The Elberg Collection

Webber & Thomas #3

by Anthony Oliver

Former police inspector John Webber is enjoying his retirement in the small English village of Flaxfield when the irrepressible Lizzie Thomas, his housekeeper and companion, urges him back to work.

Jessica Elberg, wife of a wealthy industrialist, is dissatisfied with the police report on her parents’ deaths. Master potter David Walton and his wife were walking on the beach of a French resort town when her dress went up in flames. Moments later the couple met their fiery end.

Mrs. Elberg thinks it was no accident, and Webber, investigating in London, is inclined to agree. But it’s Lizzie, armed with a working knowledge of French and her own famous determination, who goes to France and accelerates the action and the suspense in this deliciously witty mystery.

(Publisher’s description)

Genres: Mystery

265 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

About the author

Anthony Oliver was a British film, television and stage actor.

Librarian note: There is no article relating at the actor and the writer being the same person. But according to "Stop, Tou Are Killing Me" the birth and death dates match and his main character, Mrs. Lizzie Thomas, is a Welsh widow.

Reviews

[Bev]

The Elberg Collection by Anthony Oliver is a bit of a transcontinental mystery. One year ago David and Jane Walton were visiting one of their favorite places in France, a small resort town by the name of Le Bosquet, when tragedy struck. According to witnesses, they were strolling, completely alone, along the beach when Jane's dress suddenly went up in flames. Before anyone could save them, the couple were dead. The local authorities ascribe the deaths to a "freak accident"--blaming a brisk wind and sparks from David's pipe. The Walton's daughter learns of the details of her parents' death nearly a year later and is not satisfied with the official verdict.

With the help of her wealthy husband, Hans Elberg, Jessica hires John Webber, former Detective Inspector and fledgling private investigator, to see if her suspicions have any merit. Webber's irrepressible housekeeper and companion, Lizzie Thomas, has urged the retired policeman to put his talents to work and the Elberg case is his first attempt at an official private inquiry. Webber uses his contacts with the police to investigate in England--tracking down business rivals and family secrets. He sends Lizzie, with her working knowledge of French, to Le Bosquet to find out if there are details about the tragedy that didn't make the newspapers and the official reports. What they find will disrupt the business world, threaten the artistic pottery field, and make them both targets in an on-going game of cat and mouse.

This is an engaging little mystery. I like John Webber and Lizzie very much. I've met them before in Oliver's first mystery, The Pew Group, and this outing only confirms my fondness for the characters. I am a little disappointed with the pacing and the fact that I was quite sure who the culprit was before I was even half-way through the book. (I was right, by the way.) Oliver spends a bit too much time describing and telling rather than showing and letting the characters make the story for him. But the characters are good and I was certainly interested enough in the mystery--the finer details of exactly how it was carried out, for instance--that I will go on and read the remaining two titles in his series. Three stars for a fairly solid mystery with great characters.

[Eugene]

Published in 1985, here is part of a review from The New Yorker: "The tone is mild, the tempo is moderate, and, what is most impressive, Mr. Oliver has both the artistry and the patience to give even the least of his characters a personality all his or her own."
I couldn't agree more. This is the 3rd of 4 books featuring retired police inspector John Webber and his housekeeper/companion Lizzie Thomas, a series too short by far, and as much as I can ascertain, the only novels penned by Oliver. Quelle dommage!
Here, Webber is engaged by Jessica Elberg to investigate the death of her parents in France, judged an accident by authorities there, a verdict she isn't satisfied with. While Webber begins with background inquiries about the couple in London, Lizzie, with a working knowledge of French, goes to France to get "boots on the ground" - and with her indefatigable determination learns quite a lot; is she in danger from those who wouldn't like this case re-opened? Ah, you must read the book to find out...thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Sandi]

An enjoyable mystery dealing with pottery and murder. The plot was not particularly great, the weakest of the series so far, and very predictable but the engaging characters made this an entertaining read.

[Nancy]

I read over half of the book before I skipped to the end. Basically this book was too bleak for me with too many people killed, two of them in a mysterious horrific immolation. How that was done was part of the mystery but I never learned how. Presumably it was revealed in the part I skipped.

[Lillian Carl]

A woman hires retired Scotland Yard detective John Webber to find out if her parents' bizarre death on a beach in France was accident or murder. Webber's significant other, Lizzie Thomas, travels to France and finds herself in danger. Meanwhile, back in England, Webber doggedly pursues the case---until it clashes with the plans of MI5.

I found the story very predictable in some ways, a bit too complex in others, but no matter. The vivid characters (how nice to see middle-aged people in starring roles!) kept me reading eagerly to the last page.

[Terri-lynn]

I enjoy the relationship/friendship between the two main characters - they genuinely care about and trust each other. Their adventures are sometimes harrowing, sometimes amusing, but always enjoyable. They each understand a different aspect of the human psyche which makes their differing viewpoints of a crime interesting - like the six blind men describing an elephant.
I wish there were more books in this series.