Alive and Dead

Superintendent Ditteridge #4

by E.X. Ferrars

Martha Gragle, a volunteer at the National Guild for Unmarried Mothers, takes in a young, married woman seeking aid and enters an unfamiliar world of deceit and peril.

Genres: Mystery

162 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Aka Elizabeth Ferrars

Elizabeth Ferrars is a pseudonym of Morna Doris MacTaggart Brown. She was born in Rangoon, Burma.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't do justice to the way this book affects me. Martha is a middle-aged volunteer who inherited a large house that used to be a boarding house. She works for a group that aids unmarried, pregnant women, and once in a while will offer one of them a room for a night or two. That's how she ends up with two strangers in her house, plus their boyfriends and, in one case, her parents. But Martha is a perpetual optimist, who thinks everyone really means well. Someone remarks to her that it would be interesting to see what would happen if Martha met someone who was really evil...Are two murders evil enough, do you think? But that makes it sound like a suspenseful, Gothic type of book, and it isn't at all. Martha is, of course, wrong--not everyone means well. But in a larger sense, she's right, and things end well for many of the characters.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very enjoyable read from Elizabeth Ferrars. This is pretty much a closed circle affair, with a small cast of characters and a story which is confined for the most part to the offices of a charity and the home of one of its volunteer workers.
Ferrars had a gift for deftly sketching characters that keep you interested, and telling a well-paced story at the same time. I have to admit that despite the limited number of suspects I was still blindsided by the solution. The clues are there, even if some are a touch oblique, and there's enough going on to muddy the waters without becoming irritating.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again many red herrings to keep one guessing as they are often plausible. It's been interesting reading these E.X. Ferrars from the early 70s as a couple of times there has been a derogatory term used which at the time was acceptable in certain circles, those in which the characters are portrayed, but you wouldn't see now unless to paint a portrait of intolerance. The world, we are a' changing.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd really call this a 3 1/2 star book.

Martha Crayle works at a charity for Unwed Mothers. She also has a large home with just her and one gentleman boarder. Since she has the room, she occasionally has one of the girls stay with her for a few days. One week she brings home two girls. Almost immediately, one of the girls is involved in a murder. Martha, who always believes in giving people the benefit of the doubt, hates to think that anyone would actually want to hurt her, but when she is nearly shot, she begins to think that maybe she should be more careful about who she trusts.

The plot on this is a little too complicated, I think, and the setting is a little out of date. But I really liked Martha as the main character, so I would recommend this one. It's not exactly a cozy and not exactly a gothic, but maybe a little of both.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth Ferrars can be relied upon to give you a good read, her characters are believable and the plots are interesting. This one is rather dated and not one of her best. I found the constant use of the word 'darling' by Martha to her rather prim and proper male tenant annoyed me and seemed out of character but a good, solid read all the same.