Woman Slaughter

Virginia Freer #6

by E.X. Ferrars

The charmingly mischievous Felix Freer again teams up with his strong-willed ex-wife Virginia to unravel a mystery surrounding the death of an old man killed by a hit-and-run driver in front of Virginia's house

Genres: Mystery

197 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1994

About the author

Aka Elizabeth Ferrars

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

Reviews

[Hemavathy DM Suppiah-Devi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a very interesting whodunit. Virginia is mildly interesting, but an ex-husband who she's not divorced from who also has a dishonest relationship with the truth, and with honesty in general was just another dull ingredient in an already dull book. Felix (the ambiguous ex) could have been an exciting addition, and spiced things up, if he had been interesting. As it was he was as attractive as day old pudding, and I was hard pressed to understand why Virginia kept on regaling the reader with memories of how he had enchanted her, as there really wasn't anything enchanting about him in the present.

Most of the other characters were equally as dull. Even the ex-madam/ pimp turned slob who does charity work and blackmails young women with nude photos of them turned murder victim Mrs Bullpitt was boring. And with the limited pool of suspects, I had my eye on Harriet Gambrell almost from the beginning.

Poorly constructed plot, lukewarm characters.

[Jazz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS | Not quite as satisfying as my previous two reads by Ferrars, but still well above average as a mystery. I've become a big fan of Elizabeth Ferrars writing, but I had trouble connecting with the characters in this one, beyond Virginia herself. I'll look forward to tracking down more of her work.

[Mskarla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the title, this book in the Felix and Virginia Freers series isn’t particularly gory. I like the relationship between the two main characters, and if people, including police officers, seem way too ready to tell them things, well I’m not expecting reality here.

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like how this one played out. Virginia and Felix's relationship is fun here.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virginia Freer's neighbor is hit by a car that doesn't stop one foggy night. Her estranged husband Felix is on hand on one of his infrequent visits, which actually is helpful, as the dead man's wife is just coming out of the hospital after a major operation and she needs help with meals and so forth. As usual, Ferrers has more up her sleeve than one expects.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery set in the English country side that starts off with a hit and run death and quickly blossoms into much more. Lead characters are a many years separated husband and wife who solve the mystery. The husband is a very shady character. Backgrounds play a big role in the story.

[Kacper Nedza · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) By no means Ferrars's best work, but even a below-average Ferrars is still a good read. Characterized with insight and clarity, and tidily constructed, even if the Virginia/Felix pairing doesn't feel quite as fresh and sensitively-portrayed as it does in the early books.