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The Fennister Affair
Hodder & Stoughton,, 1969.. Near fine in a near fine dustjacket (slight spine slant, price-clipped.). First edition. Pseudonym of Doris Ball. Mystery set on board a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Interesting photo dust jacket. A King Crime novel.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Josephine Bell
89 books21 followersJosephine Bell (the pseudonym of Doris Bell Collier Ball) was born into a medical family, the daughter of a surgeon, in Manchester in 1897.
She attended Godolphin School from 1910 to 1916 and then she trained at Newnham College, Cambridge until 1919. On completing her studies she was assigned to University College Hospital in London where she became M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in 1922 and M.B. B.S. in 1924. She married Dr. Norman Dyer Ball in 1923 and the couple had a son and three daughters.
From 1927 until 1935 the couple practised medicine together in Greenwich and London before her husband retired in 1934 and she carried on the practice on her own until her retirement in 1954.
Her husband died in 1936 and she moved to Guildford, Surrey and she became a member of the management committee of St. Luke's Hospital from 1954 to 1962.
She began writing detective fiction in 1936 using the pen name Josephine Bell and her first published novel in the genre was 'Murder in Hospital' (1937).
Perhaps not surprisingly many of her works had a medical background and the first one introduced one of her enduring characters, Dr David Wintringham who worked at Research Hospital in London as a junior assistant physician. He was to feature in 18 of her novels, ending with 'A Well Known Face' (1960).
Overall she wrote more than 60 books, 45 of them in the detective fiction genre where, as well as medical backgrounds, she used such as archaeology in 'Bones in the Barrow' (1953), music in 'The Summer School Mystery' (1950) and even a wildlife sanctuary as background in 'Death on the Reserve' (1966).
She also wrote on drug addicition and criminology and penned a great number of short stories. In addition she was involved in the foundation of the Crime Writers' Association in 1953, an organisation in which she served as chair person in the 1959–60 season.
She died in 1987.
Gerry Wolstenholme
June 2010
She attended Godolphin School from 1910 to 1916 and then she trained at Newnham College, Cambridge until 1919. On completing her studies she was assigned to University College Hospital in London where she became M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in 1922 and M.B. B.S. in 1924. She married Dr. Norman Dyer Ball in 1923 and the couple had a son and three daughters.
From 1927 until 1935 the couple practised medicine together in Greenwich and London before her husband retired in 1934 and she carried on the practice on her own until her retirement in 1954.
Her husband died in 1936 and she moved to Guildford, Surrey and she became a member of the management committee of St. Luke's Hospital from 1954 to 1962.
She began writing detective fiction in 1936 using the pen name Josephine Bell and her first published novel in the genre was 'Murder in Hospital' (1937).
Perhaps not surprisingly many of her works had a medical background and the first one introduced one of her enduring characters, Dr David Wintringham who worked at Research Hospital in London as a junior assistant physician. He was to feature in 18 of her novels, ending with 'A Well Known Face' (1960).
Overall she wrote more than 60 books, 45 of them in the detective fiction genre where, as well as medical backgrounds, she used such as archaeology in 'Bones in the Barrow' (1953), music in 'The Summer School Mystery' (1950) and even a wildlife sanctuary as background in 'Death on the Reserve' (1966).
She also wrote on drug addicition and criminology and penned a great number of short stories. In addition she was involved in the foundation of the Crime Writers' Association in 1953, an organisation in which she served as chair person in the 1959–60 season.
She died in 1987.
Gerry Wolstenholme
June 2010
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 30, 2017
The Fennister Affair (1969) by Josephine Bell takes her readers on a mysterious Caribbean cruise.
Sally Combes has just finished a temporary job for her Uncle Oswald in Bermuda. He rewards her with a Caribbean cruise with stops at various nearby islands before she must head home to England. The night before the Selena arrives in Bermuda to pick up Sally and other new passengers a woman disappears from the ship. It is presumed that she fell overboard and has been lost at sea. Her bereaved husband leaves the ship and Sally finds herself upgraded from a small single-occupancy cabin to the spacious double previously occupied by the unfortunate couple. She's determined not to let the tragedy influence her vacation but she has little control over future events.
Her first night at sea, she discovers a portion of a letter hidden in a book in the dressing table. It has every appearance of a suicide note
I cannot bear it any longer. If you love her more than me you must want to be rid of me. I won't stand in your way my darling. I will simply disappear. Felicity.
and it's signed Felicity. Felicity Fennister--the woman who had, indeed, disappeared. Felicity soon joins forces with Tim Rogers, an appealing newspaperman hot on the trail of several stories onboard, and Mrs. Fairbrother, an elderly woman who seems to have her fingers on the gossipy pulse of the ship.
There are many questions that need answering before Sally, Tim, and Mrs. Fairbrother will unravel the mystery. Why are certain passengers behaving so strangely? Who was on deck the night Felicity disappeared? Why are the ship's officers so secretive and why aren't they more interested in investigating the disappearance? Why does Conchita, Felicity's stewardess, keep leaving the ship (at various ports) and then returning? Who was the shadowy figure on the bridge with the captain? Can the ship's captain be trusted? And who put the poison in Tim's drink? Somebody doesn't want the inquisitive journalist asking any more questions. But not even a near-fatal poisoning can keep our heroines and hero from getting at the truth.
Josephine Bell provides a decent closed circle mystery. Cruise ships provide a similar setting to the country house which becomes isolated due to inclement weather. There are a limited number of suspects and there's only so many places to hide on board a ship. If she had stuck with her first-line plot (the missing Felicity Fennister) and devoted her mystery-making skills to developing it fully, this might have been a first-rate detective novel. However, there is a sinister sub-plot that takes up more time than necessary and which pushes the book towards the adventure/thriller end of the spectrum. Still--a solid offering and while the solution to the primary mystery is dangled rather obviously before the reader one might not (as I did not) figure out all the details. Entertaining.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
Sally Combes has just finished a temporary job for her Uncle Oswald in Bermuda. He rewards her with a Caribbean cruise with stops at various nearby islands before she must head home to England. The night before the Selena arrives in Bermuda to pick up Sally and other new passengers a woman disappears from the ship. It is presumed that she fell overboard and has been lost at sea. Her bereaved husband leaves the ship and Sally finds herself upgraded from a small single-occupancy cabin to the spacious double previously occupied by the unfortunate couple. She's determined not to let the tragedy influence her vacation but she has little control over future events.
Her first night at sea, she discovers a portion of a letter hidden in a book in the dressing table. It has every appearance of a suicide note
I cannot bear it any longer. If you love her more than me you must want to be rid of me. I won't stand in your way my darling. I will simply disappear. Felicity.
and it's signed Felicity. Felicity Fennister--the woman who had, indeed, disappeared. Felicity soon joins forces with Tim Rogers, an appealing newspaperman hot on the trail of several stories onboard, and Mrs. Fairbrother, an elderly woman who seems to have her fingers on the gossipy pulse of the ship.
There are many questions that need answering before Sally, Tim, and Mrs. Fairbrother will unravel the mystery. Why are certain passengers behaving so strangely? Who was on deck the night Felicity disappeared? Why are the ship's officers so secretive and why aren't they more interested in investigating the disappearance? Why does Conchita, Felicity's stewardess, keep leaving the ship (at various ports) and then returning? Who was the shadowy figure on the bridge with the captain? Can the ship's captain be trusted? And who put the poison in Tim's drink? Somebody doesn't want the inquisitive journalist asking any more questions. But not even a near-fatal poisoning can keep our heroines and hero from getting at the truth.
Josephine Bell provides a decent closed circle mystery. Cruise ships provide a similar setting to the country house which becomes isolated due to inclement weather. There are a limited number of suspects and there's only so many places to hide on board a ship. If she had stuck with her first-line plot (the missing Felicity Fennister) and devoted her mystery-making skills to developing it fully, this might have been a first-rate detective novel. However, there is a sinister sub-plot that takes up more time than necessary and which pushes the book towards the adventure/thriller end of the spectrum. Still--a solid offering and while the solution to the primary mystery is dangled rather obviously before the reader one might not (as I did not) figure out all the details. Entertaining.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
May 14, 2013
Sally Coombes is lucky enough to have been given a cruise in return for helping her uncle. The day before she is due to board the cruise ship she hears a woman has disappeared and is presumed lost overboard. It doesn’t put her off the cruise but she is puzzled because no one seems too keen to investigate the disappearance.
Gradually the tension builds up and Sally dubious about who she can trust especially when she finds what could be a suicide note written by the missing woman in her own cabin. Life on board a cruise ship with all its claustrophobic atmosphere and gossip is well created. I liked most of the characters but I was less keen on Sally herself who was quite silly at times.
I enjoyed the way nearly everything which happened on board could be interpreted more than one day. This is an interesting and well written mystery and it will keep most readers guessing almost to the end of the book.
Gradually the tension builds up and Sally dubious about who she can trust especially when she finds what could be a suicide note written by the missing woman in her own cabin. Life on board a cruise ship with all its claustrophobic atmosphere and gossip is well created. I liked most of the characters but I was less keen on Sally herself who was quite silly at times.
I enjoyed the way nearly everything which happened on board could be interpreted more than one day. This is an interesting and well written mystery and it will keep most readers guessing almost to the end of the book.
May 16, 2010
Lovely young Sally Combes has been working hard preparing her uncle's book for press. He's rewarded her with a cruise of the Caribbean, on a ship that recently lost a passenger. Also boarding with Sally is Tim Rogers, a journalist who is interested in her, but not ready to share his suspicions. Not to worry--Sally soon develops suspicions of her own, that range from her cabin stewardess, the tempestuous Conchita, to the captain of the ship himself.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews