Jacob Davis
CSMS Magazine
In Palliser Park, Anne Merino delivers a luminous and exquisitely structured historical mystery that shimmers with elegance while pulsing with quiet menace. Set in the uneasy summer of 1919—when the world is still reeling from the Great War—Merino conjures an opulent seaside estate so vividly rendered that it becomes the novel’s most enigmatic character. Palliser Park is a house built on decorum, privilege, and exquisite charm—and beneath that polished veneer, a carefully curated rot thrives.
The arrival of Simon and Alice Fairlight, a couple seeking respite from wartime trauma, serves as the calm before an impeccably controlled storm. Merino understands the subtle tensions of a recovering era: fragile marriages, shifting social hierarchies, and the uncomfortable friction between tradition and modernity. She threads these elements with painterly precision, allowing her characters to breathe, bruise, and unravel at a pace that feels both organic and orchestrated.
The novel’s inciting incident—a young maid’s catastrophic fall from the manor rooftop—lands with chilling resonance. Merino refuses sensationalism; instead, she turns the tragedy into a prism through which the social dynamics of Palliser Park refract. What begins as a single unexplained death widens quickly into a web of envy, suppressed grudges, old debts, and the kind of genteel malice that flourishes behind closed doors.
Merino excels at atmosphere. Every hallway, whisper, and lingering glance is imbued with the unsettling truth that nothing in this house is accidental. In the spirit of classic British mysteries—Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier—Merino uses environment as both texture and trigger. The seaside cliffs, the marble halls, the manicured gardens: all of them conspire to unsettle. Palliser Park is a labyrinth of secrets, and Merino guides the reader through it with masterful restraint.
Yet what elevates Palliser Park beyond genre is the emotional intelligence with which Merino approaches her characters. Simon and Alice are not merely amateur sleuths; they are deeply human, navigating grief, marital tension, and the invisible shrapnel of war. As the mystery deepens, so too does their bond—and their vulnerability. Merino understands that the most haunting stories are not only about what is hidden, but about what we do to avoid seeing the truth.
The prose is elegant and measured, the pacing deliberate yet gripping, and the reveals arrive with the satisfying inevitability of a well-built literary puzzle. Merino’s dialogue is crisp and evocative, capturing both the clipped sophistication of British society and the tremors of fear beneath it.
By the final pages, the reader realizes that Merino has accomplished something rare: she has written a historical mystery that is both sumptuous and psychologically sharp, both nostalgic and unsettling. Palliser Park is a triumph of atmosphere and storytelling—a novel that lingers long after the last secret is uncovered.
A stunning achievement from a writer at the height of her powers, Palliser Park confirms Anne Merino as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary historical fiction.
Note: Jacob Davis is editor at-large for CSMS Magazine.
Anne Merino’s brief bio
Anne Merino was raised between the UK and Arizona, surrounded by horses, hounds, and a deep love of books. Her childhood, steeped in British country life and spine-tingling tales of ghosts and haunted byways, naturally led her to a lifelong passion for storytelling and theatre. A former professional ballerina, Anne eventually turned to writing, drawing on her rich imagination and love of history. She is the author of the critically acclaimed novel titled Hawkesmoor: A Novel of Vampire and Faerie. Now retired from the stage, Anne lives with her filmmaker husband and their two remarkable sons. Her new novel, Palliser Park Mystery, is now the #1 Hot New Release in World War I Historical Fiction on Amazon!
Also see: Palliser Park Dominates Amazon’s New Release Rankings
