Review: The Paxton's Tower Murders by Stephen Puleston

The Paxton's Tower Murders (A Detective Caren Waits Mystery, #1)

by Stephen Puleston

Release Date: June 16, 2025

2025 Independently Published

Ebook ARC; 315 Pages

ISBN: 979-8284500903

ASIN: B0FDJ71QB6

Genre: Fiction / Mystery

Source: Review copy from author

 

4 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Detective Inspector Caren Waits was ready to prove herself on her first day in a new job—but she wasn’t expecting a murder. When a small-time drug dealer is found dead near The Paxton’s Tower, Caren is thrown into a case that demands her full attention.

Leading an unfamiliar team, she must prove she has what it takes to command respect and catch a killer.

But when a second body turns up at the same location, Caren knows she’s dealing with someone calculated and ruthless. As the investigation deepens, she finds herself chasing a murderer who always seems one step ahead.

 

My Thoughts

The Paxton's Tower Murders is the first book in a new series by this author and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Having read most of the Inspector Drake series, I was happy to read a new series featuring a character who appeared in the Drake series. Caren was starting her new job in a new town and had barely settled in when she was called out on her first case. I would be quite nervous as well if I were in her shoes and hadn't even had an opportunity to check in, to figure out the layout of where I was working, or to even have met my team, so to say she was a bit uptight and nervous was understandable. 

 

Personally, I liked Caren better in this book than in the Inspector Drake series, but it's only because I got to learn more about her. Because the book is about her, reading her inner thoughts as she juggled motherhood and a demanding job was interesting, and I could relate to her struggles to provide a normal childhood for her son while being exhausted. The fact she was a bit cool to her colleagues did not bother me as she is the boss and understands the importance of a functional team. Considering the mystery surrounding her predecessor, her more distant behaviour was understandable, but she definitely opened up as the book progressed. She was determined, fair, and was able to see the strengths and weaknesses in her team members and use them appropriately. My only question mark with regards to Caren is her behaviour towards her underlings and it is something to which I rolled my eyes constantly: a 'please' and 'thank you' would not be remiss once in a while, and if you want a cup of coffee, get off your tuff and go make it yourself. In many offices, the way that was demanded would land you in a behaviour, aka manners and DEI training, course. To me, that speaks of a lack of confidence in yourself to be a leader; there's a way to do without being a jerk.

 

The plot itself had many twists and turns and was quite interesting. The murder investigation itself was done in such a way as to introduce people who lived in the community, people we will probably see in future books, so I liked that a lot. There was also a secondary story woven through the narrative, that of Karen's husband who died in an accident a year ago. That one did not resolve itself in this book, but it definitely made me curious as to know what happened. The investigation did allow Caren to grow as a character and to connect better with her team, something I definitely enjoyed. While the ending was rushed, it was still satisfactory.

 

Verdict

The Paxton's Tower Murders was a strong start to a new series and I enjoyed both the character and the plot development. It is well written and I liked the descriptions of the Welsh landscape and some of the background information the author provided. And as a I mentioned above, while I enjoyed Caren's character development, there were some things that did not sit well with me with regards to how she treated her team so hopefully that is all part of her future character development and now displaying how a leader should behave towards one's team. All in all, the mystery and investigation were fun, and I will be reading the next book in this series.