Seventeen-year-old Monica Shaw, a diabetic, and the only girl left at Thorton’s over the Christmas holidays is found dead in her room on Christmas morning. Detective Chief Inspector Neil Paget is called in and the girl’s death appears to have been caused by a self-administered dose of insulin. Housemistress Jane Wolsey recalls Monica returning from a Christmas Eve party at Glenacres the previous night, a bit drunk and very flustered, and everyone is satisfied with the conclusion that the death was a tragic incident.

A week later, Vincent Prescott (the alias of Victor Palmer, convicted felon), a groom at Glenacres, is found impaled on a pitchfork at the stable. Unfortunately for Paget, the investigation into Palmer’s past leads right to the door of his somewhat casual girlfriend, Dr. Andrea Macmillan and her secret she is trying to keep hidden.

While pressure on Paget to close the Shaw case mounts (Thorton Hill and their board of governors are very concerned with appearances), he begins to doubt the original conclusion of suicide; or at least doubts that the solution is as simple as he first assumed. When a third death occurs, Maurice Blake, another groom at Glenacres, Paget begins to wonder if Blake, not Palmer, was the intended target all along, especially after he learns that Blake and Palmer switched shifts for the night Palmer was killed.

Fatal Flaw is a haunting, complex tale of jealousy and the need that people have to feel wanted, needed and loved. These emotions are echoed in the brooding widower, Chief Inspector Paget, who, in spite half-hearted attempts, is not ready to move on from his recently deceased wife.

The clues that are laid out in this novel are very subtle and may only be realized in some cases by a closer re-reading of certain points. Each of the supporting characters holds their own secrets, down to the young son of Glenacres owner, Jack Lucas. The exploration of these secrets leads to many suspects, even if each can account for their bizarre behavior. Cagey behavior on the part of everyone during the investigation adds to Paget’s determination to uncover everyone’s truths to get the killer or killers.

Fatal Flaw is a thoroughly enjoyable, well-plotted, tightly woven mystery with each loose end not only tied-up, but connected to many other loose ends. This is a wonderful addition to English detective novels

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry