Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Carousel of Time by Bernard O’Keeffe

  

The Carousel of Time by Bernard O’Keeffe, the fifth book in the DI Jim Garibaldi series, will be released in the UK by Muswell Press on 19 February 2026. Unfortunately the books are not yet published in the US.

All of the books are set in Barnes, that upscale suburb southwest of London, where the Barnes Fair is always held on the second Saturday in July. Games, stalls staffed by local nonprofit groups, food of all kinds, and rides are plentiful. This year, though, murder taints the event. Shelley Granger, a local resident and owner of a popular card and gift shop, is found dead with a severe head wound near the carousel the morning after the fair.

DI Garibaldi and DS Milly Gardner learn that the victim had spent the last day of her life at the fair, working at various stalls. In the late afternoon she met school friends in a years-old ritual to remember their school friend who died the year they graduated by riding the carousel, which Esther had loved. Granger had last been seen at a post-fair party, another annual ritual, attended by dozens of Barnes residents. Surprisingly, CCTV cameras were not set up around the fair, so Garibaldi and Gardner had to piece together the dead woman’s movements the hard way: through interviews.

Everyone said that the victim was well liked, had no disagreements with anyone, and her shop was profitable with a strong repeat customer base. Careful questioning and cross-questioning yielded information to the contrary. Granger was upset that her university son had joined a group of activists known for defacing businesses and they had loud arguments about it. She had also developed a line of anonymous cards that offered critical comments about the recipient and apparently she had been sending some of them. For instance, the local would-be star of the drama society received one that called her “No Talent”. The school friends all said the group was on excellent terms with each other but Garibaldi felt they were withholding information. So instead of no suspects in the murder, there are many.

Garibaldi’s penchant for obscure information lets O’Keeffe work in plenty of detail and history about carousels, such as those carousels with horses that move up and down are more properly called “gallopers”. Horses remain stationary on true carousels.

A traditional detective, Garibaldi reminds me of Inspector C. D. Sloan of the Calleshire Chronicles by Catherine Aird. Patient and persistent, although Sloan is not given to the pedantic asides that pepper Garibaldi’s conversation. And Milly Gardner is far preferable to Constable Crosby, that traffic cop wannabe. Still, there’s a similar feel to the books.

Recommended for fans of character-driven police procedurals with equally strong plots.  

 

·         Publisher: ‎Muswell Press

·         Publication date: ‎February 19, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎336 pages

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1068684494

 

 

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.