Death Among Friends

Mrs. Malory Mysteries #9

by Hazel Holt

Wealthy socialite Freda Spencer has never been one to shy away from controversy. As chairman of the Management committee of the Brunswick Lodge where Sheila Malory works, she is a regular subject of local gossip...and more than a little
local animosity. Lately she has been seen making the rounds with a much younger man whom everyone believes is in it only for the money. Complicating things is the appearance of an old flame of Freda's who arrives for a school reunion. So when the dowager turns up dead, Sheila has a whole slew of suspects to scrutinize!

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, British Literature, Fiction

222 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 1998

About the author

Hazel Holt is a British novelist. She studied at King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham, England, and then Newnham College, Cambridge. She went on to work at the International African Institute in London, where she became acquainted with the novelist Barbara Pym, whose biography she later wrote. She also finished one of Pym's novels after Pym died.

Holt wrote her first novel in her sixties, and is a leading crime novelist. She is best known for her "Sheila Malory" series. Her son is the novelist Tom Holt.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone agrees that Freda is domineering and self-centered. Now she's making a fool of herself with a man thirty years younger! But even Sheila Malory doesn't realize how cruel Freda's behavior can be, until a murderer strikes. There are several suspects, all of whom have been treated very badly by Freda. As they're gradually eliminated, Sheila wonders whether there's someone else who had reason to kill.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mrs. Malory may be a bit of a gossip who sticks her nose in everyone's business but let's face it, as the sleuth in a small village, she usually as the goods when it comes to solving a mystery.

And one thing I'm always surprised at is that there are not more murders that happen in small villages — especially because I can imagine all the different types of people we see in this story, where the wealthy, snobbish Freda Spencer has done her worst to just about everyone she has ever known, which eventually results in her death by human hands.

Even Sheila Malory has received a tongue lashing from the woman, but Sheila is still shocked and saddened when the woman is found stabbed to death in the museum room of Brunswick Lodge. While there are many who disliked her and some who had a good reason to wish her ill, who would have taken that final step?

Sheila Malory in her neighborly way seems to worm out secrets about betrayal and meanness that spans decades. And while the police are dedicated to investigating the case, she is the one who seems to come up with just about all the clues.

This is a warm, fun cozy where the characters are familiar and the story clever. Every timeI pick up a Mrs. Malory mystery, I admire Hazel Holt for her creativity, her wonderful writing and her way to make sure that her amateur detective stays right as she should be: warm, smart, dedicated and caring.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost a 5. 4.5 star. This one is superb in characterizations, in reaction to the winter weather and to the reunion of life long peers from youth. Just gets those 3 things perfectly. And does it with quick chat precision to the heart of the memory. Lovely read. With a reveal that is clean and final. Hilda was back for Christmas too.

[Vicki Gooding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book in a small English town. Where opinions are stated very matter of fact, with feelings only shown as needed. This is not bad. It's a warm, easy book well written and a pleasure to read.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series gets better and better.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are at least 91 named characters in the book - the most that I have ever encountered in a relatively short novel (249 pages in large font), and this does not include pets' names and references to famous people like Shakespeare and Hitler. Why did the author feel it necessary to name 91 characters, half of which appeared only once and had nothing at all to do with the plot? I began to make a list of characters as I read the first 35 pages in which there were 33 character names. Other than the ridiculous number of character names, this is a standard British mystery with a very disliked murder victim and a handful of suspects. Each of these main suspects is interviewed by Mrs. Malory over tea, and in the end the most unlikely one is revealed. Activities take place from November through February with the main event, a high school reunion, in January. There are references to Christmas so this does qualify as a "Christmas cozy."

[Virginia Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of Taviscombe's more unpleasant residents has been murdered, and there is no shortage of people with motives and means. Only when several likely suspects are cleared does Mrs. Malory discover who did it.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is good when you want a quick, light read. I like the Mrs. Malory character a lot.

[Sandy Weir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another refreshingly cozy encounter with Sheila and her friends as they work at daily living on the Cornish coastal village. Very first person conversational so the reader can almost join in.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Hazel Holt light read mystery.

[Susanne49 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series just gets better and better.

[Homerun2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the Mrs. Malory mysteries. They are somehow comforting and easy to spend time with.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Wealthy socialite Freda Spencer strikes terror in the hearts of other members of Brunswick Lodge, the community center where Sheila Malory and her friends volunteer. Her overbearing and highbrow ways make more enemies than friends. But she becomes grist for the local gossip mill when she takes on a young and flamboyant escort who everyone believes is with her just for her money. On top of that, her latest escapade breaks the heart of the lovesick man who has held a torch for her since World War II.

"Though twenty years younger than Freda, Sheila finds herself caught up in the affair. But during a school reunion at the Lodge, Freda turns up dead. And the only suspects are those who know her best -- and loved her least: her friends ..."
~~back cover

Freda is/was a thoroughly nasty woman, and brilliant piece of characterization. She wants what anyone else has, and usually manages to take it away from the current owner, by fair means or foul. Mostly foul.

Her rudeness, her insulting manner, her flaunting of her money and her prowess all aggravate and worse everyone around her. And when she's found dead ... no one truly mourns. Except possibly her cousin Olive, who takes her death hard, apparently.

Mrs. Malory is drawn into attempting to identify the murderer or course, but it's an uphill battle, with a plethora of suspects to choose from. I suspected this time, because I could see the motive in advance of the book. And I must say, if I'd been the murderer, I'd have killed Freda too.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone in Taviscombe hates Freda Spencer, who bosses everybody around and is always absolutely certain that she is right. The sad thing is that she often *is* right, and all have to admit that she Gets Things Done, even if she ruffles more than a few feathers with her methods. So not many people are sorry when she dies, although of course one must always be upset when death is due to murder. The problem for the police lies in discerning who, of the very many people she wronged, would actually commit such an act…. The ninth Sheila Malory mystery echoes its forebears in the sense that the murder victim is generally unlikeable, a fact that I enjoy about these books because the reader is not terribly invested in the person’s fate; in the meantime, more details of life in a seaside village are shown, along with the long reach of wartime life. These books are set in the 1990s, but many of the characters are old enough to have served in World War II (although Sheila herself is slightly too young at 50-something to have first-hand knowledge of the war); the sense of continuity in the community is nicely nuanced here. Not a major series to my mind, but quite enjoyable in its own right; recommended.

[Diane Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it...

[Madelyn Flammia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. Great characters. A wonderful setting. A nice cozy mystery.

[Catsalive · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://bookcrossing.com/journal/12048...

[Tommie Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a lot of people in this one, but I figured out the murderer half-way through it. It wasn't as good as Ms. Holt's usual great books.

[Lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

An annoying person is killed in a small village, but too many people have motives.

[Sara Aye Moung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a cosy « cosy mystery « . A good read with interesting characters

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also published as : Dead and Buried (1998)

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although quite technically a capable cozy mystery, Mrs. Malory's rampant homophobia is probably going to keep me from reading the other book in the series that I picked up. Which is disappointing, because the many connections to WWII is something I highly prize. It wouldn't have seemed so much like homophobia if Sheila Malory had had any basis for her dislike of Laurence besides the fact that he was gay. She said he was self-centered, but it was never shown that he was self-centered-- every time they interacted, he was taking care of Freda. She said he was greedy, but had no evidence of that besides that Freda genuinely liked him and Mrs. Malory thought no one would like Freda back unless they wanted her money. In many ways, a very regrettable book, since there's so much about it I would have loved otherwise-- jumbles and Britishness and the War.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book, this is the 9th book in the Mrs. Malory series by Hazel Holt and definitely one of my favorites.

I loved everything about, the setting, the lovely English village of Taviscombe, all the interesting and colorful characters that live in the lovely village and of course Sheila Malory!

The mystery is a good one, lots of suspense and intrigue and all of the characters are so well drawn that they became very real to me while I was reading the book, as if I was visiting the village and I hated leaving it whenever I had to stop reading.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

cozy, a bit sad, guessed solution

[Peggi Warner-Lalonde · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy Sheila Mallory stories, and this is among the best of them.

[LimesRickie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inoffensive .. but not terribly exciting.

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

. The 50th anniversary of Shelia Malory’s high school class is coming and old friends (and enemies) are in town. Can the problems of 50 years ago still be causing problems. …. When one of the old antagonists turns up dead during the reunion, old hurts return to haunt the participants.

[Elena (Elemar Books)]

Older book but a really cute quick holiday read