The Butler is the first book in a new series of the same name, by Clare Mackintosh and I look forward to reading more books in the series.
Baxter, the main character, is a freelance butler and his latest job is in a villa outside Cannes. The owner of the villa has hired him to take care of the visiting guests, a group of rich family and friends gathered to attend the famous film festival, and celebrate the birthday of the son of the man with the money. When one of the group winds up dead, Baxter and his coworkers decide they must investigate.
I liked Baxter as a main character, we got a bit of his backstory through memories at certain points, which made him more of a real person, not just the stereotype of a butler.
The mix of characters was interesting and left no shortage of suspects. Add to that the fact that there was a group of burglars in the area, and Baxter and his companions had their work cut out for them.
The build up is a bit slow, as the death doesn’t take place until near the middle of the novel, but I didn’t feel like it dragged at any time. I actually liked that it gave me time to get to know the characters and their possible motivations.
The only problem I had with the book was the occasional switch from Baxter’s third person point of view to a more omniscient one, I think at times it was meant to be Baxter’s internal thoughts but it didn’t always come across that way . It felt like a narrator breaking into the story to set a scene or fill in details about what went on between scenes. I found these sections somewhat distracting, they didn’t seem to fit the rest of the story.
Overall though, I quite enjoyed The Butler. It was a quick entertaining read, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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