Grave Matters

Patrick Grant #3

by Margaret Yorke

Sheer chance put Oxford don Patrick Grant on the Acropolis in Greece when the first victim, elderly Miss Amelia Brinton, suffered a fatal fall. Curiosity, however, sent him to the English village of Meldsmead to visit the charming 17th-century cottage Miss Amelia had left to her niece. There the second ill-fated lady, the young mistress of nearby Abbot's Lodge, suffered a nasty series of accidents. So when a third woman mysteriously broke her neck in the British Museum, all Dr. Grant's instincts for detection told him it was murder. Now it would take his special investigative abilities to discover why a volume of Cicero was missing, who put poison in a pie...and what dark motives would push a killer to strike again.

Genres: Mystery, Crime

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Margaret Yorke was an English crime fiction writer, real name Margaret Beda Nicholson (née Larminie).
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.

Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.

During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.

She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.

Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.

She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.

Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.

Margaret Yorke died in 2012.

Reviews

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sleeping dogs and the wisdom of letting them lie.

I’ve read all five of the books in this series and this one is my favorite. Margaret Yorke wrote a nicely plotted mystery with clues and red herrings and all the rest, but her forte was in showing how her characters were shaped by their experiences. And she understood that generational differences go deeper than hairstyles and skirt lengths. This book centers around two elderly women who came of age at a time when there was “zero tolerance” for dishonesty. Society has changed, but they have not.

Miss Amelia Brinton was a famous headmistress of a celebrated private school for girls. The daughter of a noted classical scholar, she was admired both for her brilliance and for her insistence that her pupils live up to her high standards, both academic and personal.

Miss Mildred Forrest taught at the same school and their friendship continued into retirement. While not as intimidating as Miss Brinton, Miss Forrest shares her friend’s moral compass. In old age, they are frail physically, but their principles are still strong. “To do one’s duty” is an imperative, regardless of how unpleasant or even dangerous it might prove.

Amateur detective Dr. Patrick Grant is on vacation in Greece when he witnesses Amelia Brinton’s fatal fall down a flight of steep stone steps. A young man rushing up the stairs brushes against the old lady, causing her to fall, then runs off. Grant is shocked by the violence of her death and the young man's callousness. The Greek police are happy to have an Englishman there to work with the embassy and attend to the burial. Everyone agrees that it was a sad accident, but the sort of thing that happens to frail, elderly people.

But Patrick Grant is both kind-hearted and incurably curious. So while visiting his married sister he goes to the nearby village of Meldsmead, where Miss Brinton's middle-aged niece has inherited her retirement cottage. She’s a successful businesswoman and in no need of condolences. But there’s also a pretty, charming great niece. She and Mildred Forrest are staying at the cottage, going through the large collection of books, some of them old and valuable. Grant is interested in acquiring some of the books for his college’s library and it’s a good excuse to spend time with attractive Ellen.

Meldmead’s beautiful natural setting and its welcoming inhabitants make it a fine place to visit. The men commute to jobs in nearby towns and their wives garden or do volunteer work. There’s a jolly pub owner, a friendly vicar, and an interesting research scientist. Everyone is thrilled about the new neighbors who’ve purchased the local manor house and are remodeling it at great expense. They’re polite, but reserved. Patrick is particularly intrigued by the fact that the wife has had some strange accidents and unexplained illnesses.

Then there’s another shocking death and Grant becomes convinced that someone in the village has something to hide and is ruthless enough to kill to avoid exposure. The Brinton family and their friends seem to be the targets, but why? And can Grant figure out the puzzle in time to prevent a third death?

Yorke wrote murder mysteries, but she knew that death isn’t the only tragedy. Amelia Brinton and Mildred Forrest were spinsters and probably not by choice. WWI wiped out a generation of young Englishmen and many young women of that time were denied the chance to marry and have children. Few careers were open to women then and those were poorly paid. Amelia Brinton lived comfortably because she was paid more as headmistress and because she inherited money. After a lifetime of useful work, Mildred Forrest lives in a rented room and struggles to afford heat and food. Poverty is still common for elderly single women. The average retirement income of married couples is 2 ½ times that of widowed, divorced, or never married women.

I admire Yorke for her talent, but also for her compassion and her willingness to speak up. A divorced woman herself, she was aware that the income from her books afforded her a financial comfort denied to the majority of her peers. A good mystery is more than a careful plot and the discovery of the guilty party. It’s a look at the social conditions that shaped the characters and drives their actions. Yorke wasn’t just a good mystery writer. She was a good writer, period.

[John Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was quite keen to get on to this one. After enjoying the first in the series the second was , I felt, disappointing and so this one was going to decide if I was going to ditch the rest of the series or carry on.
Well, as it is a short series of 5 and this is number 3, I guess that I will keep going.

I love the dated style of writing and the fifties view of things. This story was more like the first with an English village setting - although I worried a little as the first part was set in Greece that it was going to be more like the second, Silent Witness.

Once again I fear that I was confused with the character names and who was who. Maybe this is a personal problem that I have and I should have drawn myself a character map as the story progressed to keep track of everyone - or perhaps there is some fault in the author not bringing the characters sufficiently alive.
Having said that, I enjoyed the story and felt it had good progression and an understandable motive for the murderer.

I am still having a problem painting a picture in my mind of 'our hero'. Originally I thought of him as much older and now I am not sure of the suave dashing image that I gave him to begin with. May be a youger version of Dr Indiana Jones, minus the whip, of course.

I will read the other two novels and see how my views crystalize.

[Rebecca Hock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read. Quite enjoyable. I will keep an eye out for other in the Patrick Grant series.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gem of a small series .

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patrick Grant is on a trip to Greece, and sees Amelia Brinton, an elderly lady who is the retired headmistress of a girls' boarding school, Slade House, and the daughter of an Oxford don of earlier times. They happen to be visiting the Parthenon at the same time, where he witnesses some boy brush beside her which causes her to fall to her death on the steps of the Propylaea (the entrance to the Acropolis). Since they are both British, he works with the local police to see to Miss Amelia's funeral - she is buried in a local Protestant cemetery with the appropriate rites. On returning to England, he is curious about her niece Valerie Brinton, who inherits her cottage, "Mulberry Cottage", in Meldsmead, a little village to the south. He stops at a local pub where he makes the acquaintance of several locals. At some point, Patrick goes to Mulberry Cottage where Valerie is having to deal with her aunt's vast collection of books. A friend of Miss Ameila's, Miss Mildred Forrest, is also there helping her sort the books. Also, there is Valeries niece, Ellen Brinton. Like her late friend, Miss Forrest is tiny, aged, and frail. Nearby is a house known as Abbot's Lodge, which has a bad local reputation, possibly haunted, which has been sold to David and Carol Bruce. Ellen is friendly with Miss Forrest, and they make a date to meet at the British Museum in London. But then, Miss Forrest falls to her death on steps within the museum. Later, the Bruce's dog is found dead outside by Partick. What is going on??? Throughout the book, Patrick discusses things with his married sister, Jane, and her husband Michael Connor, and later with Inspector Colin from Scotland Yard. Another detail is that one of the volumes of Miss Amelia's set of an edition of Cicero's Orations has gone missing. So, what is the significance of that? And there will be one more murder. This book is an engaging whodunit.

[Jeff Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

While visiting Greece, Dr Patrick Grant is shocked to see the death of former school mistress Amelia Brinton who has fallen to her death from a great height. When returning home he takes the opportunity to visit her friend Mildred Forrest who is living at her home selling off her large collection of books. It's while there that he falls the attractive business woman Ellen which gives the opportunity to return to village. Margaret Yorke characters are all very likeable and it's not hard to root for them as they suspect foul play in the village. A very enjoyable read and I'm sure I'll get great pleasure from reading the remainder of the series.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Greece, Dr. Patrick Grant sees an elderly Englishwoman bumped into a fatal fall. Returning a dropped book to her English cottage, he meets her family and friends. When her close friend also dies in a fall, he becomes suspicious and investigates. The plot thickens, and Grant brings in his friend at Scotland Yard.

[Alison Enever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same as the second one. Well written and loved the process of reading and all the characters but the story ended a bit suddenly and I’d guessed whodunnit but not because of clues given to me at the same time as the detective. Just because they basically spelt it out with massive hints. I will read the 4th one but if this had been a much longer series I’d have stopped there I think.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

While at the Acropolis Patrick sees an elderly woman pushed down a stone stairway to her death. Shortly after returning to England he finds out one of the woman's friends, also elderly, dies from a fall down steps in the British Museum.
Ellen, Valerie, Carol, Miss Amelia, Miss Forrest.

[Darcee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Margaret Yorke writes a compact and enthralling mystery story. This series stars Patrick Grant, an Oxford professor, who sidelines as an amateur sleuth.

[Homerun2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Sharron · Rating 3 out of 5]

English village cosy with an Oxford don as the sleuth. Fine bed time reading.

[DonHSr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical "cozy Mystery" story. The main character is what really makes the whole series worth reading.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first book of this author. I did not very much liked the plot, because it lacked substance in my opinion, but I liked the painting of characters and will not be averse to read other books by this author. I enjoyed the brotherly relationship between the main character and his sister.