What do you think?
Rate this book
Cywion Nell
An adaptation and translation of: Mother's boys.
Paperback
First published August 1, 1981
13 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Robert Barnard
202 books88 followersAka Bernard Bastable.
Robert Barnard (born 23 November 1936) was an English crime writer, critic and lecturer.
Born in Essex, Barnard was educated at the Royal Grammar School in Colchester and at Balliol College in Oxford. His first crime novel, A Little Local Murder, was published in 1976. The novel was written while he was a lecturer at University of Tromsø in Norway. He has gone on to write more than 40 other books and numerous short stories.
Barnard has said that his favourite crime writer is Agatha Christie. In 1980 he published a critique of her work titled A Talent to Deceive: An Appreciation of Agatha Christie.
Barnard was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2003 by the Crime Writers Association for a lifetime of achievement.
Under the pseudonym Bernard Bastable, Robert Barnard has published one standalone novel and three alternate history books starring Wolfgang Mozart as a detective, he having survived to old age.
Barnard lived with his wife Louise in Yorkshire.
Series:
* Perry Trethowan
* Charlie Peace
Robert Barnard (born 23 November 1936) was an English crime writer, critic and lecturer.
Born in Essex, Barnard was educated at the Royal Grammar School in Colchester and at Balliol College in Oxford. His first crime novel, A Little Local Murder, was published in 1976. The novel was written while he was a lecturer at University of Tromsø in Norway. He has gone on to write more than 40 other books and numerous short stories.
Barnard has said that his favourite crime writer is Agatha Christie. In 1980 he published a critique of her work titled A Talent to Deceive: An Appreciation of Agatha Christie.
Barnard was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2003 by the Crime Writers Association for a lifetime of achievement.
Under the pseudonym Bernard Bastable, Robert Barnard has published one standalone novel and three alternate history books starring Wolfgang Mozart as a detective, he having survived to old age.
Barnard lived with his wife Louise in Yorkshire.
Series:
* Perry Trethowan
* Charlie Peace
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 19, 2019
A few years ago, a spartan garage sale yielded my introduction to Robert Barnard, via “Death Of A Mystery Writer” in hardcover. It was dry like many old American and British police novels but had wit. I disliked “Death Of A Perfect Mother” entirely but am undaunted. I learned he was prolific after acquiring a dozen more novels. It would take nothing for them to have a leg-up on this glum one! Note: I refute the idea in 1981, of calling forty year-olds “middle-aged”!
Gordon flunked out of the military as well as life. He blamed his Mother, Lill Hodsden, for his incapacity to be independent personally or professionally; which made him a loser. Brian and Debbie were in high school, with bright futures. Husband, Fred was meekness itself and Lill, a banshee to their town. Readers regret that she couldn’t tell she was perceived badly. The narrator admits later that she liked razzing people, to cure her bad moods. We cease to pity her when she cheats on Fred, however dense he was. Sympathy vanishes upon mistreatment of her daughter; no matter how resiliently Debbie evaded and defied her. She only wanted her sons, not imagining that Gordon wanted to kill her and hoped Brian would pitch-in.
Debbie would have been keen. Brian had a heart for his Mother. Gordon became crushing, like he accused Lill of being. Readers hated him and scowled at everyone, except Debbie and her Grandmother, for not defending their life preferences. This once, reviews were useful. They agreed there was no likeable personage and prepared me to loathe the novel, which resulted in minding it less. I gave two stars for Robert’s creative angle: introducing Lill as the protagonist. Usually, fictional victims are past-tense decedents. He even shows readers the relief of her departure!
Gordon flunked out of the military as well as life. He blamed his Mother, Lill Hodsden, for his incapacity to be independent personally or professionally; which made him a loser. Brian and Debbie were in high school, with bright futures. Husband, Fred was meekness itself and Lill, a banshee to their town. Readers regret that she couldn’t tell she was perceived badly. The narrator admits later that she liked razzing people, to cure her bad moods. We cease to pity her when she cheats on Fred, however dense he was. Sympathy vanishes upon mistreatment of her daughter; no matter how resiliently Debbie evaded and defied her. She only wanted her sons, not imagining that Gordon wanted to kill her and hoped Brian would pitch-in.
Debbie would have been keen. Brian had a heart for his Mother. Gordon became crushing, like he accused Lill of being. Readers hated him and scowled at everyone, except Debbie and her Grandmother, for not defending their life preferences. This once, reviews were useful. They agreed there was no likeable personage and prepared me to loathe the novel, which resulted in minding it less. I gave two stars for Robert’s creative angle: introducing Lill as the protagonist. Usually, fictional victims are past-tense decedents. He even shows readers the relief of her departure!
September 22, 2018
More like 3.5 stars, but Barnard is such a brilliant satirical writer with such fabulous dialogue, witty turns of phrase and sharp insight into the less stellar sides of human nature that I can forgive the slightly lackluster plot and pacing :)
October 30, 2019
I enjoyed all the asides and innuendos in this novel written in 1980 and the ending was a complete surprise...unfortunately the Hodsden family simply exchanged one miserable, cruel, overbearing mother for another person with the same qualities.
A short (onoy 222 pages) but a good read.
A short (onoy 222 pages) but a good read.
April 23, 2013
I picked this up in the Strand's 48-cent section thinking it would be a murder mystery in the easy, lighthearted vein. Instead, almost all of the characters are vile, the plot is vile, and the narrator is vile. It was worse for my mood than reading the news.
Although the book totally fails as entertainment literature, it is somewhat interesting as a capsule of an earlier time. The 80's have never felt so far away to me as in this book. Not only are most of the characters openly racist, so is the author. (His attempts at humor--silly black people get George Eliot mixed up with Jesus! George Eliot looks like a horse!--make me want to find him and kick him firmly in the shins). And though class strictures might not truly be relaxed today, at least they aren't enforced quite so blatantly.
Still and all, a trip to the unvarnished 80's is not what I thought I was getting & I want my 48 cents back.
Although the book totally fails as entertainment literature, it is somewhat interesting as a capsule of an earlier time. The 80's have never felt so far away to me as in this book. Not only are most of the characters openly racist, so is the author. (His attempts at humor--silly black people get George Eliot mixed up with Jesus! George Eliot looks like a horse!--make me want to find him and kick him firmly in the shins). And though class strictures might not truly be relaxed today, at least they aren't enforced quite so blatantly.
Still and all, a trip to the unvarnished 80's is not what I thought I was getting & I want my 48 cents back.
November 19, 2019
This doesn't happen often with me: A book I couldn't put down. I started the first page and, in between hundreds of miles of driving read this as much as I could. It's not a dazzling story or full of action and deep mystery. It's just a tale of a family and anticipation.
The title presumes a story that doesn't happen as might be expected. That keeps the pages turning.
It's the writing I loved. Barnard is new to me and I've been missing his books for too long. A new search has begun!
I found this very readable with terrific characters. The main character is written with many viewpoints. As the story moves along, what is anticipated becomes more and more intriguing as to how the book might end. All of the characters are given great dimension.
Most books today run 30 or 4 hundred pages with less results. This is a mere 222 page and accomplishes much, much more.
Also excellent setting descriptions.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 9 out of 10 points.
The title presumes a story that doesn't happen as might be expected. That keeps the pages turning.
It's the writing I loved. Barnard is new to me and I've been missing his books for too long. A new search has begun!
I found this very readable with terrific characters. The main character is written with many viewpoints. As the story moves along, what is anticipated becomes more and more intriguing as to how the book might end. All of the characters are given great dimension.
Most books today run 30 or 4 hundred pages with less results. This is a mere 222 page and accomplishes much, much more.
Also excellent setting descriptions.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 9 out of 10 points.
January 21, 2013
No one in Todmarsh exactly likes Lill Hodsen, a loud, meddling woman, who has alienated everyone in her family except her oblivious husband, Fred. But most of the characters we meet in Todmarsh aren't very likable, including Lill's two "adoring" sons who are planning her murder, until someone gets there first. Darkly funny, with a plot that keeps twisting.
"Thought is perhaps too definite a word for what went on in Fred's head: impressions, feelings, vague impulses and desires floated through his brain like skeletal autumn leaves, driven by the vaguest breeze, slow, wanton, uncatchable."
"Thought is perhaps too definite a word for what went on in Fred's head: impressions, feelings, vague impulses and desires floated through his brain like skeletal autumn leaves, driven by the vaguest breeze, slow, wanton, uncatchable."
January 1, 2014
This book was very disappointing. None of the characters are likeable or engaging. The ending was terrible. The role of the police detective seems pointless
May 25, 2020
I rather enjoyed this, but with one major caveat. The plotting is good, and the characters are convincingly unpleasant. The thing that I really didn't like, though, was the racism. Much of it meant to be rejected by the reader, though wading through it is still nasty; characters who spout racist epithets (and boy, do they ever spout a LOT of racial epithets, so if you don't want to read a book that's full of them, avoid this one) are clearly presented as vulgar and horrid and morally nasty. But there's also a kind of unthinking racism in the representation of the one character of colour, Mr Achituko, that I really hated; the jokey account of the Pacific island he's from, for example, reproduces some of the worst assumptions about non-European cultures.
June 20, 2021
Robert Barnard some of the best British mysteries of his day, recognized for his stylish writing and acerbic social commentary as much as for his plots, if not more so. This offering is no exception, taking a cold look at the dynamics of a working class family that is exceptional only in the scale of its dysfunction.
I considered giving a 3 rating, maybe more, but opted for a 2 in the end. There are two reasons for this. First, I identified both the killer and the major plot twist fairly early on, so the mystery element was not compelling. Second, and I'm surprised this bothered me, there is simply not a single pleasant character in the whole book.
Still worth a read, although there are better offerings from Barnard available.
I considered giving a 3 rating, maybe more, but opted for a 2 in the end. There are two reasons for this. First, I identified both the killer and the major plot twist fairly early on, so the mystery element was not compelling. Second, and I'm surprised this bothered me, there is simply not a single pleasant character in the whole book.
Still worth a read, although there are better offerings from Barnard available.
January 8, 2019
This was terrible. I'm not saying the story line and characters aren't well done but they are all nasty, unpleasant people. I do prefer a detector to be at least somewhat sympathetic and if not, there should be some suspect to root for. But there was really no one in the story that you could engage with, just some that you could pity... it was a miserable ending.
October 1, 2020
Two young men are tired of their obnoxious, overbearing mother and come up with a plan to kill her. Barnard does such a good job of portraying the woman as a selfish bully that I was rooting for the sons. I enjoy Barnard's light touches of humor as he tells the tale of these quirky characters. I didn't care for the ending, as it was a bit dark, but it was unexpected and atypical.
April 8, 2026
Actual rating 3.5 stars
The murder in this story doesn't take place until almost halfway through. That is not something I usually like but in this case, the build-up and character development were interesting. This was a 4-star read until the end. I had a suspicion about the identity of the murderer but didn't care for the reveal and its consequences.
The murder in this story doesn't take place until almost halfway through. That is not something I usually like but in this case, the build-up and character development were interesting. This was a 4-star read until the end. I had a suspicion about the identity of the murderer but didn't care for the reveal and its consequences.
April 6, 2021
This was good but more of a thriller than a mystery. Bit unsettling. Definitely dark.
February 5, 2021
Well-written with unpleasant people so well-described that it bothered me a bit. Another unpleasant woman or two. P-O-V character intriguing enough, though foolish and flawed. This, along with character studies, keeps the mystery rolling along. Barnard is one of those authors that I can read for a while, and then his venal, unpleasant characters begin to bother me, and I have to return to others with intriguing mysteries but not quite so many unpleasant people.
January 21, 2024
Lill Hodsden is a perfect mother only in her own mind. Her children hate her, her husband barely takes notice of her goings-on, and she is a constant source of gossip for the village. As her character is revealed it is obvious that she has to die, but we are kept in suspense as to who would have done it. The Chief Inspector is lazy and full of himself, so he chooses a perpetrator and then does his best to prove his theory. Thoroughly unlikable characters, and an unhappy ending make this not one of my Robert Barnard favorites, but I do love the way he brings his characters to life through their thoughts, speech, and actions.
January 2024: Read this again, laughing at how the victim of murder here is getting what she deserves. I had forgotten about the ending, which may surprise some readers.
January 2024: Read this again, laughing at how the victim of murder here is getting what she deserves. I had forgotten about the ending, which may surprise some readers.
November 8, 2015
Quite good. I did get a bit tired of how much of the book went into loving detail of how much motive everyone had to kill the abrasive victim, and the twist at the end was not quite a surprise. But this was quite well told.
September 26, 2011
I really disliked this book and did not finish it. The characters are all nasty and the author attempts humor but does not achieve it.
July 6, 2015
Unpleasant people acting unpleasantly. A cynical ending. Too bad. This writer usually writes better books.
Want to Read
August 3, 2017I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14094388
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14094388
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews