Murder at Madingley Grange
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The acclaimed author of the Inspector Barnaby series offers a madcap manor house mystery: "well-written, witty, and elegantly plotted" (The Guardian, UK).
Simon Hannaford is in need of some fast money, and murder seems the obvious solution. Specifically, a 1930s Murder Mystery Weekend, to be held at Madingley Grange, his aunt's superbly hideous gothic mansion. Simon and his sister are meant to be house-sitting, but surely Aunt Maude would not begrudge them the chance to earn a few nearly honest shekels.
As the guests arrive—each one dottier than the last—Simon's grand plans quickly go awry. Meanwhile, the staff Simon hired on the cheap are busy hatching larcenous plans of their own. But when an actual body turns up, deprived of actual life, Simon's charade of detection is suddenly forced to begin in earnest.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A game of murder in an English country house appears headed for the real thing in this lumbering attempt at a romp. Simon Hannaford and his sister Laurie are left in charge of their aunt's estate near Oxford while she travels abroad; to settle some debts, Simon decides to sponsor a murder-mystery weekend for well-paying guests. Those who sign on include mystery aficionado Derek Gregory; his wife, Sheila; and snooty Mrs. Laetitia Saville with her daughter Rosemary, who are appalled by the wealthy but common gypsy family Gibbs--Fred, Vi and Mother Gibbs. It soon appears that everyone at Madingley Grange has arrived with ulterior motives, including the temp-service staff who are casing the place with an eye to burglary. When Derek is chosen victim, much to his voluble distaste, and then is found actually murdered the next day, Simon and Laurie's problems really begin. While Graham ( Death of a Hollow Man ) does give us the outline of a classic country house mystery, this is not Wodehouse-meets-Christie material, lacking the essential wit and complexity of both masters. Mystery Guild alternate.
