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The small hours of the morning
Lorna couldn't stop spying on Cecil Titmuss. His life was her idea of perfection - a loving family and spouse, and respect in the community. But when she finds out Mrs Titmuss's secret - which threatens Cecil's security - Lorna must do something to save the family. How far will she go?
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
3 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Yorke
85 books53 followersMargaret Yorke was an English crime fiction writer, real name Margaret Beda Nicholson (née Larminie).
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger.
Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire.
During World War II she saw service in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church.
She was widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia.
Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford Don and amateur sleuth, who shares her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, ‘authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers’.
She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers, who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, Yorke stated that characters were far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing ‘I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me’.
Critics have noted that she has a ‘marvellous use of language’ and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection.
Margaret Yorke died in 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 13, 2008
Not one of Yorke's best, to say the least: rather grim. Makes one feel rather unsatisfied at the end.
April 19, 2022
3.5*
Well-written & easy to read, a simple tale of love & murder. I found it infinitely sad.
The watcher spies late into the night on the enviably cosy domesticity of the Titmuss household. The seemingly happy couple, the loving children, the ordered normality of it all strikes a deep chord in Lorna Gibson, so different is it from the emotional emptiness of her own existence.
But, over a period of time, the watcher realises that Mrs Titmuss is no longer playing by the rules, and that her behaviour, if allowed to go unchecked, threatens to shatter the harmony of husband Cecil's life. And Cecil is a decent man, as Lorna well knows. He doesn't deserve such an ignominious fate.
So the watcher decides to turn observation into action, and save the Titmuss family from inevitable heartbreak. But just how far is she prepared to go?
Well-written & easy to read, a simple tale of love & murder. I found it infinitely sad.
The watcher spies late into the night on the enviably cosy domesticity of the Titmuss household. The seemingly happy couple, the loving children, the ordered normality of it all strikes a deep chord in Lorna Gibson, so different is it from the emotional emptiness of her own existence.
But, over a period of time, the watcher realises that Mrs Titmuss is no longer playing by the rules, and that her behaviour, if allowed to go unchecked, threatens to shatter the harmony of husband Cecil's life. And Cecil is a decent man, as Lorna well knows. He doesn't deserve such an ignominious fate.
So the watcher decides to turn observation into action, and save the Titmuss family from inevitable heartbreak. But just how far is she prepared to go?
August 17, 2025
Book was fine just fine
Not for me I always like to read out of my ordinary books that I like but this one was a bust
Good story good characters
Just not my style
Read while at work on Tanker Damia Desgagnes ⚓️
Not for me I always like to read out of my ordinary books that I like but this one was a bust
Good story good characters
Just not my style
Read while at work on Tanker Damia Desgagnes ⚓️
January 1, 2018
I really enjoyed this suspenseful novel. Written in the 1970s it is of its age but that just adds to the charm and intrigue
April 27, 2025
It started good, but it's a bit underwhelming at the end. Still, I liked it.
November 16, 2013
Lorna Gibson is a very lonely, very repressed woman. She longs for contact with someone special, but she doesn't have the personal skills to make it possible. She begins living vicariously through the lives of Cecil Titmuss and his family. Spying on them with binoculars and imagining what it must be like to have such a devoted husband, she becomes abnormally attached to the methodical, quiet librarian.
Ray Brett is a two-bit hood looking for a few big scores to get him out of Felsbury and into London where the action is. By day, he's a delivery man--scoping out businesses and figuring out when the owners and clerks will be transporting cash to the bank or the night deposit. By night, he manages a couple of hit, snatch and runs, but his life of financial crime is on a collision course with murder and mayhem.
Ted Jessop offers a taxi service in Felsbury. His clients are primarily elderly folks who can't manage the drive themselves, a few wealthy businessmen, and an occasional tourist. He's good-looking and unattached and knows how to show a lady a good time without getting entangled. Then he hooks up with one lady too many. You know this just can't end well....
Cecil Titmuss likes his world to be orderly. He's a librarian who never shelves a book in the wrong spot. He empties his pockets at night and lines his coins up by size and denomination. He spends his evenings methodically building elaborate models with matchsticks. And somehow this quiet, ordinary, unexciting man lucked into marriage with the beautiful, vivacious June. He's afraid to shower her with too much attention....she might realize how unexciting he is.
June Titmuss was caught on the rebound. Her fiance had taken off with another woman and the the quiet, dependable Cecil was just what she needed to make her feel safe after the emotional upheaval. But, now, two children later, she's feeling the weight of routine and spreading her wings through night classes and a part-time job. Will she fly even further?
Margaret Yorke spins a tale of murder born out of misplaced love. As the story builds, it's obvious that Lorna is a disturbed woman...what isn't obvious is just exactly how she will act upon her repressed feelings. The descriptions of small town life and the normal atmosphere in contrast with Lorna's perceptions are apt. However, there is a slightly claustrophobic feel to the story and the characters are a little too pat without being quite stereotypical. An interesting psychological study of a woman who just really needs a way to relate to other people. As a side note--I really wanted to be able to tell Cecil and June to just talk to each other, for goodness sake--as in real life, so much unpleasantness could have been avoided with just a little heartfelt communication. Three stars.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
Ray Brett is a two-bit hood looking for a few big scores to get him out of Felsbury and into London where the action is. By day, he's a delivery man--scoping out businesses and figuring out when the owners and clerks will be transporting cash to the bank or the night deposit. By night, he manages a couple of hit, snatch and runs, but his life of financial crime is on a collision course with murder and mayhem.
Ted Jessop offers a taxi service in Felsbury. His clients are primarily elderly folks who can't manage the drive themselves, a few wealthy businessmen, and an occasional tourist. He's good-looking and unattached and knows how to show a lady a good time without getting entangled. Then he hooks up with one lady too many. You know this just can't end well....
Cecil Titmuss likes his world to be orderly. He's a librarian who never shelves a book in the wrong spot. He empties his pockets at night and lines his coins up by size and denomination. He spends his evenings methodically building elaborate models with matchsticks. And somehow this quiet, ordinary, unexciting man lucked into marriage with the beautiful, vivacious June. He's afraid to shower her with too much attention....she might realize how unexciting he is.
June Titmuss was caught on the rebound. Her fiance had taken off with another woman and the the quiet, dependable Cecil was just what she needed to make her feel safe after the emotional upheaval. But, now, two children later, she's feeling the weight of routine and spreading her wings through night classes and a part-time job. Will she fly even further?
Margaret Yorke spins a tale of murder born out of misplaced love. As the story builds, it's obvious that Lorna is a disturbed woman...what isn't obvious is just exactly how she will act upon her repressed feelings. The descriptions of small town life and the normal atmosphere in contrast with Lorna's perceptions are apt. However, there is a slightly claustrophobic feel to the story and the characters are a little too pat without being quite stereotypical. An interesting psychological study of a woman who just really needs a way to relate to other people. As a side note--I really wanted to be able to tell Cecil and June to just talk to each other, for goodness sake--as in real life, so much unpleasantness could have been avoided with just a little heartfelt communication. Three stars.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
March 26, 2015
The beginning of this book recreated the feeling of a stage being set in readiness for a forthcoming play. The cast assemble; The librarian Cecil Titmuss who has a fondness for creating famous landmarks out of matchsticks, his wife June making a bid for independence outside the home, the driver Ted Jessop who ferries people around in his pride and joy, Mrs Malmesbury one of his weekly customers, the happily married dentist Mr Bryan Vigors, Lorna Gibson the standoffish dental assistant and Ray Brett the rogue with buckets of charisma all make an appearance within the first twenty odd pages.
It soon becomes clear that Cecil and June’s marriage isn’t as good a match as either of them had hoped but with two young children June is keen to do more than watch television, so she takes up Italian, here she meets Lorna Gibson. When elderly Mrs Malmesbury takes ill in the library soon after visiting the dentist she is taken to the hospital. With the local community rallying round as would only be expected in 1975 when this book was published, the other characters meet each other. Life in 1975 was very different to today, June who is by no stretch of the imagination a timid woman has to persuade her husband of the merits of her working mornings in the florist while her children are at school and giving a delivery man a 10p tip seems laughable until I remember the fortune of the 50p coin that a ‘rich’ uncle would press into my eager hand when we visited.
So what is the backdrop to the set? A small suburban town complete with florist, dentist surgery, library and banks. The local businesses deposit their cash in the night safe, this being the days before everyone paid with a card and Ray Brett is on the lookout for an easy way to make some money to escape life living at home with his Mum to the bright lights of London. With another of our cast developing a serious obsession about the life of another things take a turn for the sinister. With the lights turned off the watcher looks into a backlit room watching the daily goings on but soon this isn’t enough.
I really enjoyed the almost gentle unfolding of what is an exploration of the psyche of a number of characters as their actions reveal to the reader what they have managed to keep hidden from their nearest and dearest. This is a book that has a slow burn, as I got wrapped up in the characters lives, feeling sad for poor Mrs Malmesbury, worrying about timid Cecil Titmuss and wondering whether Ray would come to the sticky end I predicted for him when gradually the slow leisurely read became much more tense as the dénouement was played out with some unexpected results.
This is the second book by Margaret Yorke I’ve read, the first being A Small Deceit which was published more than fifteen years later, and have thoroughly enjoyed them both, if I’m honest for the transportation to some recent history is almost as enjoyable as the tale being told.
It soon becomes clear that Cecil and June’s marriage isn’t as good a match as either of them had hoped but with two young children June is keen to do more than watch television, so she takes up Italian, here she meets Lorna Gibson. When elderly Mrs Malmesbury takes ill in the library soon after visiting the dentist she is taken to the hospital. With the local community rallying round as would only be expected in 1975 when this book was published, the other characters meet each other. Life in 1975 was very different to today, June who is by no stretch of the imagination a timid woman has to persuade her husband of the merits of her working mornings in the florist while her children are at school and giving a delivery man a 10p tip seems laughable until I remember the fortune of the 50p coin that a ‘rich’ uncle would press into my eager hand when we visited.
So what is the backdrop to the set? A small suburban town complete with florist, dentist surgery, library and banks. The local businesses deposit their cash in the night safe, this being the days before everyone paid with a card and Ray Brett is on the lookout for an easy way to make some money to escape life living at home with his Mum to the bright lights of London. With another of our cast developing a serious obsession about the life of another things take a turn for the sinister. With the lights turned off the watcher looks into a backlit room watching the daily goings on but soon this isn’t enough.
I really enjoyed the almost gentle unfolding of what is an exploration of the psyche of a number of characters as their actions reveal to the reader what they have managed to keep hidden from their nearest and dearest. This is a book that has a slow burn, as I got wrapped up in the characters lives, feeling sad for poor Mrs Malmesbury, worrying about timid Cecil Titmuss and wondering whether Ray would come to the sticky end I predicted for him when gradually the slow leisurely read became much more tense as the dénouement was played out with some unexpected results.
This is the second book by Margaret Yorke I’ve read, the first being A Small Deceit which was published more than fifteen years later, and have thoroughly enjoyed them both, if I’m honest for the transportation to some recent history is almost as enjoyable as the tale being told.
April 7, 2013
The Small Hours of the Morning reminded me of Patricia Highsmith’s The Cry of the Owl. The approaches to story telling and eventual reveal are old fashion. Perhaps this is because both authors were born in the 1920’s hence as they developed as writers their styles represented the time, which was gentler. You will not find the gory imagery depicted in present day mysteries. The writing is quaint and slow. To read my complete review visit: www.opinionatedbookreviewer.blogspot.com
June 6, 2010
That's a really great crime book! I liked it really much and read it in an afternoon.
November 9, 2013
Characters nicely interwoven but felt it falls a bit short towards the end.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews