovers crimes and unsavory behavior that had been ignored long before the killings. But this only makes him more determined to find the real killer and expose the rot that is hiding behind the town’s sanitized façade.

The House of Love and Death is the third book featuring Cameron Winter. He is a college professor and a former spy who has a knack for solving mysteries  This time around he reads about a wealthy family who were murdered.  Something about the case keeps bothering him.  He can't let it go, so he decides to investigate.

As with the first two, I really enjoyed Winter's adventure.  The msytery was solid with twists. That's about all I will give away about the plot.  I don't want to spoil anything. More than the mysteries in these book, I like spending time in Winter's world..  He is such an intriguing character.  With each book, more of his past and personality is revealed.  At the end of each, I'm kept wanting more. Have you spent time with Cameron Winter yet?  I highly recommend this one as well as the series as a whole.  I can't wait for the next one.