Is there such a thing as a pre-apocalyptic comedic murder mystery? When attempted by an author known for humorous children’s novels with titles like “Alex, the Dog and the Unopenable Door” and “Ten Delicious Teachers,” it turns out to be a worthwhile pursuit.
Said author, Ross Montgomery, recently decided to change tack and try his hand at an adult novel with his new release “The Murder at World’s End.”
His hero is Stephen Pike, an earnest, down-on-his-luck young man who’s recently been released from a Borstal Institution (a British term for a juvenile reformatory). Stephen is desperate to restart his life. He risks his last few coins on a promise made in a mysterious letter that a footman’s job is waiting for him at Tithe Hall.
The place is an imposing manor situated on World’s End, a tidal island frequently cut off from the mainland by the sea. With no other prospects, Pike heads out with a secondhand suitcase and a profound sense of anxiety.
One small hiccup: It’s 1910, and England is gripped by an apocalyptic frenzy surrounding the arrival of Halley’s Comet. Doomsayers and tabloids have stoked a global hysteria, leading to riots and a shortage of gas masks.
Rumors have swirled that the earth will pass through Halley’s tail, which will spread poisonous gas everywhere; the event will cause mass flooding and devastation, a rather ironic concept, considering the spate of doomsaying fiction works of late.
Panic and Murder
Upon arrival, Pike encounters Mr. Stokes, the head butler, who’s more rigid, calculating, and cold than a steel ruler encased in an iceberg. The house turns out to be a technological marvel for its era.
It’s also designed for complete domestic segregation. There’s a labyrinth of secret servants’ passages and “butler’s mirrors” designed for monitoring corridors without being seen. Pike also finds suits of armor equipped with loaded crossbows. How charming.
The master of the house, Lord Stockingham-Welt, is a man who’s consumed by the Halley hysteria. He’s gathered a disparate group of guests, including a German scientist, a cynical politician, and a rear admiral. He and his guests hope to survive the predicted cataclysm within the sealed walls of Tithe Hall.
The servants are frantic. In a matter of hours, they’re expected to perform the impossible task of making the entire east wing airtight and prepped for a massive flood. Amidst all this chaos, Pike is given a daunting assignment: He must look after the “challenging” and mysterious Miss Decima, the viscount’s elderly aunt, who is feared by the entire staff.
On the night of Halley’s arrival, everyone is locked away in his or her room. But—shocker—the world doesn’t actually come to an end (no doubt to the great relief of us here in the 21st century).
However, during the non-apocalypse, a body is discovered in one of the locked rooms, a place where, supposedly, no one could have gotten in.
Pike is a newcomer, has a criminal past, and doesn’t have an airtight alibi for the night of the murder. Oh, dear.
Historical Connection
“The Murder at World’s End” is, above all else, a lot of fun. One particularly enjoyable aspect of the book is the fact that there really was mass hysteria in 1910 when Halley’s Comet approached Earth.
The newspapers played a big role in amplifying fears that bordered on panic. Astronomers had confirmed that Earth would pass through part of the comet’s tail, and reports circulated that the tail contained cyanogen gas.
Scientists patiently explained that the gas would be far too diffuse to cause harm. Sensational headlines nevertheless suggested that poison clouds would choke the atmosphere. Shady entrepreneurs sold “comet pills,” bottled oxygen, and gas masks to anxious customers.
Perhaps because he got his first successes with kids’ books, Montgomery tackles this mature story with the same straightforward focus seen in many successful children’s fiction works.
There isn’t much flair or complexity to his writing style, the characters, or the storyline. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a solid, engaging storyline here, with lots of twists and turns, a clever premise, and a smart conclusion.
On the critical side, Montgomery’s choice to have certain characters use base vulgarities lessens them, himself, and the story in general. Swear words aren’t objectionable in and of themselves, but they shouldn’t detract from the writing or alienate a potential audience for no good reason.
Our hero Pike is a little too childlike for a guy who spent several years in a reformatory, as if early 20th-century penal institutions couldn’t harden anyone’s edges. There’s also a central character who falls too neatly into the cliché of a woman who’s smarter than everyone else but is dismissed because she’s a “she.” The upstairs folks (the rich) are naturally shallow, arrogant fools, who look on their servants as lower life-forms.
Nevertheless, tropes are tropes for a reason: They often work for telling a good story. “The Murder at World’s End” isn’t going to win any awards for originality or for bringing a profound story to light, but that isn’t what it’s aiming for.
What it aims to be, it seems, is a fun romp that offers an intriguing locked-room mystery, entertaining characters, and a sympathetic hero. Final verdict: It’s a really fun read.
‘The Murder at World’s End’
By Ross Montgomery
William Morrow, Jan. 6, 2026
Hardcover, 336 pages
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