Words for Murder Perhaps

Superintendent Burnivel #3

by Edward Candy

Gregory Roberts is a mama's boy who teaches crime fiction to old ladies and is suspected of a series of murders beginning with the death of a professor of Egyptology.

Genres: Mystery

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and enjoyable academic whodunnit. I thought the romance between the two main characters was very unlikely but there were some nice touches.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable literary whodunnit.

[Curt Bobbitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The connection of the three murders in this novel (and one unfortunate cat) comes from literary elegies. The murderer sets out to kill two men in a photograph and extends his rampage, lured by relevant lines and names in poems by Tennyson, Dylan Thomas, Milton, and Yeats. The murderer is the father of a young woman whom one of the victims seduced.

The action of the novel takes place October-December in and around a fictional British university's adult-education program. It includes a few class sessions of a weekly course titled "crime fiction, past and present." The first session includes a discussion of the difficulty writers face when conceiving persuasive motives for murder (during the novel's present of the early 1970s).

[Mark Bowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cracking story, written with a dry wit. It evokes very well the atmosphere of British University Extra-Mural Departments of blessed memory (well, one or two of them survive).

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Gregory is a university professor teaching crime fiction. And then the real thing comes to town. His former wife's husband disappears.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel has some mesmerizing passages and some good places to stop and think about human nature, but the mystery itself was disappointing and the book felt disjointed.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had been looking for Edward Candy's (Barbara Alison Boodson Neville, 1925-1993) Words for Murder Perhaps (1971) in used bookshops for a long time before finally giving in and finding it online for my hubby to get me on a gift-giving occasion. It was added to the TBF (To Be Found) list as soon as I read Bones of Contention (back in the mists of time before I kept a good reading log, so I don't really remember it much). When I discovered that she had an academically-inclined book, I knew I just had to have it.

Words is set at Bantwhich University. Gregory Roberts is a mild-mannered academic who teaches in the "Extra-Mural" (aka "adult education") department. He's middle-aged, living with his mother after his marriage dissolved and puttering along teaching little old ladies all about literature. The old dears love his new class, "Crime Fiction, Past and Present," and little realize that a crime wave is about to hit the university.

It all starts when Greg's ex-wife's current husband, who incidentally used to be his friend, disappears and the ex receives an anonymous typewritten note in the mail which seems to be an excerpt from a poetic elegy. She immediately thinks of Greg and assumes he sent it to her. She reports the disappearance to the police as well as her speculations about the note and soon Greg has an Inspector hanging about to see if Roberts is involved in his "rival's" vanishing act. Then a distinguished professor of Egyptology is poisoned and another obscure bit of poetry, an uncomfortably appropriate elegy, is found. More murders follow and the police are sure they are looking for a literary villain...Gregory Roberts just might do for the part. And, if not him, then perhaps the missing man--who also happens to be a bookish sort.

There is also an embryonic romance for Greg--one of the younger members of his class has fallen for the teacher. But will the police arrest him before he has a chance to pursue a relationship? Or will there be a more sinister ending for Greg?

Candy, to use her pen name, had me guessing--in part because, she didn't quite play fair with the readers, but also because I got it into my head that she had chosen a rather unorthodox villain. But then I changed my mind and couldn't decide who it might really be. Was I right about the unorthodox murderer? Well, you'll have to read it for yourself to find out. The mystery is decent and the characterization is fair. It wasn't quite as interesting as an academic mystery as I anticipated. If you're looking for a light, quick read then this could fit the bill. Not too taxing and I was able to finish it in a day. ★★★

*It occurs to me that it appears that I may be damning the book with faint praise. I'm afraid I'm just not as enthusiastic about it as I'd hoped to be--mostly because I had such high hopes for the academic-leanings.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mild-mannered Mr. Roberts teaches a literature class once a week for the university's "extra mural department" (an English way of saying "adult education"), where he's a favorite among the elderly ladies. Then he learns that his once-time friend, now his ex-wife's husband, is missing. The police actually suspect him, but interest in the case dies down since no body is found. Roberts suspects that his old friend is playing a malicious prank. Then another body is found, and both the disappearance and the death are linked to a particular form of English poetry.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...