Assassins at Ospreys

Country House Crime Mystery #3

by R.T. Raichev

Praise for R.T. Raichev:

“Fascinating.”—Lady Antonia Fraser, author of the Jemima Shore series

“Agatha Christie fans will find much to like in this traditional whodunit.”—Publishers Weekly

“Antonia Darcy is a terrific sleuth, and Raichev is a very clever writer, indeed.”—Booklist

“Fans of cozies will love the light touch.”—Kirkus Reviews

Mystery writer Antonia Darcy and her husband, Major Hugh Payne, are persuaded to visit a fan’s home. They become suspicious when the dying master of nearby Ospreys leaves his fortune to her.

R.T. Raichev’s previous novels are The Hunt for Sonya Dufrette and The Death of Corinne.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, British Literature, Historical Mystery

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

R. T. Raichev is a researcher and writer who grew up in Bulgaria and wrote a university dissertation on English crime fiction. He has lived in London since 1989.

Series:
* Country House Crime Mystery

Reviews

[dmayr · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I think, my love," he remarked at last, "that of all the cases we have investigated, none is more fantastical than this. It presents us with an irresistible mixture of the absurd, the inexplicable and the menacing. The case is marked by a pervading sense of strangeness."

An encounter with a fan at a literary event leads Antonia and Hugh to Millbrook House to visit Beatrice Ardleigh and her devoted new husband, Leonard Colville, where they hear all about the oddities of Bee's companion Ingrid, of an accident rooted in the past, and of a dying millionaire in a crumbling mansion. Add to the mix of plots and machinations an indulgent priest and a disgraceful nephew, and you have got the assassins at Ospreys.

I am absolutely loving everything in this series: eccentric characters, the devious twists and turns of Antonia's mind, Hugh's theories, the banter, Lady Grylls (even though she only appears briefly). And the writing: of Ingrid and Bea's outfits ( Didn't sartorial quirks sometimes hint at deeper eccentricities of character?); of Father Lillie-Lysander (He had a penchant for the absurdly histrionic, for high-camp masquerades, for subterfuge and noms de plume, for mind games and twilight dealings. Ambiguities of every kind delighted him); of Leonard Colville ( He had given his wife a glance of such ardour and devotion that Antonia wouldn't have been surprised if, instead of merely fortifying it with an extra log, he had walked straight into the fire and allowed himself to be consumed by flames, burnt as an offering of warmth to his beloved). And did I even mention the plot yet? Highly, highly recommended. On with the next one!

[Jaclyn Holland-strauss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've read recently and I read at least 200 a year. There are many reasons why I enjoyed it so much. The references to other texts will be very interesting to anyone who reads a lot. Christie fans will enjoy the references to her. But more importantly, the splitting up of the novel into suspense and then a traditional whodunit puzzle with red herrings, clues, etc., is masterfully accomplished. The ending is a surprise. The plot twists occur regularly and completely naturally within the context of the narrative. Raichev has become my favourite modern detective novelist. He, like Christie, makes a point of trying to trick the reader, making the reading experience extremely satisfying (especially since, in my case, I was soundly tricked). There are also hints of a very interesting world view held by the author. I hope he writes a lot more and I plan on reading the rest of his books as soon as possible.

[Phair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure why I didn't really like this one. The characters of Darcy & Payne were vague & didn't actually have as much to do with the story as you'd expect. (And really: *Major* Payne !?). The setting was ambiguous enough to have been anywhere from 1930s to present except for a very few annoying bits that slapped you out of whatever time frame your mind had become comfortable with and dumped you back into the here & now (ex: a disposable cell phone). It followed many of the typical country house cozy mystery conventions and was chock-a-block full of possible perps- enough to keep you guessing to the end. Overall I found it to be a bit of a melodrama bordering on farce which left no strong feelings of either distaste or pleasure. Doubt I will read more in the series.

[Cherie Waggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is simple enough. The characters are easy to follow. But for me, the plot was obvious and the solution, meant to be a twist, was also obvious. It's definitely well written, but the style and voice of the writing I think would have been better set in the 20s or 30s instead of modern day. I found a few 'historical' errors, but nothing really noticeable. The book is listed in the Youth section at the library. I'd say 16 and up would be a good audience. I did find all the jealousy of the characters a little overdone. Way too much insecurity. All the characters came across as being totally insane. I don't think that was meant. Maybe it was.

[Tapley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This another book that I have gotten less than 50 pages into. I was intrigued by the comparisons to Agatha Christie, but so far it just feels very ham-handed. I don't know that I will pick this up again.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

A continuation of thin character development, unfocused narration, and a plot that ought to be interesting but isn't.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Antonia Darcy and her husband Major Hugh Payne are invited to the home of Beatrice (“Bee”) Ardleigh, a super-fan of Antonia’s detective books, and Ingrid, the friend-cum-caretaker of Bee, who is in a wheelchair. Some decades earlier, Bee had been engaged to Ralph Renshawe, but their engagement ended when he caused a car accident in which Bee lost the use of her legs and Ingrid, in another vehicle, lost her pregnancy. Now Ralph is back in England, rich and living at the mansion of Ospreys, but he has terminal cancer and has converted to Catholicism; his fortune is meant to be left to his nephew Robin but perhaps he is rethinking that legacy. Meantime, he has a Catholic priest, Father Lillie-Lysander, coming to his home to hear his confession frequently, and Bee has married Len Colville, a man who had a huge childhood crush on Bee, and Ingrid is not pleased at all…. I enjoyed this, the third book in the Country House Crime series, but it was a mistake to read it immediately after finishing the second one (“The Death of Corinne”) because there were too many similarities to that earlier book, which I would not have noticed if my reading had been more spaced out. Specifically, there are too many characters who turn out to be insane, so much so that the old Slade song “Mama, We’re All Crazee Now” was constantly on my mind while reading this! That said, the plot is nicely complicated and the resolution somewhat unexpected, so I will give it a mild recommendation.

[Asha Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t like this writing, he doesn’t even get the grammar correct. It’s not a lot of photographs, it’s many photographs. A lot is of one thing. Many is of many things. Everything is over the top and not written subtly or well and he’s trying to be too clever, with weird self deprecating writing. Also, it was a very wtf plot line.

[Elisa Schiorlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Antonia Darcy e suo marito sono ospiti ad un fesyival letterario.
Antonia conosce una sua ammiratrice che le pare subito un pà particolare.
Ma non immaginerà neanche cosa capiterà dopo e che cosa comporterà questa conoscenza.

Sxritto bene belle descrizioni di luoghi e personaggi.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antonia Darcy is always glad when people like her mystery novels, but Bee Ardshaw wants to make friends with her, too. When Antonia and her husband Hugh Payne finally visit Ardshaw, they learn that the middle-aged woman has recently married, to the disgust of her long time caregiver Ingrid. Bee wants Antonia's advice on a letter she's recently received, from Ralph Renshawe, the man whose carelessness left her severely injured and ruined Ingrid's life. Now dying, he wants to atone for his misdeed. His dissolute nephew, of course, would be happier if Ralph died before he got the chance. Aside from Antonia and Hugh, the characters are not too pleasant, but ah, the plot!

[Mascanlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wasn't sure as it got off to a slow start but I quickly got into this well done country house crime. Its an old-school English mystery that played off of my love of Sayers and Christie. A strong subtle twist in the mode of P.D> James pushes you out of your comfort zone though and the ingenious plot is dazzling as it unfolds. I am anxious to find other volumes in this series.

[Cece · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sincerely hope he is working on #4.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third Country House Crime novel, likeable characters and an ingenius plot twist add to the fun.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in an interesting series filled with oddly memorable characters.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise. Not quite the clincher of an ending that I was led to anticipate and not exactly as Christie-like as the blurb promised. Still a very decent mystery.

[Kemi looves 2 read · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my 1st novel by this authour. It was good but I felt that he could have done a lot more with his characters and plot. A few interesting words: reprobate, rapscallion, effluvium, labile etc.

[Paul T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading as a vacation find. Might have been more annoyed by the self-referential bits, but decided to enjoy it for itself.

[Kel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christie does it better.