Death in the Old Country

Charlie Salter #3

by Eric Wright

Toronto Inspector Charlie Salter and his wife, Anne, are going to England for a holiday. It's long overdue.

While Charlie is discovering a passion for English beer and horse racing, and Annie for shopping and new English friends, their hotel is plagued by a peeping tom. And then there's a murder.

The atmosphere is great. It presents England as you've never seen it. Plus, Inspector Salter must be at his most versatile as he tries to assist the local constabulary in a criminal case that develops roots back to Italy and the second world war.

Librarian's note: all the characters, settings, description updates, etc. have been done for the Charlie Salter 11 volume + one novella series: 1. The Night the Gods Smiled, 1983; 2. Smoke Detector, 1984; 3. Death in the Old Country, 1985; 4. A Single Death, 1986; 5. A Body Surrounded by Water, 1987; 6. A Question of Murder, 1988; 7. A Sensitive Case, 1990; 8. Final Cut, 1991; 9. A Fine Italian Hand, 1992; 10. Death by Degrees, 1993; 11. The Last Hand, 2001; and 11.A. My Brother's Keeper, a novella with Howard Engel featuring both Salter and Benny Cooperman, 2001.

Genres: Mystery, Canada, Fiction, Procedural

175 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1985

About the author

There is more than one author with this name in the database. Not all books on this profile belong to the same author.

Eric Wright was born in London, England and immigrated to Canada in 1951. He is the award-winning author of seventeen crime novels, including his first novel, The Night the Gods Smiled, which won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel, the Crime Writer's Association's John Creasey Award, and the City of Toronto Book Award. His memoir, Always Give a Penny to a Blind Man, about growing up poor in working-class London, was published in 1999.

Reviews

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. Some reviews have this Inspector Charlie Salter mystery as one of the best, and some have it a little lower. Count me in the latter group. It's good, but rambles. Charlie and his wife Annie are in England for a 4 week holiday, especially well deserved for her. There's a bit of an enjoyable travelogue here as they take in small town and rural England, as well as a 3-day jaunt to Florence and Tuscany. It includes amusing descriptions of good and bad B and B's, attempting to drive in London, and finding themselves inside a Stratford play. We start with a fender-bender and the Salters needing a room while their rental car is repaired. They are steered to Boomewood, a small hotel in Tokesbury Mallett. Lovely, but it's plagued by peeping toms and soon their landlord named Dillon, is found stabbed to death. Charlie can't keep himself out of the fray, although he first pretends he is with the Toronto Transit Commission. You'll enjoy meeting his worthy rival with the local police, Superintendent Hamilton; he's astute and cagey, and nearly the match for Salter. I said nearly. A few expensive calls, don't forget it's the 1980s, back to Toronto, and voila! (Au2024/De2025)

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A mysterious Peeping Tom. A nocturnal intruder. Two incidents that seem like practical jokes -- until the sudden murder of Terry Dillon, owner of the English hotel where Toronto Inspector Charlie Salter and his wife are vacationing. Salter knows the charming decor of the Boomewood Hotel masks some very seedy secrets -- but the case remains as cloudy as the English weather, until Salter makes his way through a fog of clues and suspects: a dead man with thirty years of his past unaccounted for . . . his Italian widow with more on her mind than pasta . . . a waiter with knock-'em-dead good looks and a lively eye for the ladies . . . and a mysterious entry in the hotel register signed only 'Johnny.' Now it's up to Salter to make some very murky leads come clear before there's another gloomy forecast -- for murder."
~~back cover

This book was a bit disappointing. It started out well enough, introducing Inspector Salter and his wife, on holiday in a rainy England. But after the murder -- as Salter began to investigate a bit, he runs afoul of Superintendent Hamilton -- a pugnacious, rude regional policeman, and the sparring goes on through the rest of the book, to Charlie's disadvantage. The plot was a bit too complicated for my tastes, although very cleverly done and the truth revealed in small doses. But still, I was hoping for the "English village" style of murder, and that wasn't this book at all.

[Duncan McCurdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun crime novel with a Toronto Detective on holiday in the UK. As a Brit who know lives in Canada this novel was right on the nose to humour on both sides of the Atlantic. A surprisingly enjoyable read

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve become a fan of the Charlie Salter series. Eric Wright has established enough familiarity with the Toronto base, to send us on a trip to England and Italy! I was sorry his wife, Annie was mostly relegated to the background again; especially on a trip meant to boost a tired marriage. However she was happy to sightsee, while he befriended the police of a village in which they roomed by chance. A fender bender in the rain ended their search for the next hotel. When the proprietor was murdered, Charlie didn’t mind casting his eye on the case. For a twist, the protagonist did not glean hoards of information that local police were oblivious about. He and the superintendent were usually abreast in sifting the very odd details of this mystery.

For the second time: everything surrounding the proprietor, his Italian wife, a postcard, and other hotel guests... delve decades into wartime history. To my pleasure, a brief sojourn to Italy does turn Annie into an investigating partner. Horseracing, a new hobby to exercise in England, is a theme. Since this has the distinction of being a Canadian series, even as Eric visits his birth country; many miniature encounters resonate for me vividly. Citizens of the world: do not presume visitors are American! There’s always a rewarding note of delight when people learn we are Canadian. But it should be no surprise that we of the second-largest country, do travel.

Exploration of fresh places was fun. A rather discordant pair I expected to dislike, really made the novel breathe. Maud, as nosy as Henry is quiet, might be pegged as folks to avoid but create a much-needed couples atmosphere. Her retention of information is as sharp as a cop’s and she is invaluably resourceful about the other hotel guests.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of the author’s books I have read, and I enjoyed it.
Canadian Inspector Charlie Salter and his wife go to England on vacation. When their car needs repair they end up staying in a different hotel than planned, and Charlie gets involved in helping to solve a murder. The characters in this story have interesting personalities and quirks. There is humour, conflict, mystery, horse-racing, questionable behaviour, and more to keep one reading.

I chose this book for the52bookclub 2024 reading challenge, prompt "A yellow spine."

[Wendroz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another mystery from Eric Wright, this time with Inspector Charlie Salter. I enjoyed this book. I am planning on going through the authors several characters.I love English mysteries and enjoyed this Canadian mystery set in England.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually quite enjoyable! Not the best book I've ever read, but as a 2 dollar bargain cart experiment I was extremely pleased with it

[Robin Helweg-Larsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An oddball mystery, more of an amusing travel diary in the beginning, then a murder halfway through, and a plot based on uncertain and shifting identities. Strange tale, but not bad.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. I really don't think Inspector Hamilton would have solved it without Charlie's calls to Toronto.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short quick read.

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it -- I think.

low to get to mystery, a bit unexciting once it started, but enough humour, some quirky style and it sort of worked at 175 pages. At 300 pages it would have been a 2

[Garth Mailman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie Salter #3
Death in the Old Country
Eric Wright

When the innkeeper at their hotel is found knifed to death Charlie insinuates himself into the investigation even as far as going to Florence to do research. The Detective in charge humours him to a degree.

[Deb Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea.