Review: THE SECRET OF THE ANGEL WHO DIED AT MIDNIGHT

THE SECRET OF THE ANGEL WHO DIED AT MIDNIGHT by Rosy Fenwicke (June 2025)

Reviewed by Karen Chisholm

In the quiet wine-growing town of Martinborough, Detective Senior Sergeant Kate Sutton is called to investigate the murder of respected local physician Dr. Geoffrey Scott. Found dead in his own garden, the doctor's death sends ripples of unease through the close-knit community.

Recently divorced and still settling into her new home, Kate methodically begins to piece together the puzzle. As the investigation deepens, she discovers unexpected connections to the three-year-old disappearance of a young French woman—a case that has lingered unresolved in her career.

In this meticulously crafted mystery set in New Zealand's picturesque Wairarapa region, Rosy Fenwicke delivers a compelling police procedural that rewards careful attention and offers satisfying twists in the tradition of classic detective fiction. As Kate follows the clues to their logical conclusion, she discovers that even in the most idyllic settings, the past never truly stays buried.

The first in a new series from NZ author Rosy Fenwicke, THE SECRET OF THE ANGEL WHO DIED AT MIDNIGHT is a police procedural novel introducing DSS Kate Sutton.

Set in a wine-growing region of New Zealand, the sense of place in this one is pretty strong, drawing on a small town, with tensions between the old residents and newcomers staying very close to home. The victim in this novel is the local GP, Dr Geoffrey Scott, a man who has taken over his father's practice, a well known figure in the small community in which he's lived his life, his wife being the incomer. Younger, an artist, and right from the start seemingly somebody very different from her quiet, garden loving husband. Turns out that the relationship between these two is complicated, as it the truth behind Dr Geoffrey Scott's own position.

The investigation itself centres around recently divorced, and adjusting to a very different life, DSS Kate Sutton. She's got a supportive boss, a resentful underling, one son who remains close, one who is distant and an ex-husband who, frankly, sounds like a bit of a dick. She's also got a mostly absent, very eccentric father who arrives out of nowhere whilst Sutton is knee-deep in investigation problems and really not in the mood. Particularly when he temporarily moves into the spare room in her brand-new townhouse, although his presence does somehow smooth the path between Sutton and her youngest - part just a grumpy pain in the rear teenager, part the victim of a fairly acrimonious divorce.

The balancing act achieved between a complicated investigation - mostly because of what seems like a decidedly absent list of potential suspects - and the personal is good in this one though. The reader is allowed to get to know Sutton easily, as she navigates the complications of leading what turns into a pretty high profile case, at the same time that she works out how to start living on her own after many years juggling the job and the demands of a family. When a potential suspect does come to light, the pressure ramps up as the chance to arrest him is blown, and a second murder really makes the residents of this small town very twitchy. It's really only constant digging, and pushing and looking for things out of place, that ultimately connect events around the disappearance of a young French backpacker three years before, and the current murders.

In a police procedural style novel, readers will be looking for a believable investigative scenario, something not necessarily new, but well delivered, and increasingly a good balance between angst and hard work, inspiration and solid investigation. All of which THE SECRET OF THE ANGEL WHO DIED AT MIDNIGHT delivers well. The characters are good, the tension within the team believable and the slightly different angle of supportive boss / tricky colleague is a nice touch. As were the complications about the victim that were revealed as the case went on, and the way that the problems in his life took a while for people to be willing to talk about.

I think I saw somewhere that the second novel in this series is due out early in 2026, which is very good news as this is definitely a series worth keeping an eye out for.

Karen Chisholm is one of Australia's leading crime reviewers. She created Aust Crime Fiction in 2006, a terrific resource - please check it out. Karen also reviews for Newtown Review of Books, and has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and Ngaio Marsh Awards. This review was first published on Karen's website; she kindly shares some of her reviews of crime and thriller novels written by Australians and New Zealanders on Crime Watch as well as on Aust Crime Fiction.