Lessons in Chasing the Wild Goose

Cambridge Fellows #12.6

by Charlie Cochrane

Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith like nothing more than being handed a mystery to solve. But why would anybody murder a man with no enemies? And was it murder in the first place?

Genres: Mystery, Historical, Romance, LGBT, M M Romance, Historical Mystery

122 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 19, 2018

About the author

Because Charlie Cochrane couldn't be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her mystery novels include the Edwardian era Cambridge Fellows series, series, and the contemporary Best Corpse for the Job. Multi-published, she has titles with Carina, Samhain, Riptide and Bold Strokes, among others.

A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People and International Thriller Writers Inc, Charlie regularly appears at literary festivals and at reader and author conferences with The Deadly Dames.

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much about this series delights me from the historical university setting, the authentic historical cultural references displayed by characters, dialogue, and setting, and to the engaging characters particularly the amateur sleuthing pair who are also lovers.

Lessons in Chasing the Wild Goose is #12.6 in the Cambridge Fellows series. The mystery itself can be read out of order, but the series does have a series progression to it from the romance to their time in WWI, previous cases (though no solutions are given), and other regular characters.

The story opens with Jonty and Orlando busy doing some lesson preparation just before their students come back from the holidays. Life is a little mundane so they get excited when a new case comes their way. An old army friend of a man who was killed by a hit and run auto accident is asked by the widow to approach Jonty and Orlando because she believes it was murder and to lend credence to this, Dr. Beattie, the man who came to them, is accosted by thugs on his way to request their help. The two Cambridge dons set aside their books and gladly take up the case.

As I said in my opening thoughts, this is a series I love and I grab up each new release. I suppose it is something of a historical cozy mystery series that crosses over from Edwardian Era, WWI, and now post-war. The author is great about drawing the fictitious college at Cambridge and a nice little cast who work and live there. But, its not just a cozy mystery as there is the ongoing forbidden love affair between Jonty, who specializes in literature and has a buoyant, teasing light character with a dark past and Orlando, who specializes in mathematics and tends to brood and analyze everything. Their dialogue is high-brow wit like one would expect from Cambridge professors and they twit each other because they are opposites in their approach to almost everything. I enjoy them as a couple and being along as they solve the mysteries.

This particular mystery had some good twists even though it was a shorter piece. I had no idea about who or why until late and even then I didn't grasp the full why because there was a cleverly worked surprise that gave me something new and startling about WWI history I was unaware of.

I thought it was another fabulous entry in the series and now I'm left anticipating the next release. This is an easy recommendation to make for those who love historical cozies and sweet m/m romance.

Source: Kindle Unlimited

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely. Orlando and Jonty are such a treat to read about and I really enjoyed this latest instalment. They're such wonderful, endearing characters (among my most favourites) and I love reading about them as they get older. They've been together for fifteen years at this stage and they continue to engage and entertain. It's always great to catch up with other favourite characters like Ariadne and Dr. Panesar and Lavinia and the rest. I've been waiting for Dr. Beattie to re-enter and the scene--more Jonty's teasing in regards to that fellow, actually--and wasn't disappointed on that front. I thought the mystery in this book wasn't as quite as strong as in other books and I wanted a bit more closure and tying up of a few little loose ends when I got to the last page, but I still enjoyed reading it immensely because it's Orlando and Jonty and I adore them completely.

[The Novel Approach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, this is a most melancholy mystery. It’s a few weeks before the dunderheads descend, and Orlando is feeling almost wistful. The beauty of an English countryside in the fall is only outmatched by his wish for another mystery. Orlando and Jonty are not as young and spry as they once were. They have been together sixteen years now, but the romantic undertones in this story let us know that their relationship is as solid as ever. This is a long series; there are sixteen books contained in the Cambridge Fellows series, and they can all be read as standalones—for the mystery aspects of the stories—but if you want a sweeping love story which has survived and flourished, then you can read this series from the beginning. Be aware, these are not love stories, they are mysteries, but Jonty and Orlando’s relationship is the underpinning thread which makes them sing. Cochrane writes complex, intuitive mysteries. They are quintessentially English and period appropriate down to the last detail.

The mystery in this installment revolves around the death of a man run over by a car on a deserted, flat stretch of road. The motor car is still somewhat new at this time in history, so using it as a murder weapon has Jonty practically salivating to find out why since he loves the things so much. But is it murder? This case turns up more questions than answers, and it requires some leaps of fate. The amateur detectives from St. Brides have to overcome jealousy, discrimination and memories that are still fresh, of a war that gave all of them scars, to figure out the clues on how this particular man died and just who is at fault. It’s a story of war and of scars that are left on a soul that go beyond the physical.

Once again we have a colorful, sound cast of secondary characters. Lavinia shines, as well as her husband Ralph (Jonty’s sister and brother in law). Always willing to join in on the sleuthing, they and the long-term employees at the college provide help, interesting side tales, and work as extra hands for Jonty and Orlando, often taking over tasks the gentleman cannot do themselves.

There are multiple mysteries afoot in this story. Nothing is as it seems, and the more people Jonty and Orlando meet who have any connection to the corpse, the more people they truly dislike. As I said before, this mystery has an overarching melancholy to it. It all seems so senseless, and sometimes the solution to a puzzle is not what we think or even want it to be. Never judge a book by its cover. Never assume. Never label or pigeon hole people based on assumptions. And never ever believe that words cannot wound as assuredly as bullets.

‘Don’t. Among her many qualities, my mother was a pragmatic woman. She’d have said that this world is less than perfect and that sometimes you simply have to make the best of a bad deal. To you, specifically, she’d have remarked that life can’t always be stamped QED on the bottom. There are messes and muddles and mysteries that defy solution. Or which are solved and never proven.’ ~ Jonty to Orlando

This is a brilliant series and I highly recommend it. Whenever Cochrane comes out with a new one, it’s an auto-buy for me and is better than Christmas. I cannot imagine an end to the Cambridge Fellows and I don’t want to. It satisfies on so many levels and genres—mystery, suspense, romance, and historical. It has it all. I want to mention that Alex Beecroft has done the covers for this novella and the one before it, Lessons in Loving thy Murderous Neighbour, and they are perfect, reflecting the general feel for the novels and working well with the rest of the series. Highly recommend.

Reviewed by Carrie for The Novel Approach

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A satisfactory yet slightly sad ending. Some people are just rotten to their fellow people...

[Sara Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonty and Orlando are back! And they are back with a fun mystery and roooomaaaance. I missed the more romantic side of the lads but this book delivers in that front too. And as a bonus, Lavinia is her usual amazing self. I need another Cambridge Fellows Mystery. NOW.

[Heather York · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonty and Orlando have been enjoying some down time but they are hungry for a case. Their wish is granted but is it solvable when the dead man had no enemies? Is it even murder? Have they finally found a case that stumps even their brilliant history of deduction? Will the time before the dunderheads return be enough?

So many questions, so many possibilities, but would Jonty and Orlando really want it any other way? No. Would we the readers expect anything less? No. Well, good thing then because you won't be disappointed. Once again Charlie Cochrane takes this lovely pair and puts them through their detecting paces and we're lucky enough to be along for the ride. Would I have loved a full-length novel? Of course, I am a long read fiend but just because the tale is short in pages doesn't mean its short in awesomeness.

Lessons in Chasing the Wild Goose(great title BTW) gives us what we've come to know and expect from Jonty and Orlando's world: skullduggerry(because there is so much more to the case than what they are originally asked to investigate no other word would give it justice), humor, family(Livinia is doing her mother proud and Richard is even finding his father-in-law's shoes fitting quite well), friendship, and of course romance. If you are looking for lots of heat between Jonty and Orlando, than you might be disappointed but just because its not burning up the pages doesn't mean the passion doesn't shine through.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: This duo is so dynamic and fun to read that I will always 1-click this series, whether the author writes only 1 more one-page coda or 100 full-length tales. Jonty and Orlando have staying power. Not all series can say that but Cambridge Fellows Mysteries can and I look forward to seeing them detecting, dithering over dunderheads, and dalliances for many years to come, be it new journeys or re-reading their old cases this is one mystery solving couple that will never get old even if we see them advance into their senior years.

[Ulysses Dietz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lessons in Chasing the Wild Goose (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries)
By Charlie Cochrane
Published by the author, 2018
Five stars

The chief joy for me in reading a long series of books that cover an extended period of time is that I get to know the characters in a way entirely different from a series in which the action covers only a restricted period of time. Charlie Cochrane’s Cambridge Fellows books started for me long before I routinely wrote reviews of every book I read. It was my first experience of a novelist who could successfully put men like Orlando and Jonty in a historical context without seeming either forced or polemical. The mysteries were always fun, but—for me—it was the relationship of these two young men that drew me back book after book.

Now—it feels like forever—Jonty and Orlando are middle-aged men, a couple (clandestinely, discreetly) for sixteen years. The traumas of the Great War are behind them, but never far from mind. They are very fortunate to have both family and friends who understand them and love them all the more. Cochrane doesn’t make a big deal out of this, but it is a very big deal, and completely colors the way Orlando and Jonty see the world.

Memories of the War loom again as our professors, in a quiet moment at Cambridge before the “dunderheads” return to spoil their quiet days, are drawn into a strange accidental killing that might not be accidental. Their investigation—aided by both Jonty’s sister Lavinia and the wife of the Master of St. Bride’s college—take them back to their wartime experience, seeing it through the eyes of other former soldiers. Orlando and Jonty an see beyond what they are told, understanding the circumstances and the emotional burdens that every survivor of battle shares.

The striking thing is that Jonty and Orlando, who would be widely seen as monstrous in the eyes of their culture, have a deep appreciation of what true monstrosity is. It’s not always obvious, and it can be motivated by pain and suffering. Our two professorial sleuths never forget what they themselves have survived.

Without undue violence, but with a genteel persistence that is worthy of the best Christie character, our two gentlemen probe into the dark parts of their nation’s collective psyche. Marginalized in spite of their evident privilege, Jonty and Orlando bring a clear-eyed compassion to their work.

One can only assume they actually care about their students more than they pretend to.

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had just recently managed to get my hands on book one in series (they are being republished – yay!) so I was positively gleeful at the chance for more.

It’s as interesting and amusing as the previous books. Jonty and Orlando are content with their lives, happily muddling along as professors, amateur detectives and life partners. They are awfully domesticated. The story kept its cheeky, humorous tone and it’s joy to read. Its dry humor and slightly sarcastic bent had me savoring every word. I never knew when some charming nugget was going to make an appearance.

Our heroes happen to be bored so they jump at the chance to solve a case. An old acquittance of Orlando asks them to look into accident his friend had. It’s a conundrum as the case is peppered with false leads and truth in small doses. It’s rather unusual resolution. Nothing was as it seemed at first and it was truly vexing at times.

To sum it up, it’s a very good mystery in a comforting setting. The characters are likeable and their interactions witty and engaging. It’s a delightful read tempting me to pick up rest of the books in series!

I received copy of this book in exchange for review.
The review is also posted on Gay Book Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

For the full review, visit https://wp.me/p220KL-dms

From that review: " There are so many things I admire about Charlie Cochrane's writing and this series.  For one, its authentic, from the language down to the accoutrements of the people at every level of society you see within the stories.  And not once will it every feel anything but completely natural and easy (as opposed to a knowledge dump).  You become immersed in the times, first pre-war England and then all the horrors of  WWI, the very first war of devastating impact with chemical weaponry and  more.  We see it all through the eyes of Jonty and Orlando, Jonty's family, and the extended "family" they have gathered together at St. Bride’s College, where they have taught all these years and met."

For all our reviews, check out http://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords...

[Stevie Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Previously reviewed on The Good, The Bad, and The Unread:

It’s been a while since I read a new Cambridge Fellows mystery, and I’ve managed to find myself behind by two novellas, a situation I’m now rectifying in the midst of all my other reading and reviewing. This book takes us to the autumn of 1922, and our heroes are enjoying the last few days of peace before their students return. As always, the year is reflected in both how the lads have matured since their earliest adventures and how the world around them has progressed. Inevitably Orlando is trying to resist the changes, while Jonty is enthusiastically embracing every new piece of technology he can get his hands on. Just as predictably, they are both of the opinion that what they need right now is a new puzzle to take their minds off the upcoming term. Fortunately, one is just about to be brought to their attention…As is often the case, the bearer of the mystery is a fellow from another college. Not the dreaded college next door this time, but the far more palatable Ascension College; and it’s someone they already know: Beattie, the historian who befriended Orlando when Jonty was missing, presumed dead, and for whom Orlando harboured feelings before his lover’s miraculous reappearance. This new puzzle has to do with the war too. One of Beattie’s former comrades has been killed in what appears to have been a tragic road accident. Beattie suspects foul play. However, he is unable to provide any clues as to who the man’s enemies might have been.

The lads begin their investigation, but are no more able to come up with a motive for the killing than was Beattie. Events in Cambridge soon make them more suspicious that a killer is on the prowl and that their client may well be the next target. Enlisting the help of family and friends, they manage to locate suspects, with no real motive for wanting Beattie and his friend out of the way but with plenty of secrets in their pasts that may account for their wanting revenge on someone.

As always, I loved the twists, turns, and red herrings in this case. Jonty’s sister makes a good replacement on the detecting front for their much-missed mother, and her husband turns out to be a useful source of information as well. It’s always good to be reminded of the story aspects that are more or less unique to Cambridge: the colleges, the ever-present bicycles, the rooms in college where fellows meet with students and others needing their advice, the interdepartmental rivalries (all of which can be found in Oxford as well, but there are subtle differences). And, of course, there are the porters, always on hand when needed, and eternally owed crates of beer for going above and beyond their official duties where our lads are concerned. Another excellent story with a fitting (proposed) resolution, which I would love to have seen played out in a longer version of the story.

[Suze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonty and Orlando - what more needs to be said!
A quirky little mystery with many twists and turns and the question of whodunnit very much up in the air til the end.
As it is a novella, the Jonty and Orlando we get are mostly our investigators - I always enjoy the daily life we see in the longer books, the development of them as men - here we get told of the aches and pains of ageing but don’t get to see it.
Grand old English drama, with ‘villains’ doing the ‘right thing’ in the end.

[Marie Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful love letter

I’ve been a fan of this author since I found one of her books at my local library, and soon found myself buying every thing she’s written. Once again we find the unstoppable pair of Stewart and Coppersmith in the middle of a mystery. Other reviewers will explain the plot, I’m just going to recommend this sweet mystery.

[Danis ❤️ MM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid Jonty and Orlando novella. This one is set later in their relationship, post war. A man, with apparently no enemies, has been run down in the street. Was it murder? Or an accident? Jonty and Orlando eventually do figure it out (as always) and the conclusion is a bit convoluted, but good none the less.

[Ellie Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delightful story with our dynamic Cambridge duo, Jonty and Orlando solving yet another mystery, ably supported by Jonty's sister Lavinia and their old friend Ariadne. These stories are such a joy!

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[emily curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched historical romantic mystery. Set in the early 20th century this series is well written with likable characters.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Autumn 1922. Chas Rainsford had died. His widow Pearl is convinced it was no accident. Family friend Dr Beattie approaches Stewart and Coppersmith to investigate.
An enjoyable historical mystery

[Susan Scribner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid but unremarkable entry in this long-running series. Thought there might be more drama when the person who asks our intrepid duo to take on a new case turns out to be a fellow professor who figured briefly in Orlando's thoughts when he thought Jonty had been lost in the war, but jealousy barely rears its ugly head.