A Piece of Justice

Imogen Quy #2

by Jill Paton Walsh

The late, great mathematician Gideon Summerfield ought to be a safe subject for a biography, so why has it been so difficult to get the book written?

Imogen's lodger Fran is close to dicovering a secret about Summerfield. She is in danger, and Fran must act before it is too late.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, British Literature, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Academia

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Jill Paton Walsh was born Gillian Bliss in London on April 29th, 1937. She was educated at St. Michael's Convent, North Finchley, and at St. Anne's College, Oxford. From 1959 to 1962 she taught English at Enfield Girls' Grammar School.

Jill Paton Walsh has won the Book World Festival Award, 1970, for Fireweed; the Whitbread Prize, 1974 (for a Children's novel) for The Emperor's Winding Sheet; The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award 1976 for Unleaving; The Universe Prize, 1984 for A Parcel of Patterns; and the Smarties Grand Prix, 1984, for Gaffer Samson's Luck.

Series:
* Imogen Quy
* Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane

Reviews

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 3 out of 5]

I looked forward to “A Piece Of Justice”, the 1995 series sequel. However, a 34 year-old should not act nor be called “middle-aged” by Jill Patton Walsh! She is 12 years older than her tenant, Fran: a common difference between spouses and friends but babies her. How is Imogen “middle-aged”, 12 years after a perceived baby? My biggest beef is her senseless background. She works part-time at a UNIVERSITY, because she wants the freedom to take her TIME enjoying life. But she blames a jilted love affair for not finishing medical school and settling on graduating as a nurse instead. Her house is on a CAMPUS, she has FREE TIME, and is 34 years-old!!!!

The truth is, I gained fresh insight from this story and my heart soared about a lovely ending with a woman over 90! I must give three stars, whatever the novel’s weaknesses. I hate fanciful adverbs like “decidedly” or “unceremoniously”, which abounded and the pacing was slow for a prolific mystery authoress. I accept that detail about Fran’s biography subject and quilting were pivotal but intrigue took a long time to arrive. It is possible to capture readers straight away, seamlessly adding what we need to know. And in conclusion, everything hinged on an outrageous detail.

Fran and Imogen discover that previous biographers of a mathematician died; seeking to fill in three days of his vacation in 1978! Biographies do not cover every month of one’s life. Jill stretched the incorporation of her great mathematical idea. I enjoyed a jaunt to Wales but it was sloppy not to identify a cottager, in order to reveal them as a killer later. Finally, the whole motive crumbles because receiving inspiration from an object, does not mean that you cannot legitimately be the author of an equation for it.

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giddy Up, and Giddy Down Again

Some time has passed since Imogen Quy’s last encounter with crime, and in the meantime she and Fran Bullion, one of the students involved in The Wyndham Case, have become friends. Fran is now doing a doctorate, and in order to earn some money, she has consented to write a biography on one of the college’s mathematicians, the late Gideon Summerfield. This seems to be an easy assignment at first sight because firstly, Summerfield’s life is anything but extraordinary (even by the standards of a mathematician) and he is, in fact, only known due to one discovery, and secondly, a lot of work on that biography has already been done by a man named Mark Zephyr, who had collected all the source material and even made an outline of the book before he died from meningitis. Nevertheless, Fran soon discovers that before Zephyr there were also two other biographers at work and at least one of them has disappeared in very suspicious circumstances. Additionally, there is also Janet Summerfield, the widow of the great mathematician, who wants a hagiography of her husband’s life and has led Mark Zephyr a dog’s life about it, now pestering Fran, and all this makes Imogen think that her friend’s life is in danger.

A Piece of Justice, as this second Imogen Quy case is called, is another successful tribute to the Golden Mystery Age formula and as such right down the alley of any reader like I, who prefers a cosy, slow-paced whodunnit over an action-driven, gory detective story. It was good fun to see how in the course of events it became more and more obvious that Imogen’s suspicions might be well-grounded and that writing that biography might come at a heavy cost after all. The only flaw in this mystery, and if we are very honest, it is a major flaw, is that the final spin towards the solution is indebted to a double coincidence, namely Imogen’s finding a photo behind the skirting in her house, plus the photo showing the deceased mathematician in a Welsh village that Imogen can immediately identify because that was the very place she used to go on holidays to with her parents when she was a child. If there ever were dei ex machina, this is the mother of them all! If, however, you are ready to not let that kind of thing spoil the fun for you, A Piece of Justice will be a satisfying book for you.

One delicious side dish of this mystery was a short conversation about the history of biography writing beginning with Plutarch and going on to the abominations of deconstruction, in which one of the characters, Professor Maverack, tells his audience that Plutarch started his biographies as a means of telling the lives of people in terms of their contributions to political life, neglecting the private lives in favour of the question of what can be learnt from the lives of Caesar, Alexander and others. In the Middle Ages then biographies tended to lean towards showing elements of piety and other Christian virtues in the lives of their objects, be they spiritual or worldly people. Modern biographies, in contrast, centred on the character, the individual quality of a person’s life. This went on until the age of deconstructivism, which is based on the edifying obscenity that ”human life has no meaning at all” and which assigns to the biographer the enviable task

”to discover the lies and delusions by which all men and women defend themselves against the indignities of life, and expose them. To deconstruct, if you like, the pitiful walls of the castle of self-respect people build for themselves.”

In other words, the biographer becomes a swine revelling in dirt, and as there is often not enough dirt in the lives even of outstanding people you have to invent modern theories until you have so many you can call them intersectionality and transfer the hatred they are imbibed with towards the past, thus even turning someone like Immanuel Kant into a racist because he used words and thought thoughts that are now considered taboo. It is probably up to later generations to judge the motives and needs that drive deconstruction scholars in their efforts but I don’t think they are much different from the motives inspiring Herostratus, religious zealots destroying works of art, or pampered little curs barking at any passer-by. Ironically, I think that Gideon Summerfield is not much of a plagiarist because he simply took an idea from an object he came across and did not know anything about its author or creator, and a fair biographer, i.e. a non-deconstructivist one, should make this clear.

From my little rant, you can see that apart from the murder case, A Piece of Justice will provide you with some food for thought.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Piece of Justice by Jill Paton Walsh is the second of her Imogen Quy (rhymes with "why") mystery series. Imogen is the nurse at Cambridge's imaginary St. Agatha's College. In this particular outing another student may be in danger and this time the student is one of Imogen's boarders and friend, Fran Buillon. Fran, a graduate student in need of money, gratefully undertakes to complete a biography of a mathematician. A seemingly simple task that was begun by three other biographers but never finished. Curiosity drives Imogen to discover that all three of the previous scholars have disappeared or met untimely ends. What is it about the obscure and fairly boring life of Gideon Summerfield--now dead himself--that could drive someone to murder? During the course of her investigations, Imogen finds a trail of academic jealousy, competition, and cheating. She is also involved in a quilt-making project that ultimately helps her find some answers in Wales of all places.

This is another solid British mystery from the pen of Paton Walsh. The character of Imogen Quy is believable and interesting. I enjoy her quiet compassion and inquisitiveness which lands her in the middle of her mysteries. I also liked the way Paton Walsh was able to weave the quilt theme into her mystery. It provides a very unique solution to the crimes. As I mentioned before, I much prefer Paton Walsh's mysteries with her own characters to those she has done with Lord Peter Wimsey. These are competent mysteries with engaging characters. I thoroughly enjoy the academic setting and will continue to seek out the rest of the series.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fluffy but no less enjoyable for it: I read recently that Jill Paton Walsh wrote almost one children's book a year for the 30 years prior to this one. It feels like that contributed to a somewhat simplified vision of adulthood in this novel: Imogen is in her mid-30s but reads like an ageing spinster, comfortable and useful and practical, making friends left right and centre, sorting out everyone's problems. And her lodger Fran, and Fran's boyfriend Josh, at the ripe old age of about 22, both read like a child's idea of fully grown adult.

The plot was pretty clear to me, for the most part, but the enjoyment comes more from the working through rather than the big reveal. Imogen's got the Miss Marple skill of knowing a lot of people and simply letting them talk to her when she asks a question. And there's a little bit of Gaudy Night going on here, with some rebukes about Cambridge's shocking backwardsness in conferring degrees on women and the fallout of such a decision on several lives.

[Constantreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely modern version of the Golden Age

This is a nice, intellectualy grounded mystery in the mould of the now-considered-dull Golden Age of mystery writing. The evil (excepting its expression in multiple murders) is selfish and bloodless, and the plot is narrow. No exploding huts here. The characters are classically English upper class, for those of us who like that sort of thing (I do). When you've read most of the originals, Walsh makes a nice version of what you can no longer find. Very cleanly and elegantly written, with rather boring characters. Not a flaw in my eyes.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many good things here--ideas about biography, politics at Cambridge colleges, women's history, mathematics and quilting, the settings in Cambridge and English countryside, clever plotting, reasonable length. Too much coincidence to be believable and too many plot threads tied up with a bow at the end spoiled a promising beginning .

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took this book to read while travelling and it held my interest. The heroine, Imogen, is a younger version of Miss Marple. Her interest in quilting helps her solve this mystery.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery and danger threaten Fran when she takes over the biography of mathematician Gideon Summerfield.

[T P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and imperfect.

-Mild possible spoiler-

As a reflective meditation on female (mis)fortunes in 20th century English academia, A Piece of Justice was touching in the best way. Where a brilliant math mind made men mathematicians, and off-the charts creativity made men great artists, the same gifts in a woman were relegated by necessity to quilting, a type of genius honoured neither for it's high artistry nor its mathematical prowess, but rather dismissed as a 'craft.'

I also loved the memories this book brought back of the lost decade I teenaged through. Repeatedly I was reminded how hard it was to come by 'basic' information just 30 years ago. But at the time, it just fell like … or rather, was life, and we got by. Someone heads off on a trip, and you cannot contact them. Finding a name or a location took time. And we accepted it. A reference to written information for biography growing scant because of the age of the telephone, reminded me of the panic we were in in the mid-90s, at the nadir of the written word, before texting and the internet gave nearly every living moment a written record (as well as a visual one —��the 1-hour photo development scene was a lovely throw-back).

But the book is imperfect, relying heavily on coincidence, meandering a great deal before getting to the point, and shoehorning inauthentic backstories into the characters’ lives merely in service of the story.

And yet, as a story, it's worth the price of admission. Especially when you see the goal of the novelist as less about making haute cuisine (a la Ratatouille) and more about storytelling (us sitting by the fire, listening to someone spin a yarn). A quilting analogy would be more fitting, but I’ll leave that to a better writer.

[Pauline Calkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second mystery in the series was somewhat of a disappointment. The first novel made a dramatic impact from the start by presenting the murder and the victim in the opening pages. Here, the reader may suspect that a murder or murders lie at the core of the mystery surrounding the biography of a dead mathematician, but the connection with quilting remained obscure for far too long. When Imogen saw a certain quilt she solved the mystery. I may be obtuse but I just couldn’t visualize it so the impact of this revelation was lost on me. The quilt inspired the mathematician in coming up with a ground-breaking equation. Was that stealing? It does not strike as such. And the ending involving the quilter was too pat.

[David Campton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second in this series, which is essentially a younger, more modern Miss Marple, in the form of a Cambridge College nurse, Imogen Quy (Rhymes with Why...) This time the story involves quilting, cutting edge theoretical geometry/maths, and more coincidences than even Kate Atkinson at her most outrageous would entertain. But ultimately it is a gentle, diverting whodunnit with a degree of education on a range of matters.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story has an underlying theme of quilting, from the 'piece' of the title, to the quilting group of Cambridge nurse Imogen Quy and her friends, to an old quilt discovered in a farmhouse in Wales. The plot centers around Imogen's lodger Fran, who is in danger of losing her financial support until her professor asks her to ghost-write a biography - he will take the credit but she will get the money. The subject of the biography is a famous mathematician, Gideon Summerfield, who is about to be rewarded the Waymark Prize posthumously. When the accumulated paperwork is delivered to Imogen's house, the box breaks and papers are scattered all over. Imogen and Fran try to sort them out out, and in the process discover that the book has already had 2 or 3 previous biographers working on it, all of whom have quit or disappeared. Imogen begins to fear for Fran's safety, and begins to investigate the previous biographers, much to the dismay of Summerfield's widow, who appeaers to be slightly crazy. The plot was a little convoluted, but Imogene eventually figures out why the widow is so dead set on having only parts of his revealed and also what happened to the other biographers. I had a little trouble keeping track of all the characters, but enjoyed the book nonetheless.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

justice at last/

Well, yes, to the murderer(s?) but also to the woman scholar who could attend a Cambridge college, pass the exams, but not have a degree settled on them. That most womanly of practical household arts, quilting, tricky non repeating geometric patterns, a college’s honor, non-binary names and some romance are all tied up nicely in this second I,open Quy (rhymes with why) novel.

Note: I read very widely and don’t often encounter words with which I am unfamiliar. There is a small group of words, which I think “I have read that word before” and context helps. Reading on Kindle I can just click and get a definition. Walsh uses such a word in this book -farrago, not once, not twice, but three times.

Next up, a probably much less pleasant, but more decidedly insightful Vera Stanhope mystery.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intricate patterns

This is a fascinating story, in part about the relationship between quilting patterns and mathematics. I don't want to give the plot away......suffice it to say that the novel starts off with the heroine and two friends designing a quilt, and there are references to textile history, in particular the history of quilts and of the use of cotton. Meanwhile someone is commissioned to write a biography of a mathematician, and the stories intertwine......there is a particularly poignant reflection upon the fact that women's art is often not taken seriously as art because women work in textiles.

[Remo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abominable. Me compré la novela por el título, porque tenía ganas de leer una intriga en torno a una investigación matemática. La autora debe de haber estudiado filosofía y letras. Además, tiene un final no ya feliz, sino de cuento de hadas. La colcha de la cual el matemático en cuestión roba su gran idea fue confeccionada por una ancianita que, casualmente, recuerda toda la historia y sigue viva para ser investida doctora Honoris causa. El premio que no le dan al matemático se lo lleva Li Tao, un don nadie al que la autora tiene la delicadeza de mencionar en una línea al principio de la novela. La protagonista se casa al final, con un tío que empieza a cortejarla en la página 137, bien mediado el libro. Pero lo mejor es que la segunda protagonista descubre toda la trama cuando se pone a leer sus apuntes de la carrera y se topa con un laxante venenoso cuyos efectos concuerdan con los de las muertes del matemático y de un biógrafo del mismo, todo de una sola tacada. Terrible. Es una novela de quiero y no puedo. Adiós.

[Shabbeer Hassan · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the second outing of Imogen Quy, we see her tangled up in the "deadliest" biography project in Cambridge, writing about deceased mathematician Gideon Summerfield, which then turns out to be riskier than base jumping.
Walsh cleverly weaves together academic jealousy, mathematical puzzles, and quilting patterns (ooh yes, this was indeed a surprise!!) as Imogen pieces together clues while literally piecing together a quilt, which is either brilliantly thematic or trying a bit too hard.
The mystery hinges on Penrose's geometry, diet pills (and not Ozempic!), and what Summerfield did during one mysteriously undocumented summer (ala Christie!), all building to a solution that requires some serious suspension of disbelief and relies on coincidences which made me balmy.
Not quite as charming as the first book, I'd say!

My Rating -2/5

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d only read a few pages of this before I had a strange sense of deja vu; I certainly haven’t read it before so all I can think is that I must have heard a radio play based on it. Like the first Imogen Quy novel, The Wyndham Case, it’s an entertaining murder mystery in the golden age mould (Jill Paton Walsh has completed a number of Dorothy L. Sayers’ novels so she is well-versed in the genre). A certain amount of suspension of disbelief is called for, but the central mystery (concerning a mathematical conundrum relating to Penrose patterns) is a great hook on which to hang a story and Miss Quy is a thoroughly enjoyable and dependable companion with which to spend a few days solving an academic crime or two.

[Anna Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost-written biographies, complex mathematics, historic quilts, megalomania and a touch of misogyny... all the complexity I've come to expect in the clever and engaging Imogen Quy mysteries. Some characters in this one are extreme almost to the point of caricature, but their exaggerated natures certainly drive a unique and unexpected mystery. Oh, yes, and there's a bog body or two thrown in for good measure. I do love the nerdy facts Walsh hides throughout her work!

I inadvertently read these out of order, so this marks my last Imoogen Quy adventure. I'm sorry that there are only four, and I'll definitely revisit Walsh's Lord Peter mysteries with a kinder eye after reading them.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the world of academic intrigue coupled with quilt-making and design, both historic and contemporary. I hadn't realised this was the second Imogen Quy novel; I would have preferred to read book one first though I understand each stands alone. Imogen is a somewhat earnest character, I can't say I found her completely rounded out or engaging. Where I was most disappointed was with the resolution of the main story line. It felt a bit rushed and I found it hard to connect emotionally. I much preferred another of the author's books - The Serpentine Cave which to me had a more intriguing storyline which was resolved in a more interesting and clever way.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imogen Quy, a nurse at a Cambridge college, gets involved with a mystery when her boarder and friend takes on the job of finishing a biography of a local mathematician. But the last three people who have tried to complete it have all ended up badly - dead, missing or exiled abroad - and Imogen is soon hot on their trail. The quilt details are entertaining, though PW seems to think that all quilts are made out of recycled fabric, which is not the case, and the quilt-based solution to the mystery seems a bit of a stretch (and is never really explained). Entertaining.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imogen is a nurse working in the college infirmary. Her tenant, Fran, replaced the previous biographer of the late Gideon Summerfield. Summerfield was a prominent mathematician who developed a brilliant mathematical formula. When Fran mysteriously disappeared, Imogen became concerned about Fran’s safety and began to investigate. I enjoyed the little “twist” at the end. It was a light read but one that drew me in wondering what would happen next.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book much more than The Wyndham Case, Paton Walsh's first Imogen Quy mystery. This is a cozy mystery set mostly in Cambridge (some in Wales) and the mystery is tied up with quilting, which is always a plus for me, and with questions about writing biography. That may sound a bit stuffy, but the characters and situations make the story a lot of fun. I'll be reading the next Quy mystery, too.

[Ms D. Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully Poetic

Jill Paton Walsh came into my reading life through Dorothy L. Sayers, a writer much admired for her scholarship. Ms Paton Walsh has a similar genius for making her readers stop and wonder at the often startling beauty of her descriptive passages. Not only that, the stories are excellent too. The characters are real, believable and all of them interesting.
I look forward to reading more of her books and recommending them to my colleagues.

[Pamela Bronson · Rating 4 out of 5]

So delicious.

I regret that there are only four Imogen Quy mysteries. OTOH, there are more than one.

This isn't a proper review, just some thoughts.

A Piece of Justice has a lot about quilting. Also about whether work and skills "count" or are just ordinary. I've been thinking a lot lately about how most of the work done in the world (very important work, some of it) is unpaid and uncounted. Even taking care of your own body is work, because if you can't do it, somebody else has to.

[Elizabeth C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read, intelligently written

A good mystery, well-written, and centered on themes of intellectual honesty, biography, and the corrosive effect of pride. I came to Jill Paton Walsh through her continuation of Dorothy Sayers’ work. Now having read two of her own works, I can see why her Sayers’ continuations are so seamless.

[Maureen Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing plot

In which geometry, diet pills, quilts, and stuffy Cambridge dons create an intriguing mystery—part math, mostly evil. Walsh offers interesting characters and scenery.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, but a bit silly.... being a quilter and knowing Cambridge well, made it fun for me.

[kp · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple and gentle mystery with a subtly feminist message.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was much better than her first Imogen Quy mystery -- more interesting plot, characters a little better drawn.

[Marni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining British crime novel.