Mrs. Malory and the Festival Murders

Mrs. Malory Mysteries #4

by Hazel Holt

The delightful Sheila Malory, a fifty-something widow with a penchant for sleuthing, finds herself in the small English village of Taviscombe, where a local festival proves to be a hotbed of resentment, hate, and murder.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Cozy Mystery, British Literature

96 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

Hazel Holt is a British novelist. She studied at King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham, England, and then Newnham College, Cambridge. She went on to work at the International African Institute in London, where she became acquainted with the novelist Barbara Pym, whose biography she later wrote. She also finished one of Pym's novels after Pym died.

Holt wrote her first novel in her sixties, and is a leading crime novelist. She is best known for her "Sheila Malory" series. Her son is the novelist Tom Holt.

Reviews

[Katherine Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these books. I like the protag and her village. Nothing really stands out. I would regard these books as soothing. I need to order another 3 or 4; it was interesting to me how dismayed I was to realize I was out of these books. I am debating with myself as to whether or not they are cozies, an interesting question to me.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 4th book in the long running Sheila Malory mystery series. Sheila Malory is a 50 some widow who has a son that is in college. She lives in a small village outside London. She is very likable and would make a great friend. She is intelligent and gets involved in various murders that happen as an amateur sleuth. The books are always fast reads and relaxing. This book had a surprise reason for the murders like her previous books have had. Since there are so many books in the series, I don't think one would need to start with book 1 as the books are self explanatory and I don't feel the reader would get lost.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many possibles to divert and the actual reason was a surprise. I was also surprised when incest and pedophilia came into play. Still, I like the characters and dialogue. I’ve learned a few new words and believe I will continue on with this series.
Her endings are certainly unique.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite so far. Really hateful victims - sad ending after finding out who the perpetrator is. And good story winding interesting characters and a little history of families and loyalty.

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sheila Malory is involved in a music festival. As with any festival, there are people on the committee who no one much likes but whom it is impossible to get rid of. Adrian Palgrave is one of those people so there are very mixed emotions when he is found murdered during a concert. There are a plethora of suspects and the reader can identify the red herrings along with Sheila and her friend Rosemary's policeman son, Roger.

This is a typical cosy mystery set in an English village. The pace is leisurely and the characters eccentric. I particularly liked Father Drummond and Sheila Malory herself. I also liked the literary and musical background to the story. Relaxing and enjoyable reading for anyone who likes authors such as Veronica Heley, Catherine Aird or Gladys Mitchell.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was surprisingly good. For me it had the advantage of being set in an English village, populated by local characters and the literati who showed their many flaws. I figured out the who fairly early on, but not the why.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, easy read for a lazy afternoon. I enjoyed the mystery, but the end was a little abrupt. I will look for other books in this series.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm hitting the library tomorrow to find the rest of the Mrs Malory books... Hazel Holt has drawn me in to the characters and settings. Wonderful read

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle-aged Sheila Malory knows her small village of Taviscombe and its people — after all, it appears that she is involved in nearly every social group and activity in that community. Most of them she enjoyed but even she had a difficult time with Adrian Palgrove, poet, biographer and overall busybody that seems to have to put down others to make himself feel better.

But he is even more annoying when he attends a literary lunch, where he announces the news that he has been appointed literary executor of a well-known author's papers. She would like to evade him — as would many others — but it's difficult as he seems to be a part of several of the groups Mrs. Malory belongs to, including the planning group for the local festival.

The first evening of that festival appears to go off without a hitch, and Mrs. Malory is relieved. Until during the reception dinner, she discovers that the evening is also Palgrove's last. Naturally, because she known the people involved in the event, Mrs. Malory's friend Inspector Roger Eliot turns to her for assistance. And she does.

Mrs. Malory feels a bit like the modern version of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple — not quite the little old lady sitting in her cottage and comparing what s happening to other events but someone who is involved with her community and easily mingles, who has the ability to get people to open up to her and who almost inadvertently uncovers clues to who has a motive for murder — and might or might not be a real suspect.

She makes an interesting main amateur detective and a very likable one. The story is enjoyable, fairly straight forward, and the supporting characters are well drawn and interesting (except for Mrs. Malory's son — he has finished school and is working in a law office and still behaves like a 12-year-old).

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sheila Malory is part of the committee planning July’s Taviscombe Festival, an annual event that used to be centered on village life but that has come under the sway of incomer Adrian Pulgrave, a rather pretentious minor poet who unfortunately for Sheila is actually very competent in his secondary life as a biographer. Adrian has recently been given the task of organizing and publishing the letters of Laurence Meredith, an author who knew everybody in the 1920s and who gossipped about his knowledge in his letters; Sheila knows that he will do a good job regardless of her dislike, but when he is murdered at the Festival, that job becomes more urgent than ever…. I’m enjoying the Mrs. Malory series, of which this is the fourth book; Sheila is much like Miss Marple but in a more contemporary (well, early 1990s) setting. She has a wide knowledge of local residents, happens to have quite well-honed sleuthing skills as a specialist in Victorian literature herself, and is quite adept at learning disparate bits of information and arranging them into a convincing whole. These are slight books, with little demanded of the reader other than to savour the tales; I don’t think it’s necessary to read them in order, and they are quite an enjoyable way to while away an afternoon; mildly recommended.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"THE CASE OF THE DEAD LITERARY LION
"Character assassinations take place daily in genteel Taviscombe, particularly between long-time residents and upstart newcomers. But genuine bloody murder almost never happens in the cozy English village -- until the Taviscombe Festival. Sometime between the dulcet Madrigal and the scrumptious buffet served at stately Kinsford Manor, someone bludgeons local poet and insufferable literary lion Adrian Palgrave to death. Mrs. Sheila Malory, the fifty-something writer, animal lover, and amateur sleuth, feels especially shaken by the discovery. Her knowledge of village animosities tells her a long list of suspects live uncomfortably close to home. Now that the high-strung and universally hated Adrian is dead, the pudgy wife he flagrantly cheated on is behaving oddly, and the TV producer whose secrets he threatened to expose seems to be gloating. Yet it is one unexpected bit of gossip that puts Mrs. Malory herself in danger ... as she may know too much for a desperate killer to bear."
~~back cover

It wasn't exactly like that -- it was one unexpected bit of gossip that led Mrs. Malory towards solving the mystery. And of course, the murderer was th last person you would have expected.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Widowed Sheila Malory lives in a pleasant village with her new-graduate son and enjoys her pets, gardening, and good works. She doesn't expect to find a dead body at the local arts festival during the opening concert. The body is that of the chairman, a man much disliked. As Sheila goes through her normal life, with tea parties and drinks at the pub, she finds herself growing suspicious of almost all her friends. When there's a second death, it becomes even harder to imagine the good-natured people she knows as the perpetrator. But it's true, nonetheless, and the truth about the crimes leaves Sheila shaken to her core.

[Marty · Rating 2 out of 5]

. Rivalries and secrets fuel personality feuds in the small town of Taviscombe. Newcomers with money don’t always fit in with the long-time residents. Old crimes are hidden. ….. Until murder comes to Taviscombe during a cherished cultural festival. Can Mrs. Malory find out the hidden secrets and help solve the murder(s)? ……. I don’t think this book is as good as most of the others in the series that I have read. It’s still a charming story about the people of Taviscombe, but Mrs. Malory didn’t seem quite up to her game – but it is early in the series and she does get better.

[N.L. Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Mrs. Mallory cozy, and it was a charming find. Very light, soothing (justice is , of course always done), and the classic English village mystery. The story and characters are simple--you can read it in an hour or two, and you'll enjoy it, but don't look for anything too profoundly thought-provoking.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I good little English Village mystery. A man who nearly everyone dislikes is found murdered. While shopping, on the train or stopping for a coffee, Mrs. Malory encounters people who were nearby and had a good reason to wish him dead. Each one tells a story which circles around who-done-it. Of course, Mrs. Malory solves the mystery.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent entry in an excellent series. Really about a 4.3 for me. I love the thoughtful, literate Mrs. Malory, and I fully appreciate how Holt crafts her other characters, giving them distinct personalities in a way that many cozy mysteries do not. I like the subtle humor and sharp observations. I will be very sad to read the last one.

[Tommie Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first two books. So many people hated the victim and would not have minded it if he died. However, no one wants to step up and swear to the murder. Two more death occur before all it revealed. I thought I had it strait, but there was a surprise at the end.

[Lsilberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many possible suspects, but finally, the guilty party. This particularly book has an oddly abrupt ending, but was otherwise an enjoyable read.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting characters, which I like. Odd murders and convoluted plot.

[Tracyfromthemermaidcove · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved until the end. It is as if the last chapter is missing. I will try another one because I love the characters and the Englishness of it all!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good British cozy.

[Helen Geng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read May 2021
2&1/2 stars for plot

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really am loving this new cozy series I just recently discovered.

Mrs. Marlory and all the people in her life, her son, and friends and neighbors in the small English village she lives in are just so wonderful and well developed that I really feel as if I've spent a day in the English countryside when I finished reading one of her books. I especially love the descriptions in this book of some wonderful gardens and flowers she admires at different points in this story and her interaction with her pets.

The mystery this time is a very sordid one with lots of old secrets coming to light and some very nasty characters hanging about in the village.

I read this book on my Kindle, it just seems the perfect reading venue for this series.

There was only one little thing I didn't like about this book and that was the seemingly abrupt ending.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

The gossip and hearsay goes over the line to malicious in Taviscombe, this time. And it is more than just a sad patch when 3 murders happen in quick succession. 3.5 star, not quite 4, because there were SO many nasty sided or nervy (Sheila's description)characters in this Festival link of the series. And also some of the sleuthing circumstances do seem a bit contrived this time (especially that serendipity of hearing a drunken litany type confession in a First Class Coach railway section). But Sheila, Rosemary, Mrs. Dudley and all the pets are in full form and perfect as a good mystery read for a cold winter's evening, as there are some delicious flower and garden surroundings in superb description to warm you up every few chapters.

[Deb Moehrke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another in the series about Sheila Malory and the interesting folks in the English village where she lives. In this on,e a rather unpleasant person has been killed. Mrs. Malory snoops around until she discovers who did it and why.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

odd, sad, almost sordid.not her usual fare

[Virginia Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unpleasant celebrity author is killed, and there is a long list of people with motivations for the murder. Mrs. Malory winnows it down to the real guilty party, of course.