Murder in Married Life

Tessa Crichton #2

by Anne Morice

'Stabbed?' she repeated, in horror. 'Was he really?'
'I'm afraid so. From behind. He was sitting at his desk.'

The soignée actress Tessa Crichton would rather be shopping and generally luxuriating in the pleasure of being newly married. However, she is soon embroiled in a plot involving an old acquaintance (murdered) and a friend (blackmailed). Being as shrewd as she is mischievous she begins to draw various conclusions, not all of them correct.

Many of the encounters in the story take place during Tessa's visits to a London department store, the top floor being a bar open to any customer who spends over twenty-five pounds. Here lies part of the secret which is bedevilling Robin, Tessa's husband, at Scotland Yard - who hates blackmailers more than any other criminals. But will Tessa get a bit too knowing, and will her own life then be at stake?

Genres: Mystery

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Birth name: Felicity Shaw

Reviews

[Davida Chazan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars! After enjoying the first book in this series, I was glad to find a window to read this second one, and I was not disappointed (thanks, Dean Street Press). Find out more in my review here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2021/07/0...

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite enjoyed this 2nd in the series. Had found dog-eared copies of a couple of mid-series entries at the used book store, had to start at the beginning of course, so I read #1 last fall, now this. Writer Morice moves fast, halfway through no.1 our heroine Tessa Crichton meets Detective Inspector Robin Price, at the outset of this entry they’re a married couple; good work, girl!
As before, the pace is fast, the telling light and breezy, a bit of a mad-cap antic atmosphere through all that goes on, and a satisfactory ending. I am definitely looking forward to reading more in this now reprinted old series, Dean Street Press will apparently issue all in paperback.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1971. Now married to a Scotland Yard detective actress Tessa Crichton falls into another murder investigation. These books are a lot of fun. Well written, witty, with great characters. On more than one occasion I had to look up a word because I had no clue what it meant, which somehow adds to my attachment towards this series.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tessa Crichton and her husband Robin Price settle down to married life in London, where Tessa, rather at loose ends, spends some time in an attractive furniture-antiques shop that's employing her old friend Betty. Much to Tessa's surprise, she finds that Julian Brown is one of the owners--Julian, a socialite in Tessa's youth, has been known as a bore and a snob for years. But he wants Tessa to convert his scurrilous diaries into a play. Tessa's household help is also rather unconventional--Sebastian, an injured dancer, is acting as her housekeeper, and she has one day a week with a super-efficient secretary, Sandy, who is browbeaten by her invalid mother.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Married life does nothing to improve this series for me. Blackmail and murder failed to liven it up although their were some quite original touches.

The plot is all-too-fathomable.

Not my cup of Lapsang at all