Gone Away by Hazel Holt

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Mrs. Sheila Malory is a literary scholar specializing in 19^th century authors who lives in the English village of Taviscombe.  She’s also a widow with a son at college and a myriad number of community tasks from taking pensioners to appointments to baking cakes for fundraisers.  When an old friend who has been living in America shows up with a stylish new fiancée, Sheila tries to withhold judgment but everyone else is firmly of the opinion that Lee Montgomery is only marrying Charles for his money.

Mrs. Malory’s resolution to keep out of it is tested when a frantic Charles calls from America, saying that he’s unable to reach Lee in England.  He wants Mrs. Malory to find her and let him know that she’s all right.  But Sheila is unable to locate Lee, and soon begins to wonder if there’s been foul play.

This is the first of the Mrs. Malory books, but it’s so well written and the characters so familiar that it doesn’t seem like a first in series book.  I consider it a fair play mystery, and I loved the English setting, the bits about books (I now want to read something by Charlotte Yonge), and having a sensible, down to earth, middle aged sleuth who doesn’t jump to conclusions or cause scenes.

I’ve read several other books in the series and enjoyed them all.  While some things do change for the characters, this isn’t a series that has to be read in order. Also, while these were written from 1998-2014, they don’t feel particularly dated, except that people don’t carry mobile phones or constantly check computers. I find it a pleasant change.

If you are a fan of the classic British mysteries, such as Agatha Christie or Josephine Tey, by all means give Hazel Holt a try.  I will certainly be reading the rest in the series.

Note:  The book also appeared under the title Mrs. Malory Investigates.

Death of a Bookseller by Bernard Farmer

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

First published in the 1950s, this reissue of a “British Crime Classic” may not be everyone’s cup of tea.  Sgt. Jack Wigan becomes friends with Michael Fisk, who buys, sells, and collects rare books.  He encourages Wigan to take up the hobby, which he does. To his surprise, he finds it an intriguing hobby.  Then he is called to Fisk’s house in an official capacity:  his friend has been murdered. To make matters worse, it appears that Fisk was attempting to summon a demon at the time of his death, which is repugnant to the religious Wigan.  Still, he is determined to find out who—or what—murdered his friend.

I am a sucker for a classic British mystery and I wasn’t familiar with the author, so I decided to give this one a try.  The preface warns that there are some attitudes and sentiments that modern audiences might find offensive, but that the editor chose to leave such things as they were to more accurately reflect the times.  I agree with that sentiment as I like to see how things really were, not a modern sanitized version.

I was fascinated by the descriptions of the book trade among the poorer elements: mostly men whose find of a valuable book might feed them for more than a day or two or get shelter for the night. These were people who had to be able to determine at a glance if a book would bring a shilling or a penny, and might have to scrap to get it before someone else snatched it up. They not only have to know condition and edition, but what genres are selling. At this time, it seemed buyers were mostly Americans who were snapping up titles left and right, sometimes to the dismay of the British.

The book does a wonderful job of conveying a sense of time and place, as well as the excitement of book collecting.  Some reviewers found the book a bit slow but I liked the pacing because I enjoyed the setting. 

Interestingly enough, Farmer was a book collector himself and liked to use books and bookselling in his novels. This has made them particularly collectible among those who like books about books, which I think fitting.

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths

Once again, it is our pleasure to welcome guest reviewer Kevin Tipple the the BPL Bookblog.  For more reviews, news about books, and information for authors, check out Kevin's Corner.

 

Reviewed by Kevin Tipple

 

It is the middle of May 2018 as The Lantern Men: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths begins and a lot has changed in recent months. Kate is now nine. Dr. Ruth Galloway now teaches at Cambridge and lives with Frank. She is no longer the North Norfolk police’s resident forensic archeologist and is far from her beloved cottage on the Saltmarsh. While she will always have a connection to DCI Henry Nelson because of Kate, she is trying her best to close that door of her life and move forward with Frank and her new job duties.

 

That is until convicted murderer Ivor March offers a deal that Nelson cannot refuse. Finally convicted of two murders, Ivor Martin, remains a suspect as far as DCI Nelson is concerned for the cases of Nicole Ferris and Jenny McGuire. They are the same body type as the other victims, both lived in the Norfolk area at the time as did his confirmed victims, and both had contact with March by way of his classes as did the confirmed victims. Nelson is sure, without a shred of doubt, March did it.  He knows March did it. Proving it is the problem as there has been no sign of the bodies or any evidence in either case.

 

That is until Ivor March decides to cooperate and will do so for a price. Not only does he want a meeting with Nelson and Dr. Ruth Galloway, he will only tell them where the bodies are if she handles the dig herself. Clearly March is working an unknown agenda, but if it means promising to do the excavations will bring the deceased home to their loved ones, Dr. Galloway is willing to agree to the meeting and to supervise the recovery of the bodies.

  

She does and in addition to the bodies unearths a tangled web of lies and deceit, motives, and strange relationships going back decades. Local legends and modern-day murders make The Lantern Men: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths a compelling read.

 

Multiple storylines in addition to the one noted above are at work in this complicated read. This is a series that should be read in order and that is especially true here with numerous references to earlier events in the series, the changing nature of relationships, and the passage of time. There are frequent references to the fact that is has been 10 years since the first book, The Crossing Places, and how things have changed for Dr. Galloway, DCI Nelson, and many of the secondary characters who have overtime, had major roles in the series. The reader is left with the sense this is a turning point book where things will reset going forward in the series.

 

A complicated and engrossing book, The Lantern Men: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths is strongly recommended, as is the series.

 

 

 

The Lantern Men: A Ruth Galloway Mystery

Elly Griffiths

http://www.ellygriffiths.co.uk/

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

http://www.hmhbooks.com

2020

ISBN# 978-0-358-23704-4

Hardback (also available in paperback, audio, and e-book formats

368 Pages (includes several pages of the next book in the series)

 

My reading copy came from the Skyline Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2020    

Portrait of a Murderer: A Christmas Crime Story by Anne Meredith

 Reviewed by Jeanne

Mystery Scene Magazine has a feature entitled “Intriguing First Lines.”  I don’t think they come much better than the first sentence of Portrait of a Murderer:

“Adrian Gray was born in May, 1862 and met his death through violence, at the hands of one of his own children, at Christmas, 1931.”

After that shocking line, the reader has a brief introduction to the Gray family, from steely patriarch Adrian through his six children, including various spouses.  The narrative then breaks and we learn the circumstances surrounding Adrian’s death, including who committed the murder.  This all takes place in the first third of the book; the rest is devoted to portraits of the family as they react to the murder and try to figure out who might have been the perpetrator, though most have a suspect in mind.

To be clear, this isn’t a happy family gathering.  Patriarch Adrian is a vengeful, angry man who keeps his family under his thumb.  He requires attendance at Christmas mostly because he can.  He enjoys making his offspring and spouses trek to Kings Poplars, the remote family manor where both house and atmosphere are chilly, to say the least. All of the children have their own agendas as well.  Richard, the eldest son, wants money to buy a title, having over-extended himself financially in order to impress. Daughter Olivia married a financier, whose investments may not be doing as well as expected; son Brand is a starving artist, trapped in a disastrous marriage; Amy is a bitter woman, having spent her adult life looking after her father; Isobel’s husband has left her; and Ruth married a lawyer who is scorned by the family for having no ambition.  

The book was first published in 1933 and earned praise for the psychology and the plot structure, but did not earn the author—real name Lucy Beatrice Malleson-- wide-spread fame.  Instead, it was her books written under the name Anthony Gilbert that are best known among mystery readers. 

I have been thoroughly enjoying the reprints of classic British mysteries.  When I picked up Portrait of a Murderer, the manor house on the cover made me think this would be a country house mystery.  Instead, it’s more of a study of a family.  For some, Adrian’s death is a new beginning; for others, it’s the death of hopes and dreams.  Relationships within the family change. Even knowing the murderer didn’t stop me from wanting to know how things would turn out. If you’re looking for a pulse pounding thriller, look elsewhere; but if family dynamics and character studies are more your taste, I think you’ll like this one.  I certainly did.

Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan

Reviewed by Jeanne

Mordecai Tremaine, retired tobacco seller and amateur criminologist, has arrived at an English country house for a good, old fashioned Christmas, courtesy of an invitation from Benedict Grame, a man he knows only slightly.  It’s the post script from Grame’s assistant Nicholas Blaise that intrigues him, an ending that reads, “But I can tell there’s something wrong, and frankly, I’m getting scared.”

Once he arrives, Tremaine meets an interesting assortment of characters, all of whom seem to have secrets. He’s particularly taken with two young lovers, kept apart by an apparent whim of the girl’s guardian, but then Mordecai is a romantic at heart. He even reads romance magazines.

 Before the sleuth can quite sort out all the relationships between the guests, Father Christmas is murdered—or rather, a member of the party in full Father Christmas robes.  The police are called, but in the best classic amateur sleuth tradition, it’s Mordecai Tremaine who will figure out the who, why, and how of the crime.

This is actually the second in the series by the pseudonymous Duncan, a reprint of the 1949 edition.  It’s in the mold of the classic mysteries of the sort done by Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Marjorie Allingham.  I’m a fan of novels of that era, and often find modern takes on the themes to be somehow lacking, as if the author is trying too hard to replicate a style. This one flows very well and it feels fresh, not any sort of imitation.   Not only does it set up a fascinating puzzle (or, rather, set of puzzles) but the characters are deftly sketched.  There were a number of surprises along the way for me,  but in retrospect the groundwork had been fairly laid. Most of all, I was charmed by Mr. Tremaine.  He is interesting without being too quirky.  He’s genuinely interested in other people, keenly observing them, but without being coldly analytical.  Being a gentleman, he has a certain reserve but he comes off as being pleasant and good-natured. He's quietly confident, not egotistical.

If you like the classic cozy mystery style, by all means give this series a try. I intend to read all five.

As for the author, the mystery of his identity was solved when one of his children saw the reprinted books in a shop.  The author was one William Underhill of Bristol, England, who served in World War II and spent the rest of his working life as a teacher, supplementing the family income with his writing.  Besides the five Tremaine mysteries, he wrote over a dozen standalone novels between 1937 and 1959.  He died in 1988, at the age of 80.

Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths

Reviewed by Jeanne

There are mysteries and then there are mysteries.  Finding a WW II aircraft buried in an English field is certainly noteworthy.  Finding a body in the pilot’s seat with a bullet hole in the skull ups the ante considerably and brings in the police as well as forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway.

So begins the seventh book in Elly Griffiths’ marvelous series.  As usual, there are numerous entanglements along the way, as the body turns out to have been someone related to the prominent Blackstock family.  Not only do they own the field, but they lost a son in the War. . . except that he was supposed to have been lost at sea. If it is him, how did his body get inside an airplane in a field so far away? 

There are personal complications for Ruth as well.  Not only is her former lover, DCI Harry Nelson, investigating the murder, but an attractive American filmmaker is on hand to film a documentary about American pilots in WW II Britain. He and Ruth have dated in the past but lost touch.  It sounds so tawdry doesn’t it? But somehow it isn’t.  It’s just very human, and that means complex.  Harry is a happily married man who loves his wife.  He is drawn to elements of Ruth’s personality and bound to her by their daughter and yet he would never consider leaving his wife.  Ruth doesn’t expect a future with Harry. She longs for a relationship with a man but she wouldn’t sacrifice who she is to have such a relationship. Characters are conflicted, they make mistakes, and they grow.  I always enjoy the time I spend with them.

I look forward to an Elly Griffiths book because I know I can expect a strong mystery plot as well as fascinating characters.  Ruth especially is a wonderful creation: she’s strong and independent, but quite aware that she doesn’t always fit in.  She’s a large, somewhat awkward woman who may lack fashion sense but she is more than competent in her chosen field.  She loves her daughter and her work, and like many modern women she is sometimes torn between the two.  Griffiths herself does a balancing act in advancing her characters’ lives and relationships while never losing sight of the current intriguing mystery.  The writing is understated, with a lovely dry humor.  One thing that I really enjoy is that while characters may do some soul searching and some agonizing, they don’t wallow in misery.  Life is to be examined but it’s also meant to be lived.

I also enjoy that, in addition to the present mystery,  each book has a past mystery to be solved, one that may have occurred fifty years ago or fifteen hundred.  Ruth is an archaeologist, after all.  Many of the present day mysteries in the books have their roots in the past or may serve as a reminder that human behavior has not greatly changed over the centuries.  In addition to the history aspect, there are often elements of folklore in the mix.

  The books don’t have to be read in order, though the complex relationships are better understood if you do.  A new reader was taken aback by “all the affairs,” a comment which puzzled me until I stopped and took stock.  I’ll concede she had a point, but because Griffiths has carefully plotted these relationships and let them unfold over the entire series it doesn’t feel as if it’s excessive.

The series order is:

1.       The Crossing Places
2.       The Janus Stone
3.       The House at Sea’s End
4.       A Room Full of Bones
5.       A Dying Fall
6.       The Outcast Dead
7.       The Ghost Fields

The next book in the series won’t be out until 2016; the working title is The Woman in Blue.   However, Griffiths has another book coming out this year, which is the start of a new series.  DCI Edgar Stephens served in WW II with a special ops unit known as “Magic Men.”  Their specialty was using stage tricks to confuse the enemy.  Now he has a murder case to investigate—and the crime scene makes him think of a magic trick gone horribly wrong.  The title is The Zig Zag Girl and, yes, I’m putting my name on the reserve list!

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by C. Alan Bradley

Reviewed by Jeanne

At the end of the previous book, Flavia de Luce learned she was being sent to Canada to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy.  Her mother, Harriet, had attended the school and left quite an impression.  Flavia isn’t at all thrilled at this turn of events.  She desperately misses Buckshaw, Dogger, her father, and even her sisters.  Not even discovering that her chemistry teacher is Mrs. Bannerman—the woman acquitted of poisoning her husband and a personal hero of Flavia’s – is enough to make her want to stay.

There is one bright spot:  the first night at the school, a body tumbles out of the chimney in Flavia’s room.

The body is charred and partially mummified, wrapped in a flag. It appears to be the body of a young woman, but oddly the adults don’t seem inclined to let Flavia examine the body too closely. Could it possibly be the remains of a former student of the Academy?

This is the seventh adventure of the extremely precocious but not precious Flavia de Luce, a twelve year old with a passion for chemistry and for mysteries. I confess I had some concerns when I found Flavia would set out for the New World, but she didn’t disappoint.  Her observations are as sharp as ever, and she has a whole new cast of characters to impress and/or appall. She’s a bit more of a fish out of water here. She’s uncertain at times how to interact with her peers, but for the most part Flavia does what she always has:  assesses the situation and takes action. The adults are almost more befuddled by her than the other girls, of course, and Flavia has many opportunities to indulge her taste for theatrics.  The author even allowed some long distance interaction with the folks of Buckshaw so that readers weren’t totally bereft of the other characters we’ve come to know.

The brevity of this review is from a desire not to give too much away.  If you’re already a fan, I think you’ll enjoy this latest outing which continues the turn toward what has been called The Great Game.  If you’ve acquired a taste for pheasant, you’ll know what I mean. 

On the other hand, if you haven’t yet experienced Flavia de Luce I would strongly suggest you start with an earlier book. This is a series best read in order.

1. The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie
2. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
3. A Red Herring Without Mustard
4. I Am Half Sick of Shadows
5. Speaking From Among the Bones
6. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
7. As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust