Scared to Death

Tessa Crichton #11

by Anne Morice

I had detected no sound or movement, but her eyes were open and, as I approached, she fixed them on me with an agonised stare.

Tessa Crichton, actress wife of Scotland Yard Inspector Robin Price, comes to Storhampton to star in the local drama festival . . . and finds her most challenging role in a masquerade ending in murder. It begins when the insufferable Edna Mortimer sees her exact double at the races—and is literally scared stiff.

Somebody has played a nasty practical joke on the wealthy dowager. But one look at Mrs. Mortimer’s terrified eyes and some indecipherable pencil squiggles tell Tessa this is no laughing matter. Could the grim prankster be one of Edna’s greedy heirs? When the will is finally read, it only raises more questions. Someone is not getting their just deserts. But can Tessa find out who before the deadly double strikes again?

Genres: Mystery

191 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Birth name: Felicity Shaw

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tessa Crichton is appearing at the Storminister arts festival, but finds herself involved in the problems of the Mortimer family. Benjamin Mortimer's third wife and widow is a grasping, autocratic old woman who has inherited all his money. She keeps her step-granddaughter Camilla under her thumb, ignores her weak stepson Ferdy, and has her housekeeper, Tillie, waiting on her hand and foot. Now Mrs. Mortimer complains that she's seeing a woman who looks just like her in public places. It may be imagination, but Tessa has reason to believe that someone is trying to frighten the appalling woman to death.

[Eugene · Rating 2 out of 5]

A poor entry. This is #11 of the 23 that Anne Morice wrote between 1970 and 1989, I’d previously read nos. 1-7 in order, but skipped ahead to an on-hand volume as the seventh seemed a bit tired; son of a gun, this eleventh is also weak tea.
A hard-to-believe plot, characters that aren’t well developed, and an annoying increase in the “talkiness” of our main character, Tessa - she was always rather the main way our author explained the story, but the dialogues now exceed Shakespearean speech lengths and it unfortunately detracted from my enjoyment.
I’ve got four more of the later mass market paperbacks in the series, I’ll read them before I invest in any more purchases; hope springs eternal : “They’ll be better.”

[Steve Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very slow moving, too many characters; some witty lines, but not nearly enough. When it came to reading clues from a semi-fictional diary, I called it a day.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to find a series of British cozies that I had not read, but "OK" is the perfect description of these potboilers.