The Butler
by Clare Mackintosh (Podium Publishing, June 2026) is a stand-alone thriller
from the author of the DC Ffion Morgan and DS Leo Brady series. CWA
recently announced that Clare is shortlisted for the 2026 CWA Dagger in the
Library.
Baxter is a
butler who freelances for wealthy individuals in need of major domo services
for a short time. He’s been hired to prepare and run a villa in the hills above
Cannes for a house party of some half dozen individuals connected to the
industry during the film festival and the accompanying events. Alec Prescott is
the host, he and his ex-wife Sylvie Calloway are also celebrating the 21st
birthday of their only child Carter. Prescott arrives with his current much
younger girl friend Kaitlynn. Baxter is alarmed to learn that Kaitlynn doesn’t
know that Sylvie will be present and Sylvie doesn’t know about Kaitlynn. In
addition to this worrying trio, Prescott and his girlfriend Jade and Prescott’s
godparents Damian and Francesca Huxley, film producer and actress,
respectively, make up the rest of the party.
Damian loses
no time in trying to convince Alec to finance his next film, Alec declines and
tactlessly suggests Francesca is too old to play leading roles. Alec also calls
Prescott to task for not holding down a paying job, and Sylvie and Alec trade
jabs over his youthful girlfriend. The atmosphere is tense and Baxter is
required to supply vast quantities of alcoholic beverages to soothe tempers.
The first two or three days are consumed with cinema viewings and media events,
especially for Francesca who is promoting her newest film. The sniping
continues whenever two or three of the party are together, and dinner with
everyone is downright fractious.
Through it
all, Baxter and the couple he hired to help him stay busy. They plan, shop,
cook, and serve meals on time, clean all the rooms in the villa, change linen
and towels, and cater to the constant demands for booze.
Early one
morning Baxter finds Alec Prescott at the bottom of the swimming pool, quite
dead. Too many people were upset with Prescott for Baxter to believe it was
accidental. He decides to investigate on his own.
Readers
familiar with Agatha Christie’s 4:50 from Paddington APA What Mrs.
McGillicuddy Saw will immediately see the similarity of Baxter to Lucy Eyelesbarrow,
that very expensive but extremely capable housekeeper who worked for wealthy
households a few weeks at a time.
An original
and pleasant read. Mackintosh is a recent find whom I plan to follow more
closely. I particularly enjoyed the details of the job, which gave a strong Upstairs,
Downstairs feel to the narrative. This story has strong potential to become
a series.
·
Publisher: Podium Publishing
·
Publication date: June 16, 2026
·
Language: English
·
Print length: 208 pages
·
ISBN-13: 979-8347009268
Amazon Associate Purchase Link:
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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