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ladyofastolatBooks read since last time: 1920s mysteries, a Victorian mystery, Regency mysteries, with a brief diversion through a hedgerow.
After really enjoying the Phryne Fisher series, I moved onto the other books I'd grabbed in my random grabbing of 19th/early 20th century mysteries and cosy crime.
The first one was NOT a success.
The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes.
A young nursemaid, Fleeing From A Troubled Past (OMT), takes a job with the Mitford family, and teams up with 16 year old Nancy Mitford and a nice young policeman to solve a real life crime. I REALLY didn't like this. Historical novels do often cause me problems when they centre on real people, since my ability to get emotionally involved is hampered with part of my brain shouting that all these internal monologues never happened quite like this, and WHERE ARE THE FOOTNOTES? I can deal with it in some cases (I love the Robert Carey novels, for example) but SO MUCH has been written by and about the Mitfords that it seemed completely wrong to have them all doing something that we know full well they never did. It felt a lot worse when I learnt that the crime in question was a real-life unsolved mystery, and the "solution" given in the book blamed it on a real-life person who, in real life, looks entirely innocent. Plus, the writing was pedestrian, often outright bad, full of badly constructed garden-path sentences, and most of the characters were horrid.
Death at the seaside by Frances Brody
8th book in the Kate Shackleton mystery series, set in 1920s Yorkshire. In this book, the heroine - a 30-something war widow - solves a mystery while on holiday in Whitby. It seemed perfectly okay, but didn't enormously grab me. Some of this might be due to the fact that the heroine is on holiday, away from her usual sidekicks, who only pop up near the end. My least favourite Phryne Fisher book (Death Before Wicket) takes place when she's on holiday without the usual support cast, so I know that this can affect things. I might not be averse to reading another in this series, if it jumped into my hands in the library, but probably wouldn't go out of my way to seek them.
Mrs Jeffries and the missing alibi by Emily Brightwell
8th in a series of cosy London-set Victorian mysteries, in which Mrs Jeffries, a police inspector's housekeeper, marshals a cast of domestic servants into solving their employer's cases, all without him realising that his victories are actually achieved thanks to them. Or so I deduce. In this case, the inspector himself was under suspicion, so the housekeeper's efforts were more overt. To be honest, I can't remember anything much about it now, only a couple of weeks later. I remember regaling Pellinor with tales of its ridiculousness and its Americanisms, and... Oh, yes! I remember! Chief ridiculousness was that Victim Number 1, one of 3 business partners, was found killed with the word "Veni" stuck to his chest, and even when Partner No. 2 was killed and had "vici" on his chest, not a single person had the faintest idea what the words meant. I can forgive a servant girl, but a chief of police and a police doctor? Really?
The secret adversary by Agatha Christie
Very early Agatha Christie, published in 1922, about Tommy and Tuppence, two young people who set themselves up in business to "do anything", and immediately stumbled into a tale of spies, adventure and dastardly plots. All very far-fetched and cliched, but rather enjoyable, nonetheless.
Sebestian St Cyr mysteries by CS Harris
Regency-set mysteries, in which a young nobleman investigates crime and dark deeds amongst the rich and titled of London, having first been dragged into it by being falsely accused of murder himself. I read the first couple of these some years ago, and thought they were okay, enough to read on. But then I managed to accidentally buy not book 3, but the most recent one instead, and jumped straight into a spoiler, so stopped. This time I made it to book 4, and may well read more. It's just that there are about 15 of them and they're £6.99 each, and I'm not sure I like them enough to fork out £100 for the lot.
And finally...
Hedge Britannia by Hugh Barker
Interesting non-fiction about the history of British hedges and hedgerows - chatty and discursive, rather than a straight historical study. It covers garden hedges as well as hedgerows, and is full of fascinating information. Needs better pictures, though.
After really enjoying the Phryne Fisher series, I moved onto the other books I'd grabbed in my random grabbing of 19th/early 20th century mysteries and cosy crime.
The first one was NOT a success.
The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes.
A young nursemaid, Fleeing From A Troubled Past (OMT), takes a job with the Mitford family, and teams up with 16 year old Nancy Mitford and a nice young policeman to solve a real life crime. I REALLY didn't like this. Historical novels do often cause me problems when they centre on real people, since my ability to get emotionally involved is hampered with part of my brain shouting that all these internal monologues never happened quite like this, and WHERE ARE THE FOOTNOTES? I can deal with it in some cases (I love the Robert Carey novels, for example) but SO MUCH has been written by and about the Mitfords that it seemed completely wrong to have them all doing something that we know full well they never did. It felt a lot worse when I learnt that the crime in question was a real-life unsolved mystery, and the "solution" given in the book blamed it on a real-life person who, in real life, looks entirely innocent. Plus, the writing was pedestrian, often outright bad, full of badly constructed garden-path sentences, and most of the characters were horrid.
Death at the seaside by Frances Brody
8th book in the Kate Shackleton mystery series, set in 1920s Yorkshire. In this book, the heroine - a 30-something war widow - solves a mystery while on holiday in Whitby. It seemed perfectly okay, but didn't enormously grab me. Some of this might be due to the fact that the heroine is on holiday, away from her usual sidekicks, who only pop up near the end. My least favourite Phryne Fisher book (Death Before Wicket) takes place when she's on holiday without the usual support cast, so I know that this can affect things. I might not be averse to reading another in this series, if it jumped into my hands in the library, but probably wouldn't go out of my way to seek them.
Mrs Jeffries and the missing alibi by Emily Brightwell
8th in a series of cosy London-set Victorian mysteries, in which Mrs Jeffries, a police inspector's housekeeper, marshals a cast of domestic servants into solving their employer's cases, all without him realising that his victories are actually achieved thanks to them. Or so I deduce. In this case, the inspector himself was under suspicion, so the housekeeper's efforts were more overt. To be honest, I can't remember anything much about it now, only a couple of weeks later. I remember regaling Pellinor with tales of its ridiculousness and its Americanisms, and... Oh, yes! I remember! Chief ridiculousness was that Victim Number 1, one of 3 business partners, was found killed with the word "Veni" stuck to his chest, and even when Partner No. 2 was killed and had "vici" on his chest, not a single person had the faintest idea what the words meant. I can forgive a servant girl, but a chief of police and a police doctor? Really?
The secret adversary by Agatha Christie
Very early Agatha Christie, published in 1922, about Tommy and Tuppence, two young people who set themselves up in business to "do anything", and immediately stumbled into a tale of spies, adventure and dastardly plots. All very far-fetched and cliched, but rather enjoyable, nonetheless.
Sebestian St Cyr mysteries by CS Harris
Regency-set mysteries, in which a young nobleman investigates crime and dark deeds amongst the rich and titled of London, having first been dragged into it by being falsely accused of murder himself. I read the first couple of these some years ago, and thought they were okay, enough to read on. But then I managed to accidentally buy not book 3, but the most recent one instead, and jumped straight into a spoiler, so stopped. This time I made it to book 4, and may well read more. It's just that there are about 15 of them and they're £6.99 each, and I'm not sure I like them enough to fork out £100 for the lot.
And finally...
Hedge Britannia by Hugh Barker
Interesting non-fiction about the history of British hedges and hedgerows - chatty and discursive, rather than a straight historical study. It covers garden hedges as well as hedgerows, and is full of fascinating information. Needs better pictures, though.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-10 11:36 am (UTC)