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The Trouble in Hunter Ward
The death of ex-nurse Enid Hallet in the strike-besieged top-floor amenity ward of St. Edmunds Hospital is not easily explained and gives rise to troubles beyond those occasioned by the strike itself
- GenresMystery
201 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
Josephine Bell
89 books18 followersJosephine Bell (the pseudonym of Doris Bell Collier Ball) was born into a medical family, the daughter of a surgeon, in Manchester in 1897.
She attended Godolphin School from 1910 to 1916 and then she trained at Newnham College, Cambridge until 1919. On completing her studies she was assigned to University College Hospital in London where she became M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in 1922 and M.B. B.S. in 1924. She married Dr. Norman Dyer Ball in 1923 and the couple had a son and three daughters.
From 1927 until 1935 the couple practised medicine together in Greenwich and London before her husband retired in 1934 and she carried on the practice on her own until her retirement in 1954.
Her husband died in 1936 and she moved to Guildford, Surrey and she became a member of the management committee of St. Luke's Hospital from 1954 to 1962.
She began writing detective fiction in 1936 using the pen name Josephine Bell and her first published novel in the genre was 'Murder in Hospital' (1937).
Perhaps not surprisingly many of her works had a medical background and the first one introduced one of her enduring characters, Dr David Wintringham who worked at Research Hospital in London as a junior assistant physician. He was to feature in 18 of her novels, ending with 'A Well Known Face' (1960).
Overall she wrote more than 60 books, 45 of them in the detective fiction genre where, as well as medical backgrounds, she used such as archaeology in 'Bones in the Barrow' (1953), music in 'The Summer School Mystery' (1950) and even a wildlife sanctuary as background in 'Death on the Reserve' (1966).
She also wrote on drug addicition and criminology and penned a great number of short stories. In addition she was involved in the foundation of the Crime Writers' Association in 1953, an organisation in which she served as chair person in the 1959–60 season.
She died in 1987.
Gerry Wolstenholme
June 2010
She attended Godolphin School from 1910 to 1916 and then she trained at Newnham College, Cambridge until 1919. On completing her studies she was assigned to University College Hospital in London where she became M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in 1922 and M.B. B.S. in 1924. She married Dr. Norman Dyer Ball in 1923 and the couple had a son and three daughters.
From 1927 until 1935 the couple practised medicine together in Greenwich and London before her husband retired in 1934 and she carried on the practice on her own until her retirement in 1954.
Her husband died in 1936 and she moved to Guildford, Surrey and she became a member of the management committee of St. Luke's Hospital from 1954 to 1962.
She began writing detective fiction in 1936 using the pen name Josephine Bell and her first published novel in the genre was 'Murder in Hospital' (1937).
Perhaps not surprisingly many of her works had a medical background and the first one introduced one of her enduring characters, Dr David Wintringham who worked at Research Hospital in London as a junior assistant physician. He was to feature in 18 of her novels, ending with 'A Well Known Face' (1960).
Overall she wrote more than 60 books, 45 of them in the detective fiction genre where, as well as medical backgrounds, she used such as archaeology in 'Bones in the Barrow' (1953), music in 'The Summer School Mystery' (1950) and even a wildlife sanctuary as background in 'Death on the Reserve' (1966).
She also wrote on drug addicition and criminology and penned a great number of short stories. In addition she was involved in the foundation of the Crime Writers' Association in 1953, an organisation in which she served as chair person in the 1959–60 season.
She died in 1987.
Gerry Wolstenholme
June 2010
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 28, 2018
The Trouble in Hunter Ward (1976) by Josephine Bell wasn't as simple as just the strike by non-medical staff. Lay staff were led by a porter who resented what he saw as preferential treatment for the rich and "special patients" who were admitted to Hunter Ward at St. Edmund's Hospital. Never mind that one of the special patients was young boy facing a death sentence by leukemia who needed the extra quiet and care or that another was a union man whose union dues had afforded him the extra care he needed. The strikers didn't know that and didn't want to know--they just wanted to make as much trouble as possible and cut off all services to the high and mighty up there on the top floor.
If that had been all, then the nurses could have handled that all right (and did) by bringing in catered meals from the outside, hiring extra help for clean up, and manning the elevators themselves--among other things. But there was other trouble to deal with--former nurse Miss Enid Hallet was admitted to Hunter Ward for a last-ditch cancer operation. Miss Hallet was well-known to some of the current staff--both medical and lay staff alike. And it wasn't fond memories that they held of her either--she was known as a malicious gossip and a vindictive woman...and it seems she hasn't changed her ways. She barely gets settled in her private room before she begins spreading an old rumor about a current doctor and accusing a nurse of drug addiction.
And, under cover of the confusion sown by the strikers, someone decides to silence the strident tongue of Miss Enid Hallet. Was it someone on staff who had run-ins with Hallet in the past? Or someone new who was threatened by her gossiping ways? Or maybe it was a secret that went even deeper than that? Superintendent Farrer and Detective Holmes dig through the rumors to find the motive strong enough to cause someone to end a life already destined to be shortened by cancer.
The hospital setting and descriptions of hospital routine are well done, as are the characterizations of the various members of the staff. I suspect this is because of Bell's own background in medicine as a nurse and working with her husband Dr. Norman Ball in their own practice. The first three-quarters of the novel are quite good from the build-up to the murder through the police investigation at the hospital. Where Bell falls down on the job is in revealing the motive for the murder and the final confrontation with the killer. She tries to give the crime a psychological twist without laying a firm groundwork that makes this a logical outcome. In fact, she pretty much pulls it right out of thin air which causes the scene to lose much of its impact. ★★ and 3/4 (rounded to 3 here)--the ending prevents this from pulling in a higher star rating.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
If that had been all, then the nurses could have handled that all right (and did) by bringing in catered meals from the outside, hiring extra help for clean up, and manning the elevators themselves--among other things. But there was other trouble to deal with--former nurse Miss Enid Hallet was admitted to Hunter Ward for a last-ditch cancer operation. Miss Hallet was well-known to some of the current staff--both medical and lay staff alike. And it wasn't fond memories that they held of her either--she was known as a malicious gossip and a vindictive woman...and it seems she hasn't changed her ways. She barely gets settled in her private room before she begins spreading an old rumor about a current doctor and accusing a nurse of drug addiction.
And, under cover of the confusion sown by the strikers, someone decides to silence the strident tongue of Miss Enid Hallet. Was it someone on staff who had run-ins with Hallet in the past? Or someone new who was threatened by her gossiping ways? Or maybe it was a secret that went even deeper than that? Superintendent Farrer and Detective Holmes dig through the rumors to find the motive strong enough to cause someone to end a life already destined to be shortened by cancer.
The hospital setting and descriptions of hospital routine are well done, as are the characterizations of the various members of the staff. I suspect this is because of Bell's own background in medicine as a nurse and working with her husband Dr. Norman Ball in their own practice. The first three-quarters of the novel are quite good from the build-up to the murder through the police investigation at the hospital. Where Bell falls down on the job is in revealing the motive for the murder and the final confrontation with the killer. She tries to give the crime a psychological twist without laying a firm groundwork that makes this a logical outcome. In fact, she pretty much pulls it right out of thin air which causes the scene to lose much of its impact. ★★ and 3/4 (rounded to 3 here)--the ending prevents this from pulling in a higher star rating.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
May 12, 2013
Non-medical staff are on strike and refusing to provide any sort of service to Hunter Ward which is at the top of the hospital and provides for private patients and for those who need more care than in usually provided in the normal NHS wards.
The staff resort to subterfuge to get meals and other supplies to the patients. Unfortunately it seems it is not just militant union members who are conspiring against the patients when one of then dies unexpectedly.
This is an interesting crime story with a medical background and some convincingly unpleasant characters as well as some well-intentioned ones. I enjoy this author’s writing style and her skilful plotting and I am surprised she is not better known. Even though this story was first published more than thirty years ago it has stood the test of time and it still readable today.
The staff resort to subterfuge to get meals and other supplies to the patients. Unfortunately it seems it is not just militant union members who are conspiring against the patients when one of then dies unexpectedly.
This is an interesting crime story with a medical background and some convincingly unpleasant characters as well as some well-intentioned ones. I enjoy this author’s writing style and her skilful plotting and I am surprised she is not better known. Even though this story was first published more than thirty years ago it has stood the test of time and it still readable today.
June 15, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews