She Shoots to Conquer

Ellie Haskell Mystery #13

by Dorothy Cannell

On a dark and foggy night, Ellie Haskell, husband Ben, and plucky sidekick Mrs Malloy are stranded at a grand estate on the Yorkshire moors. To save crumbling Mucklesfeld Manor, Lord Belfrey is the prize on a TV reality show Here Comes the Bride. A potential bride is shot during an archery contest, and Ellie investigates.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Humor, British Literature, Crime

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2009

About the author

(from Fantastic Fiction online)

Dorothy Cannell was born in London, England, and now lives in Belfast, Maine. Dorothy Cannell writes mysteries featuring Ellie Haskell, interior decorator and Ben Haskell, writer and chef, and Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell, a pair of dotty sisters and owners of the Flowers Detection Agency.

(from Internet Book List)

Dorothy Cannell, a mother of four, grandmother of ten, and owner of a King Charles Spaniel, was born in England and moved to the United States when she was twenty. After living in Peoria, Illinois, for years, she and her husband recently moved to Belfast, Maine. Her first Ellie Haskell novel, The Thin Woman, was selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Twentieth Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

Reviews

[✨ Gramy ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

..
From Publishers Weekly:
At the start of Cannell's droll if draggy 13th Ellie Haskell mystery (after 2008's Goodbye, Ms. Chips), Ellie; her chef husband, Ben; and their housekeeper, Mrs. Roxie Malloy, take a wrong turn one foggy night on the Yorkshire moors. They wind up at Muckelsfeld Manor, where Georges LeBois, a French director, is producing Here Comes the Bride, a reality TV program aimed at finding a wife for Lord Aubrey Belfrey, whose estate could benefit from the publicity. When one of the contestants dies in a car accident in the fog, single Roxie takes her place, and Ben becomes a chef for the shoot. Besides becoming enamored of a homeless black Lab, Ellie gets drawn into the mystery surrounding Aubrey's older brother's wife, who's rumored to have absconded with some family jewels before her husband died. While the eccentric supporting cast, notably Muckelsfeld's scary housekeeper, lends interest, Cannell doesn't fully exploit the juicy reality show premise.

This book was my first attempt at reading the "Ellie Haskell Series". I tried on two separate occasions and just couldn't get interested in this book, mainly because I couldn't identify with the characters, setting, or mindset of the tale.

Hilarious and engaging sleuth Ellie Haskell is back—always a good thing for the health of British cozies. This time she and her husband, restaurateur Ben, and their faithful employee, slightly wacky Mrs. Malloy, are stranded in a fog-bound, deteriorating Yorkshire estate called Mucklesfeld Manor. Mrs. Malloy ends up being a replacement contestant on a new television reality show called Here Comes the Bride. The program is being filmed at the manor to help owner Lord Belfry save his estate from financial ruin. Ben is drafted to prepare meals for the devious cast, the cantankerous crew, and the mysteriously linked contestants. But when contestants begin to die, it’s up to intrepid Ellie to save the day as she explores the creepy Gothic estate looking for clues. If British cozy fans who have somehow missed the earlier books in Cannell’s endearing series give this one a try, they will soon be clamoring to read the rest. Pair Ellie with Nancy Atherton’s equally charming Aunt Dimity. --Judy Coon

[Lisa Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my pursuit of bringing back my love for recreational reading, I've been choosing old authors who've brought me joy. This was a sweet bit of fluff with an ending I didn't actually foresee. Not too shabby

[Barbara Cryer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed. I wanted to like it. But the writing was jerky and the dialogue confusing. Not my cuppa.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

She Shoots to Conquer had a fun cover and a promising premise: Ellie Haskell, her husband, and her housekeeper, Mrs. Malloy, lose their way in the fog one night and find themselves at a mansion where Lord Belfrey is hoping to recoup the family fortune by hosting a reality show, a version of The Bachelor where he is the bachelor in question. They arrive just after one of the contestants has died, seemingly in an accident. Meanwhile, the housekeeper, Mrs. Malloy offers to take the dead woman's place in the contest. It sounds quirky enough to be fun, and it had a great opening paragraph. After that, I stalled out quite rapidly.

She Shoots to Conquer is a pseudo-semi-gothic book; a parody-that-isn't, where the meta-fictional mess piles up until neither reader nor narrator is quite sure where she stands. In other words: I bounced off of this. Hard. Ellie loves gothics intensely. She also has a vivid imagination, so vivid she's never really sure she's seeing what something or just imagining it. Once or twice, I could see, but after the third or fourth variation of "Did I really see it, or did I just imagine it? I know my imagination is really vivid," I lost patience with Ellie. The prose is pseudo-gothic, which means intends up layered densely over itself in an unwieldy mass.

I slogged through three chapters, skipped over for a bit, read the last bit, jumped around, and gave up.

I'll stick to the Aunt Dimity books, I think, for those times when I'm in the mood for gothic lite.

___
Note: This review was originally written for my blog, . There are lots more book reviews, craft tips, and photographs there!

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a british book and the rythm of the language is different from american english. Some of the humor you won't get- some you will. the book revolves around a decorator & her chef husband & their housekeeper being stranded in a fog at a old castle/manor where a new british reality show is about to start. A cash short lord looking for a bride worthy of the title & she must be able to help him fix up the place & turn it around. I wish I got to know her husband Ben a bit more. You get a pretty good idea about the housekeeper Mrs. Malloy & the decorator (main character). I got a kick out of the fact the lord looks like Cary Grant. Anyway I am intrigued enough to try another one of her novels. I think it hurt that I couldn't devote big chunks of time to reading the book. Like I said earlier the rythem of her writing took me some getting used to. Next time I won't put the book down for days at a time.

[Thebookmistress · Rating 3 out of 5]

About halfway through my copy of the library book, there is a note in pencil on the margin, "this book has an awful lot of padding." It is hard to argue with the anonymous critic. There is an awful lot of describing how great and funny and charming Ellie, and Ben, and Mrs Malloy are. I believe we do get it. Those pages would be put to much better use by showing, not telling, the delapidatedly gothic state of Mucklesfield. Or making other characters more real. I understand this is a book to escape from reality to some idealized English village with its eccentric inhabitants and crumbing manor house. But the escape would even better if the inhabitants weren't all paper-thin and actions bore some relation to their motivation.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had forgotten how much I dislike this series. I am always getting these confused with the Aunt Dimity books. I detest ever character in them - the idiot main character with her faux self deprecation, the smarmy and dull Ben and the coarse and common Mrs. Malloy.

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a book. Not my normal choice nor do I think I will read any others from the series. Seemed often rushed than like it was in no hurry at all. Took too long to get to things the book jacket deemed important and everything just seemed so over-the-top.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a trifle disappointed in this one by Dorothy Cannell. Mrs. Malloy I found irritating more than usual. The descriptions of places and events as from a Gothic romance were just over the top.

[Mommalovesbaby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow. I had a hard time getting into this book and an even harder time finishing it.

[Tami · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not get into this book! Mark this one down as "CanNOT complete." Never made it past page 50.

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

She Shoots to Conquer by Dorothy Cannell is the 13th book of the Ellie Haskell comic-cozy mystery series set in contemporary Yorkshire, England. Ellie, Ben and their housekeeper Mrs. Malloy get lost while driving in heavy fog, and for safety stop for the night at Mucklesfield Manor.

Short of funds to maintain his family estate, the current Lord Belfrey has agreed to participate in a reality show 'Here Comes the Bride', where women compete to become his wife, and therefore Lady of the Manor. His heart was long-ago lost to Eleanor, a young woman unhappily married to the previous Lord Belfry. She disappeared years ago, presumably absconding with the family jewels. Mucklesfield is a dilapidated, uncared-for mess inside; the estate grounds are sorely neglected.

The first contestant arrived before Ellie and Ben; tragically, her car crashed into a ravine in the fog, and she died. The Hollywood director frets over the number of contestants changing from 6 to 5. Rosie Malloy (in her usual narcissistic and overly self confident way) offers to join in, sure she will win, and live the life of luxury she reads about in Gothic novels.

Mucklesfield has an unsavory trio of servants, formerly homeless criminals, who provide a minimum of disgusting service. When the Hollywood director, an astonishing piggy eater, learns that Ben is a gourmet chef, he pressures Ellie and Ben to stay. A lovable stray dog jumps into Ellie's bedroom window and becomes her constant companion, making her time at Mucklesfield bearable. Later her beloved Thumper returns in the nick of time to save lives.

Long on humor, the plot drags through each contestant's individual pros and cons, the evil cousin's nastiness vs. the good cousin's near sainthood, the cruel tricks the Hollywood director has staged around the estate to juice up his filming.

Ellie guesses the true identities of many of the characters and solves multiple mysteries, bringing all subplots to happy endings (some really 'soppy'). This is probably the last book in the series, which has become increasingly sillier as it progressed. I liked Thumper best in this story.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the idea to set this book in the middle of a reality dating show. I feel like Dorothy Cannell is the English version of Donna Andrews, except that while Andrew's Meg Langslowe is the calm one at the center of the storm, Ellie Haskell gets swept away with everyone around her. I love her books, but I do feel a little frustrated by the amount of interior monologue going on. It slows the book down too much.

[Linda Puente · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellie and Mrs. Malloy have very different goals in this adventure with a reality show as its context. Ben is also much more involved this time around, and a new member adds himself to the family. As always, some characters are little more than caricatures, but there's lots of room for laughs amid the pathos of broken dreams.

[Vicky Lee Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lived this series I was not sure about it. Was not something I would have normally read some one gave me book one I laughed so hard my husband wanted to know what I was reading. Read this series if you need some entertainment

[Dsteinutk.Edu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

I totally love the Ellie Haskel series! These books have such fun mysteries and are filled with humor too! A wonderful relaxing read.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a good reading experience!

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first Dorothy Cannell and maybe my last. Slow, plodding, and lacking in many ways. This is book 13 so may be the author is getting tired of the
series. (?)

[Cheryl Ervin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Ellie Haskel books! This is the last one and it didn’t disappoint!❤️
I’ll miss her!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

medium interesting

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellie, Ben, and Mrs. Malloy are lost in a terrible fog and end up in a terrible old castle peopled with very strange individuals. It is to be the base of a reality show to find a wife for the Lord of the manor. Ben is coaxed in to staying to cook for the staff and competitors and Mrs. Malloy becomes a contestant. Ellie befriends several contestants and a sweet dog who jumps through the skylight onto her bed in the middle of the night.

A contestant dies on arrival, but was it murder? That doesn't become clear until the very end of the book so there isn't a real investigation. The bigger mystery is what happened to the wife of the previous Lord of the manner who is said to have run away with the family jewels and family dog.

A bit more slowly paced than other Dorothy Cannell mysteries, but still filled with her typical humor.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've rediscovered an old favorite in Dorothy Cannell's Thin Woman series. Light and fluffy, perfect for summer reading!

The Haskell's and there erstwhile housekeeper are taken in during a horrible fog by the bachelor set for a new reality show at his decrepit estate. Six women of a "certain age" are scheduled to arrive the following morning to compete for the affections of an extremely handsome, if broke, duke who has taken a fancy to Ellie Haskell. The producer of the show has taken a fancy to her husband Ben's cooking.

When one of the contestants dies in an auto accident on the property, the Haskell's housekeeper Mrs. Malloy, is recruited to serve in her place.

Not as funny as some in the series, but still a lot of fun.

[Saadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setting is a tongue-in-cheek parody of Gothic romance novels in god-forsaken manor, foggy night, lost traveler, creepy household staff, handsome hero and lord of the manor, etc.
The time is now: instead of a house party, the story uses a TV-matchmaking-reality show to bring half a dozen bride contestants to the scene.
Our heroine is a married mum with gourmet chef husband in tow, with a lively imagination and tendency to see suspicious undercurrents in seemingly unrelated incidents.

All's well that ends well: the long-lost lovers are reunited after a lifetime apart; the crazed killer(s) are found; the villain(s) are put away; the deserving characters get good jobs; our heroine falls in love with a young black lab and ends up adopting it, yay!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellie Haskell, her chef husband Ben, and their friend Mrs. Malloy stop on a foggy night at a strange, haunted-looking castle to find a trio of frightening servants, a handsome, unhappy lord, and--a reality show. In order to raise money to repair his property, Lord Belfry will marry one of the six contestants. But one of them has just been killed in a car crash. Nothing to worry about--Mrs. Malloy has always dreamed of marrying a lord, and none of her four--or was it five?--husbands even came close. Lord Belfry's two cousins live in the area, one being the local doctor and the other, daughter of the last lord, is the malicious Celia, whose new companion has secrets of her own.

[Kristina Hoerner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to be a big Dorothy Cannell fan but her series has been hit and miss for me lately. This one was more of a hit. Ellie, her husband Ben and their housekeeper Mrs Malloy end up at an old mansion in a terrible fog. They learn that the handsome lord of the manor is starting to shoot a reality show called "Here Comes the Bride" to find any woman who would be willing to marry him and take over fixing up the old house. A contestant is killed so Mrs Malloy steps in to take her place. The series has good humor and an interesting plot.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started 12-4-09. The beginning is certainly evocative of Young Frankenstein. Simply silly. :-)

It's really three and a half stars, rounded. An enjoyable book and good enough it will lead me to read at least the first of the series. I thought the ending was fairly weak, but.... Loved the line: "boasters will taste the bitter ashes of despair and wallow in the welter that is the land of Woebegone."

It could have used a better copy editor. A letter missing in a word; a 's possessive reads as the separate word "is"; a preposition missing.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly crazy.
Ellie, Ben, and Mrs. Malloy are driving through thick fog in the country and finally see lights ahead. They follow a van to a building that turns out to be a manor house in disrepair.
They are about to film a reality series there. Ben stays to cook and Ellie to hang out. A black lab finds her and she falls in love with the dog but she has to give it back.
Crazy and funny.
Written in 2009 and 5 years later this is the last of the Ellie Haskell mysteries.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very light read. The main character has a Miss Marple type personality. The book is set in England and is part of a series. I've read them all so who could resist the new novel? The humor is dry, the mystery pretty simplistic, the characters amusing and it is a nice diversion from the historical fiction I usually read.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read - sort of a combination of Agatha Christie meets reality TV. The author gets a little too caught up in describing what the main character is feeling in minute detail, and this slows the action somewhat in my opinion.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this much more than the preceding book in the series. This was a fun mixture of a gothic romance with a modern day twist: the filming of a reality show, "Here Comes the Bride". Still quirky in a British style but amusing rather than annoying.