A Dying Fall

 

A Dying Fall (1985) by June Thomson

Martin Holt's relationship with his father has been a rocky one--especially after his mother's death and Martin's decision to leave the family business to become a small hold farmer with the hopes of raising spectacular roses one day. Rex Holt has been used to a lifetime of successes as a businessman and getting his own way. But the two men meet periodically for lunch...and an almost regularly scheduled argument. Martin's latest visit home sees him faced with two unpleasant revelations--his father has installed his long-time mistress in the local village and he has given a random researcher from America access to poems written to Martin's mother by the man she loved before she met and married Rex Holt. Neither announcement is particularly palatable at the lunch table and the men have their usual row before Martin heads back to his farm.

But come the next morning all is not as usual...Rex Holt's housekeeper finds him dead at the bottom of the stairs leading to the garden. He had been a bit unsteady after a slight stroke a few months ago, so it's expected that the death will be ruled an accident. But it isn't and the local police soon call in Detective Chief Inspector Jack Finch (renamed Inspector Rudd in US editions) to get to the bottom of things. As the heir to Holt's rather large estate, Martin is the prime suspect and certain clues found at the scene seem to point his way. Finch isn't too sure though--it appears that someone has gone to great pains to make the murder appear to be very much a murder with a very clumsy attempt to disguise it as an accident. After interviewing witnesses and suspects, Finch has difficulty believing that Martin would be that clumsy if he were to try and make a murder look like an accident. But who else has a strong motive...and who would want to see Martin take the blame?

Thomson has provided another solid police procedural in this eleventh Finch mystery. Sometimes her characters (beyond Finch & his side-kick Sgt. Boyce) aren't as fully developed as one might like, but here they all shine--from Rex and Martin Holt to the housekeeper and her husband to the American researcher to Rex's lady, Bea Chilton and other peripheral characters. Even those that are on the page very briefly are well-defined. The plot is pretty solid as well. I did figure out half of it. My one complaint is that I don't see how the reader could be expected to make the connection necessary to get the full picture before the reveal. Perhaps I missed an early pointer, but I don't think so.... ★★★★

First line: Driving back to Barnsfield was for Martin Holt more than just a physical return to that part of the countryside where he spent his childhood; it was a journey into the past which, since the death of his mother and the quarrel with his father, he preferred not to make. [One note on this first line--it makes it sound like Martin Holt is returning to his childhood home after a very long absence which just isn't the case. He doesn't visit every week, but he has been to his father's house on a fairly regular basis since the quarrel.]

Last line: "As a friend," he repeated with more assurance than he really felt.
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Deaths = 4  (two natural; one hit on head; one shot down in war)

Murder Every Monday (on Tuesday): You Can Bet On It

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

Today's theme is books with covers/titles that have a gambling theme.

Every Bet's a Sure Thing ~Thomas B. Dewey

Luck Be a Lady, Don't Die ~Robert J. Randisi

The Case of the Lucky Legs ~Erle Stanley Gardner

13 for Luck ~Agatha Christie

Good Luck to the Corpse ~Max Murray

The Last Gamble ~Rae Foley

Cards on the Table ~Agatha Christie

Death in the Cards ~Ann T. Smith

The Case of the Rolling Bones ~Erle Stanley Gardner

The Wheel Is Fixed ~James M. Fox

S. S. Murder ~Q. Patrick

Ghost of a Chance ~Kelley Roos

Death of a Racehorse ~John Creasey

Murder at the Racetrack ~Otto Penzler (ed)

The Casino Murder Case ~S. S. Van Dine

Murder Being Once Done

 Murder Being Once Done (1972) by Ruth Rendell

Chief Inspector Reg Wexford has been put on sick leave after a thrombosis in his eye. Dr. Crocker has put him on a regimented diet and ordered him off of alcohol, rich food....and police work. The doctor suggested a month at the seaside--but it's February and Wexford has no intention of freezing at the beach. So, he arranges to stay with his nephew and his wife in London. His nephew is a Detective Superintendent at the Yard. Wexford figures he'll at least get to be involved in crime vicariously. But Howard will discuss anything with his uncle--the weather, literature, London sightseeing--except his job. When a young woman is found strangled to death in a cemetery on Howard's patch, Wexford has to find out about it from the newspapers.

A brief blowup results in Wexford discovering that "that meddlesome Crocker" had sent a letter to the nephew telling him that there is "nothing [Wexford] wants more than to get completely away from everything connected with police work." As soon as Howard realizes that it wasn't Wexford's wish at all, he's relieved that he can consult his uncle's experience. But is Wexford out of his league in the Big Smoke? Howard's subordinate certainly thinks so. Wexford, still feeling that his insights may not be fully appreciated, strikes out on his own--making a few false starts, but coming up with the goods in the end. The plot is fairly straightforward--the girl is at first totally unknown and it is a search for her identity. Even after she's initially identified, they still have a puzzle on their hands because she doesn't seem to have any connections anywhere. Does she have a previous identity? And, if so, was the killer from her past or from her current life in London? Wexford helps his nephew and company find out.

So...once upon a time, I really enjoyed Ruth Rendell's mysteries. I read several of them from my hometown library in the early 80s and then more in the late 90s. I know I read this one (and gave it a middle-of--the-road score of three stars). It wasn't one of my favorites--probably because it takes Wexford off his home turf and leaves him without his right-hand-man Mike Burden. This time around, I'm even less taken with it. I don't like how Wexford is represented. I really dislike Howard's subordinate and his attitude towards the "country policeman." I don't care what he thinks of Wexford--Wexford outranks him and he ought to show at least that much respect for the man. I do appreciate that it shows Wexford as the fallible, fish out of water, trying to detect in London where he doesn't know the people and the ground like he does at home in Kingsmarkham. On top of the personality problems, the mystery itself isn't a very appealing one to me. The clues are not thick on the ground and I certainly didn't see much of them pointing at the particular suspect. Not Rendell's best. ★★ and 1/2

First line: When Wexford came downstairs in the morning his nephew had already left for work and the women, with the fiendish gusto of amateur dieticians, were preparing a convalescent's breakfast. 

Last line: Her husband was asleep.
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Deaths = one strangled

The Four of Hearts

 The Four of Hearts (1938) by Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen is going stir-crazy in Hollywood. After a hugely successful investigation into a Los Angeles murder in the previous book and the West Coast fame that came with it, he was in demand. He's now under contract to Magna Studios to produce scripts. All fine and dandy--except he hasn't actually met with his supposed boss, Jacques Butcher, and he hasn't actually been given any work to do. His agent tells him not worry, it's just the way studios operate. And why complain about getting a paycheck for just sitting around or seeing the sights? But Ellery can't stand to be idle and when "Butch" finally calls him (as if he's just heard that Ellery is around), he tells the boss that he's had enough and is leaving. Which results in immediate work.

The studio is planning an epic biopic featuring their two big stars--Blythe Stuart and Jack Royle. The film will tell all and the masses will flock to the theaters to learn the "true story" of the legendary feud between the two families. A feud that revolves around the once engaged couple and their respective children, Bonnie Stuart and Ty Royle. And as a bonus--Blythe and Jack will play themselves. Just as the Ellery gets down to work gathering background for the script, the two stars through a wrench into the works. Not only have they patched up the feud--they are going to get married. At first Butch and the studio are furious--there goes the melodrama of the feud. But--they decide to cash in on the romantic ending and make the most of the situation. They arrange for Blythe & Jack to be married in front of fans at the LA airfield. Then the happy couple will fly off into the sunset for a honeymoon on a secluded island. And, though Bonnie and Ty aren't happy about it (and are still feuding themselves), Ty volunteers to fly the plane.

But after the plane has taken off, Bonnie and Ty are found--tied up and gagged. So, who is flying the plane? Are the two stars being kidnapped? A few hours later, the plane is found on a mountain plateau. The pilot is missing and Blythe and Jack have been fatally poisoned. Ellery must give up researching to hunt for clues the murders. Apart from the family feud, there seems to be no motive for the death of either of the stars...let alone both. It's soon discovered that Blythe has been receiving mysterious mailings with playing cards and if Ellery can correctly decipher the cards' hidden meanings, he'll be able to hand the murderer over to Inspector Glücke.

This is a fun, slightly madcap, slightly convoluted mystery. It's obvious that Queen (Frederic Dannay & Manfred Lee) are thoroughly ensconced in Hollywood screenwriting at this point. The book reads as though "we" had a movie deal in mind. Lots of dialog, lots of action scenes--not a whole heck of a lot of focus on the mystery. A nice little romance for Ellery, but apparently not as serious as we're led to believe because Paula Paris disappears rapidly after this book. It's obvious who the leads are--Bonnie, Ty, and Ellery, with a good dose of Paula, syndicated columnist, thrown in. We could have used a bit more "screen" time for other characters. Maybe if I'd seen more of them I would have remembered how some of them were connected and I might have spotted the killer. As it was...I didn't. The solution is good and consistent, though a bit of a violent ending for the killer. ★★★★

Other Reviews:
Cross Examining Crime
The Grandest Game in the World
The Green Capsule
In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel 
The Mystillery blog
  

First line: It is a well-known fact that any one exposed to Hollywood longer than six weeks goes suddenly and incurably mad.

Last line: And, her eyes still closed, stumbled blindly across the threshold into the world.
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Deaths = 7 (three natural; three poisoned; one fell from height)

Murder Every Monday: Is This the End?

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

Today's theme is books with titles that have a word denoting finality.

Drawn Conclusion ~Willetta Ann Barber & R. F. Schabelitz

Case with No Conclusion ~Leo Bruce

Finished Off ~Rebecca Kent

Rope's End, Rogue's End ~E. C. R. Lorac

Death Comes as the End ~Agatha Christie

Tether's End ~Margery Allingham

Latter End ~Patricia Wentworth

The Mystery of Hunting's End ~Mignon G. Eberhart

Charity Ends at Home ~Colin Watson

Final Curtain ~Ngaio Marsh

A Masculine Ending ~Joan Smith

The Living End ~Frank Kane

Final Cut ~Eric Wright

The Final Pose ~Marcia Blair

Final Notice ~Jo Dereske

In the Last Analysis ~Amanda Cross

Look Your Last ~John Stephen Strange

When Last I Died ~Gladys Mitchell

The Last Escape (Dishonour Among Thieves) ~E. C. R. Lorac

His Last Bow ~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective ~Leslie Thomas

Last Seen in London ~Anna Clarke

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story ~Michael Dibdin

Last Respects ~Catherine Aird

Rumpole's Last Case ~John Mortimer

At Last, Mr. Tolliver ~William Wiegand

Drury Lane's Last Case ~Ellery Queen (as Barnaby Ross)

Irene's Last Waltz ~Carole Nelson Douglas

Last Seen Wearing ~Colin Dexter

The Last Straw ~Doris Miles Disney

Appointment with Death (audio novel; mini-review)

 Appointment with Death (1938; audio novel 2001) by Agatha Christie
  ~audio novel read by Hugh Fraser

I listened to the HarperAudio version of Christie's book while traveling to and from my parents' house this past week. When taking audio novels along for road trips, I prefer to listen to stories I've previously read so that it won't matter if I miss a few details while concentrating on the traffic. Since I have already reviewed Appointment with Death here on the blog, I won't go into detail about the plot or my reaction to the story. Those interested in those details may find them at the link connected to the title.

The audio novel, which is read by Hugh Fraser who played Captain Hastings on television, is superb. Fraser is excellent at capturing the voices of each character and, amazingly, was able to give distinction between Poirot's Belgian accent and Dr. Gerard's French. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio experience--listening to "Captain Hastings" recount the adventures in Petra made the miles fly by. Given how much I enjoyed Fraser's performance, I'm going to bump up the rating for this experience of the book to ★★★★ stars instead of the three previously awarded for the novel alone.

First line: "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?"

Last lines: "She didn't get what she wanted out of life. It must have been tough for her."
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Deaths = 3 (one natural; one poisoned; one shot)

Finished on 7/11/25

Twelve Drummers Drumming

 Twelve Drummers Drumming (2021). C. C. Benison (Doug Whiteway)

Father Tom Christmas (who prefers vicar or just plain Tom) comes to Thornford Regis looking for peace and quiet for himself and his daughter. He's escaping London where his wife was brutally murdered in their church by an unknown assailant. He has come to replace the Reverend Peter Kinsey, the village's previous vicar who had vanished into thin air not long before. Tom expects life in the small English village to be far less complicated and much safer. But as preparations are made for the annual May Fayre festivities, a young woman is found bludgeoned to death and stuffed inside the largest of the Japanese drums that were scheduled to be part of the entertainment.

Sybella Parry had led a wild life in London with her mother (a celebrity of sorts) and her father, after gaining custody, had brought her to the village where he lived with his second wife in an effort to help her straighten out her life. But the villagers noticed that Sybella seemed sly and like she knew everybody's secrets...and just maybe might do something about them. Did someone decide to do away with her before she could? Or is it significant that she and Mitsuko Drewe look extraordinarily similar from behind? It seems that it might be when one of Mrs. Drewe's famous quilts--based on pictures of village life--is stolen. It's a quilt that showed a picture of the cemetery the very night that the previous vicar disappeared. Was there a clue in the quilt? And did someone want to get rid of both the quilt and its creator (missing the mark in the second case)? Father Christmas has parishioners confessing to him right and left and he will face a moral dilemma or two as he decides what he can share with the authorities. Will he be able to help see that justice is done?

So, I have a few problems with this. First, the style of writing is very difficult for my to like. Benison takes Tom Christmas (and us) into scenes, cuts them off to take a look at another scene, and then has Tom doing these flashback moments to tell us what happened in the rest of the scene we left. So--what we get is a book that is a good 25-50% flashback telling. One of the first rules of writing is show--don't tell. Why on earth could we not just write the complete scene and let the readers see for themselves what happened rather than giving us half of it through Tom's memory of the moment?

Second, like many others, I originally picked this up thinking there would be a holiday theme. After all, we have Father Christmas (and it's pitched as a "Father Christmas mystery) AND we have a title and cover straight out of an incredibly well-known Christmas song. If we just wanted the title to match the vicar's name, then fine. But those drummers look like they're out of the Nutcracker and the actual drummers in the story are playing Japanese instruments. Seriously?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slight spoiler ahead:

Third, I'm not a fan of the dangling mysteries we've got going on. Especially since it looks like Benison abandoned this series after the third installment, so it's unlikely that they're ever resolved. We've got the murder of Tom's wife that was never solved. And then we have the mystery surrounding his verger's involvement in a previous murder case (totally unrelated to the story here) and the fact that he's disappeared. I'd be willing to bet money that neither of those mysteries are cleared up in the next books--especially when I look at the synopsis for each one. Very unsatisfying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the plus side, I do like Tom Christmas and his housekeeper, Madrun Prowse. Madrun's letters to her ailing mum are probably the best part of the book. If Tom and Madrun had teamed up to be actual amateur detectives and Benison had ditched all of the "flashback" internal musings this would have been a much better mystery. ★★

First line:  Dear Mum, When I sat down to write this morning's letter, I couldn't help but think about that May Fayre 30 years ago, when I moved back to Thornford R from London, you all dressed up as always in that red shawl Dad found that time at Newton Abbot market and your pink brocade turban with Grannie's ruby broach stuck in.

Last line: There's a mystery there, for sure!

*********************

Deaths = 6 (one struck by lightning; one stabbed; two hit on head; two train accident)

One Fell Sloop

 One Fell Sloop (1990) by Susan Kenney

This is the third and last of a short academic mystery series which features Roz Howard, American literature professor, and her lover, Alan Stewart, Scottish artist cum botany expert. The series varies between Maine and the UK. This outing finds Roz & Alan "messing about in boats" (a la Wind in the Willows)--taking a little sailboat cruise along the Maine coast for some together time and perhaps a sorting out of their long-distance relationship. Their holiday is interrupted when they stop on a semi-deserted island, known for its rare flora and fauna (a real draw for Alan), and find a dead body. 

It winds up that the victim is the environmentally-minded owner of the island who had had a falling out with his family (who own a nearby island). It seems that one island can't be sold without the consent of all parties and Peter Onterdonck was not in favor of selling off such environmentally important property. But was the feud over the islands great enough to incite murder? Family rivalry may play a part but Roz and Alan discover motives that may be even darker than that. There's possible pirate treasure in the offing or maybe some drug-running. But can they convince the authorities that it's anything more than just an accident?

I do love me an academic-related mystery, but angst-ridden academics are not my thing. At least not right this moment. Roz spends the first three chapters talking about/around/obliquely referring to at times the flaming row she and Alan have had. She's spends oodles of time rehashing it in her brain. With me, shouting at her (in mine), just get on with the murder mystery already! I really don't care about her love-life. And I'm really not a fan of flashback fights, which is what we're getting here. You want to bring in the fight--fine. Then just start the story when they get on the boat and show us what happens in real (book) time. Stop with the flouncing back and forth between now and what happened in the last two-three days. 

And, honestly, as I kept reading, things just didn't get better. Roz spends more time worrying about what Alan has said and does that mean what she thinks it does or does he have his mind on the job (figuring out the mystery before them) than she does on the mystery. She's supposed to be our amateur detective protagonist, but she acts more like a school girl who's all worried about her crush.

The mystery is decent, but it's buried almost as deep as any pirate booty that might be lurking about. I had a really difficult job slogging through Roz and her inner dialogue to keep up with the main plot. ★★

First line: It had seemed like a good idea at the time, Roz Howard thought as she rolled over and carefully rearranged herself in the somewhat confined vee-berth of her Aunt Jessie True's old wooden sailboat.

Last line: It was a waterbed,.
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Deaths = One hit on head

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