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The Seven Sleepers
The family of the late Professor Garvie-Brown, particularly his eighth wife, discover that he murdered his previous seven wives, four of whom he had married bigamously. They fear that if the truth were known they would be ruined, and so discover to hide it.By the author of "Murder Among Friends".
222 pages, Hardcover
First published September 19, 1991
About the author
Elizabeth Ferrars
92 books28 followersAka E.X. Ferrars.
Born Morna Doris McTaggart in Rangoon, Burma of a Scottish father and an Irish-German mother, she grew up in England where she moved at age six. She attended Bedales school and then took a diploma in journalism at London University.
Her first two novels, 'Turn Single' (1932) and 'Broken Music' (1934), came out under her own name, Morna McTaggart. In the early 1930s she married her first husband but she left him, moved to Belsize Park in London and lived with Dr Robert Brown, a lecturer in botany at Bedford College in 1942. She eventually divorced her first husband in October 1945 and married Dr, later Professor, Brown.
It was in 1940 that her first crime novel 'Give a Corpse a Bad Name' was published under the pseudonymn that she had adopted, Elizabeth (sometimes Elizabeth X. - particularly in the USA) Ferrars, the Ferrars her mother's maiden name. This novel featured her young detective Toby Dyke, who was to feature in four other of her novels.
When her husband was offered a post at Cornell University in the USA, the couple moved there but remained only a year before returning to Britain. They travelled with her husband's work, on one occasion visiting Adelaide when he was a visiting professor at the University of South Australia, and later moved to Edinburgh where her husband was appointed Regius Professor of Botany and they lived in the city until 1977 when, on her husband's retirement, they moved to Blewsbury in Oxfordshire where they lived until her sudden death in 1995.
She continued to write a crime novel almost every year and in 1953 she was a founding member of the Crime Writers' Association of which she later became chairperson in 1977.
As well as her short series of works featuring Toby Dyke, she wrote a series featuring retired botanist Andrew Basnett and another series featuring a semi-estranged married couple, Virginia and Felix Freer. All in all she wrote over seventy novels, her final one 'A Thief in the Night' being published posthumously.
Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor described her as having "a sound enough grasp of motives and human relations and a due regard for probability and technique, but whose people and plot are so standard".
Gerry Wolstenholme
November 2010
Born Morna Doris McTaggart in Rangoon, Burma of a Scottish father and an Irish-German mother, she grew up in England where she moved at age six. She attended Bedales school and then took a diploma in journalism at London University.
Her first two novels, 'Turn Single' (1932) and 'Broken Music' (1934), came out under her own name, Morna McTaggart. In the early 1930s she married her first husband but she left him, moved to Belsize Park in London and lived with Dr Robert Brown, a lecturer in botany at Bedford College in 1942. She eventually divorced her first husband in October 1945 and married Dr, later Professor, Brown.
It was in 1940 that her first crime novel 'Give a Corpse a Bad Name' was published under the pseudonymn that she had adopted, Elizabeth (sometimes Elizabeth X. - particularly in the USA) Ferrars, the Ferrars her mother's maiden name. This novel featured her young detective Toby Dyke, who was to feature in four other of her novels.
When her husband was offered a post at Cornell University in the USA, the couple moved there but remained only a year before returning to Britain. They travelled with her husband's work, on one occasion visiting Adelaide when he was a visiting professor at the University of South Australia, and later moved to Edinburgh where her husband was appointed Regius Professor of Botany and they lived in the city until 1977 when, on her husband's retirement, they moved to Blewsbury in Oxfordshire where they lived until her sudden death in 1995.
She continued to write a crime novel almost every year and in 1953 she was a founding member of the Crime Writers' Association of which she later became chairperson in 1977.
As well as her short series of works featuring Toby Dyke, she wrote a series featuring retired botanist Andrew Basnett and another series featuring a semi-estranged married couple, Virginia and Felix Freer. All in all she wrote over seventy novels, her final one 'A Thief in the Night' being published posthumously.
Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor described her as having "a sound enough grasp of motives and human relations and a due regard for probability and technique, but whose people and plot are so standard".
Gerry Wolstenholme
November 2010
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 19, 2022
Based on the premise that some evidence has come to light to implicate her husband in multiple instances of mariticide in trying to posthumously atone, his surviving eighth wife, Christina Garvie-Brown unwittingly opens Pandora’s box when she enlists Gilbert Arne help to find potential descendants of the victims. Interesting characterisation, particularly that of Gilbert Arne, the private detective, but in the end a much simpler denouement than expected.
July 2, 2021
Very enjoyable quick read. Perfect way to start the year.
July 7, 2026
A cool premise that feels like it never leaves the departure lounge. A man is informed that an answer to his own personal ancestor's tragedy might still finally be in reach, courtesy of a killer's confessions. The fact that those confessions might adversely affect the prosperity of a well-to-do family is what is supposed to propel this book from page 1 to page one hundred eighty something. Ferrars throws in a few interesting doo-dads along the way (golf balls, windshield wipers, a simmering romance) but none of it provides enough traction for a captivating read. I started off really liking this one, but it becomes a slog, an unfortunate fact given that there were richer veins to mine here, along the lines of the relation between familial history and personal history, and what is to blame (or credit) for what.
April 9, 2013
I enjoyed this. It was 222 pages and a nice light easy read. I liked the writing style, it pulled me in pretty quickly and I had to get to the end to see who did it. I did not guess who did it. Full of interesting characters and an interesting scenario in which the murder occurs.
Luke Latimer is the main character, his grandmother was one of the seven wives that were murdered. I liked Luke. There were 2 female interests and I enjoyed trying to guess who he would end up with in the end, if either one of them. The 'family' was full of interesting people. Would they welcome Luke into the family and gladly share the wealth with him or would they go to any length to keep him out of the loop and preserve the family honor? Did Grandpa really kill all those wives? How did his 8th wife and widow find out the truth? How about the private detective Gilbert Arne? Did he or didn't he? Could Luke trust him?
Luke Latimer is the main character, his grandmother was one of the seven wives that were murdered. I liked Luke. There were 2 female interests and I enjoyed trying to guess who he would end up with in the end, if either one of them. The 'family' was full of interesting people. Would they welcome Luke into the family and gladly share the wealth with him or would they go to any length to keep him out of the loop and preserve the family honor? Did Grandpa really kill all those wives? How did his 8th wife and widow find out the truth? How about the private detective Gilbert Arne? Did he or didn't he? Could Luke trust him?
December 26, 2014
Absent-minded and indecisive, Luke Latimer is surprised when a private detective visits him, and astonished when the visit leads to long-lost Scottish relatives and a family secret. Unfortunately, most of them are convinced that he wants some of the family money. Luke would just as soon have nothing to do with them, but he keeps being drawn into their problems, until a sudden death changes everything.
September 15, 2012
This was pretty good. I particularly liked the way a sense of menace was created by the knowledge that one of the family might take after the grandfather, who was a murderer. There was a lot of psychological suspense and the characters were authentic, with genuine empathy. Well worth reading.
June 24, 2014
A crime fiction written by Elizabeth. Enjoyable and quick to read. I do liked the style of the writer and the suspense though sometimes I felt bored because of the going about the bushes. I recommend it for those who like crime and mystery.
May 13, 2015
If you like Agatha Christie-type mysteries, you will love this. Brought back memories from the 70's when I read every AC book I could get my hands on :)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews