Change for the Worse

Pollard & Toye #11

by Elizabeth Lemarchand

When murder and art theft combine, Detective Tom Pollard uses his uncanny ability to perceive motives and actions where there is no evidence to solve the case

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, British Literature

185 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Carrie Drake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am adding each Elizabeth Lemarchand book to my list individually, but really the Pollard & Toye Investigation series should only count as 1 book. Easy to read, likable characters, lovely sense of place, good formula writing. Each new book is like watching an episode of a favorite TV show. Enjoying this series of light reading.

[Doreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific!

Another very unusual mystery ----death occurred during a robbery but was it murder or an accident? Detective Chief Superintendent Pollard and Detective Inspector Toye have another puzzling situation. Intense investigation and mental evaluation finally reach the extremely unexpected solution to this case. Great reading experience

[Barry Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Another difficult case for Pollard and Toye to investigate, a warden for a stately home has been found dead in an outhouse and a number of missing works of art are also missing.

[June Mathis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love 'em

Jst love this series. No two alike, occasionally, characters from previous novels show up, but no need to read chronologically.

[Dr. Pj Forrest · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining but Disappointing

This was an enjoyable read as it was so well written but the plot was uninteresting and unbelievable. Not up to the other books in the series.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1978. An open house event at the Regency Fairlynch Manor results in an unwelcome visitor, and paintings stolen from the locked house which also results in a death. Pollard and Toye investigate
An entertaining mystery
Originally published in 1981

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very difficult book to rate because although I liked all the outward trappings: British mystery, good characterization, excellent country-side setting and a map, I didn't enjoy finding that the murder/theft crime was far more improbable than the solution of it! The premise behind the crime was so weak as to be unbelievable, even given liberal literary license. It spoiled the whole book for me. I much preferred the far more satisfactory conclusion I came up with, based on the presented facts and clues in this "case," and plotting is my weakest suit!
A Stately Home recently made over to Heritage of Britain, becomes the setting of a countrified art exhibit, when several of the paintings are stolen and a man is killed. The suspects are all local, except for one (required!) mysterious stranger. It is never made clear why Scotland yard is called in in the first place and it is all downhill from there.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"An unpretentious country art exhibit turns into a frightening episode of theft, murder and blackmail in this classic puzzler set in an affluent English farming village. What is the secret Katharine Ridley is keeping from her granddaughter? And what does it have to do with the death of popular Francis Peck, the Heritage Trust caretaker at Fairlynch, former manor of the Ridleys?

"The Yard's Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Pollard and Inspctor Toye are hard put to unravel the tangled doings among the gentry of bucolic Wellchester."
~~back cover

This is definitely my kind of mystery! Lovely dialog, well written, well plotted, no violence, no blood. And I was totally wrong about whodunit.

I love this author, and have almost all her books. They're definitely keepers!

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

My last book about Pollard and Toy. These police procedurals have been good fun. I especially liked the ending of this one. Lemarchand surprised me this time.

I got these from a friend a year or so ago. I had four entertaining tales by an author I knew nothing about. Apparently Lemarchand took up writing when she was 57 and continued to write until she died at 82. I guess there is hope for those of us still growing up.

If you like cosy mysteries with police and little blood, I highly recommend this series.

[Cynthia Grove · Rating 4 out of 5]

The prologue and the first 2 or 3 chapters seemed incredibly dated. Knowing this author's work I persevered and sure enough that sense of being dated disappeared. My conclusion is that the appearance of being dated was a deliberate contrivance in the book telling the reader something of the ambience prevailing for the characters.
It is a fascinating story (once the reader struggles past the dated section) and even after the culprit was suspected I really didn't want it to be so. But an excellent plot that is well constructed and told.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a solid British cozy, from the late '70s early '80s - the corpse isn't gruesome, everyone is very polite, and there's a slight dash of romance. Reminiscent of Ngaio Marsh or Margery Allingham.

[P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the punning titles of this series are probably supposed to be amusing, this book really is a change for the worse. With extensive turns for characters who have little to do with plot, and a denouement which is simply not credible, it's a marginal read.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good example of the English manor house mysteries. Scotland yard inspectors Pollard and Toy face a murder and robbery with plenty of suspects but no obvious motives.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable reading: British mystery, complete with body, village, pub, and lots of tea.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad at all. Plenty of detection in this fairly straightforward police procedural.