A Knife at the Opera

Superintendent Bone #2

by Susannah Stacey

A rare evening off for Superintendent Bone occasions another murder mystery when Miss Fairlie, a teacher at his daughter's school, is found murdered during the performance of a play

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

165 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

AKA Elizabeth Eyre, Susannah Stacey is the pseudonym of the couple of writers Jill Staynes [1927-] and Margaret Storey [1926-].
Jill Staynes writes her own novels as well as writing under the name of Elizabeth Eyre and Susannah Stacey with Margaret Storey. They were pupils at the same school where they invented bizarre characters and exchanged serial episodes about them. Their first book together. at the age of fifteen, was called 'Bungho, or why we went to Aleppo'. It was not offered for publication. They have both written stories for children, and together created the highly praised Superintendent Bone modern detective novels as well as this series of Italian Renaissance whodunnits.

Reviews

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read. Entertaining.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like Mr Bone - he is, as he is described in this book, 'a dish'! Great mystery - and not easy to solve either! :)
Recommended.

[RavenT · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give this book (published in 1990) two stars. I found some of the content did not age well. offending modern standards. There is a school custodian who is reported by the children as groping them and peeping at them, making them feel afraid and disturbed by his behavior, but there is nothing dome by the school or the police once he leaves the school when he's told to. Of course he will go on to reoffend, and who knows if he will escalate. I can't believe this was legal in the UK, and if it was, it was immoral and unwise. Otherwise, the mystery was unusual in there seemed to be mental illness causing the murderer to snap, and that was never addressed officially. I put this all down to different times and differing generational standards - the authors were born in 1926 and 1927 respectively.

I know some older mysteries don't hold up to a modern reader's viewpoint, but I'll keep reading these since I have the whole set. Looking at the changes in the genre and the update in standard mores could be interesting, and the books aren't long ones.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually enjoy this series more than my rating reflects, but there are two factors that lower the score. One, the teachers and staff are not always sufficiently differentiated, and--odd though it may sound--an unsympathetic murderer. Superintendent Bone thinks he will enjoy a performance of The Beggar's Opera at his daughter's school, until her best friend finds one of the teachers stabbed to death. As Bone finds many motives for the death of the English teacher, he also fins that the victim as a possibly undeserved reputation for being helpful to others. But who would be so annoyed as to turn to murder?

[Lana Kamennof-sine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new to me pair of authors & series. The characters are varied in age, attitude, & potential suspect capability. Set in an all girls school, where the daughter of the Superintendent is acting as a highwayman in an opera. Plenty of suspects, plenty of missed clues - just realized those first 2 chapters held a wealth of hints.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. I missed the first book, but have it ordered.