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A Case of Conspiracy in Clerkenwell
(Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventures #3)
by
The ladies of Clerkenwell Central Hall are none too pleased at having their Temperance meetings disrupted by the rowdy Communists next door, but for Miss Olive Stapleton in particular, the uneasy coexistence proves fatal when she is found stabbed through the heart with a paper-knife. Enter Freddy Pilkington-Soames, who’s been recruited by British Intelligence to investigat
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Kindle Edition, 263 pages
Published
May 3rd 2017
by Mount Street Press
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A Case of Conspiracy in Clerkenwell is the 3rd book in the Freddy Pilkington-Soames series by Clara Benson. The story is set in the late 1920s or early 1930s in London. Freddy is a sort of ne'er do well, upper-class Englishman, who tries to work as a newspaper reporter. He was first introduced to readers in Benson's Angela Marchmont series.
Clerkenwell Central Hall is the meeting place of two disparate organization on the same evening - the Young Women's Abstinence Association and the East Londo ...more
Clerkenwell Central Hall is the meeting place of two disparate organization on the same evening - the Young Women's Abstinence Association and the East Londo ...more

Jun 07, 2017
Andrea
added it
Enjoyable light read, though I guessed the killer (which is rare for me). I think Freddy could do with a sidekick to bounce off, but I'm not overly keen on his fixation with Iris.
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Third in this Freddy series. I kept feeling I had read this book or seen a film a lot like it before, odd bits of literary deja vu However, the setting is unusual enough and the date of publication new enough that an earlier encounter was highly unlikely. In any case, I enjoyed reading it enough to keep going. Freddy is asked to infiltrate a weekly meeting of Communists as he is a reporter and can say he is just researching a story. The Communists share the building where they meet once a week i
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Radicals, spies, and temperance
Freddy is mixed up in the ongoing battle between the Communists and the Temperance societies quite by chance and ends up working with British Intelligence!
A more ridiculous plot there's not but Freddy is amusing and it's quite a fun read. His old pal St. John Bagshawe is now running the Radical a communist newspaper having decided that things were getting a bit hot after the Hogmanay fiasco at Fives Castle. Jameson is still keeping an eye on St John and ropes in Fr ...more
Freddy is mixed up in the ongoing battle between the Communists and the Temperance societies quite by chance and ends up working with British Intelligence!
A more ridiculous plot there's not but Freddy is amusing and it's quite a fun read. His old pal St. John Bagshawe is now running the Radical a communist newspaper having decided that things were getting a bit hot after the Hogmanay fiasco at Fives Castle. Jameson is still keeping an eye on St John and ropes in Fr ...more

Unfortunately the Temperance meeting and the Communists have to share the Clerkenwell Central Hal with each other. The ladies of the Temperance society are not happy concerning this, especially Miss Olive Stapleton. This is made worse when Miss Stapleton is found dead.
Meanwhile Henry Jameson at British Intelligence asks Freddy to attend the Communist meetings as he suspects they are trying to arrange another general strike.
Another enjoyable well-written mystery with its likeable main character
Meanwhile Henry Jameson at British Intelligence asks Freddy to attend the Communist meetings as he suspects they are trying to arrange another general strike.
Another enjoyable well-written mystery with its likeable main character

Temperance & Communism
Asked by the Gov't, Freddie goes undercover to suss out the goings on of the Communist Rally meetings that meet in the town hall on the same night as the Temperance group. When one of the Temperance woman is found dead after a meeting, he tries to solve the crime as well as foil the plot of the more radical communist members. Took me a while to get into this particular book. I am a big Clara Benson fan, but this book seemed to move too slow for me. ...more
Asked by the Gov't, Freddie goes undercover to suss out the goings on of the Communist Rally meetings that meet in the town hall on the same night as the Temperance group. When one of the Temperance woman is found dead after a meeting, he tries to solve the crime as well as foil the plot of the more radical communist members. Took me a while to get into this particular book. I am a big Clara Benson fan, but this book seemed to move too slow for me. ...more

Not as much fun as Book One
There was a lot to like about this book. I thought, however, it was a bit confusing. Too many characters had similar names, and as a strong supporter of labor unions, I found that the anti labor rhetoric hard to take, not knowing what the characters really felt. Now on to book three.
There was a lot to like about this book. I thought, however, it was a bit confusing. Too many characters had similar names, and as a strong supporter of labor unions, I found that the anti labor rhetoric hard to take, not knowing what the characters really felt. Now on to book three.

Another enjoyable mystery in this series; I liked this one better than #2 but not quite as much as #1. In this book, the murder is actually rather secondary to the conspiracy, but I was still surprised to find out "who did it". Freddy is still an amusing central character and Benson's writing is still refreshingly clever and accomplished. I'm sure I'll be reading #4!
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Another riveting story, what
I love the Clara Benson books. They are so easy to read and entertaining. Angela was great and now Freddy is fully establishing himself as a favorite.
This adventure see trouble with the communists and the temperance groups, and Freddy in the middle of it all.
Loved it😀😀😀
I love the Clara Benson books. They are so easy to read and entertaining. Angela was great and now Freddy is fully establishing himself as a favorite.
This adventure see trouble with the communists and the temperance groups, and Freddy in the middle of it all.
Loved it😀😀😀

good for freddy!
Freddy was marvelous in this book. The mystery was clever and even included political intrigue! Freddy's efforts were reasonable and not too far fetched. He is a bit of a dandy, but a clever one ...more
Freddy was marvelous in this book. The mystery was clever and even included political intrigue! Freddy's efforts were reasonable and not too far fetched. He is a bit of a dandy, but a clever one ...more

Must read
C Benson describes wonderful characters that are not clones. Each one is well defined with temperament, language, etc. Can't wait to read her next offering. ...more
C Benson describes wonderful characters that are not clones. Each one is well defined with temperament, language, etc. Can't wait to read her next offering. ...more

Another winner
A very enjoyable read. Interesting characters and plot. Freddy has developed over the past several books into an interesting young man. Can't wait for the next book. ...more
A very enjoyable read. Interesting characters and plot. Freddy has developed over the past several books into an interesting young man. Can't wait for the next book. ...more

Great
I love the author as she manages very well to capture and transport you back to the 1930's. Always an enjoyable read and can't wait to read the next one. ...more
I love the author as she manages very well to capture and transport you back to the 1930's. Always an enjoyable read and can't wait to read the next one. ...more

This book was greyer, less vivid, than Benson's usual style.
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Book 3 of the new Christie-esque murder mystery series by the author, featuring Freddy Pilkington-Soames rather than Angela Marchmont, which gives the books a very different flavour. Angela was very much a lady, so her sleuthing was conducted over cups of tea and genteel dinner parties, whereas Freddy is a man about town, and there’s a certain amount of creeping about in the middle of the night, and he gets physical from time to time. Unlike Angela, there’s no mysterious past to be gradually rev
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The Temperance ladies and the Communists in London of the 1920s make curious bedfellows in adjoining rented meeting spaces; it's not surprising that murder ensues. Freddy gets deeper into Actual Adult Behavior as the secret service wants him to investigate the goings on, but there's also plenty of typical Freddy drinking too much and the usual lighthearted approach to life as a reporter for the kind of newspaper rightly called a rag. This story gets quite tense at points but is mostly one fun sc
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Clara Benson is the author of the Angela Marchmont Mysteries and Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventures - traditional English whodunits in authentic style set in the 1920s and 30s. One day she would like to drink cocktails and solve mysteries in a sequinned dress and evening gloves. In the meantime she lives in the north of England with her family and doesn't do any of those things.
If you want to be ...more
If you want to be ...more
Other books in the series
Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventures
(5 books)
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