Judy’s Comments (group member since Oct 01, 2015)

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Despite being a bit slow to get going, I thought this book became powerful as it went on. The solution is quite shattering and darker than some of the previous books in this series.

Jackie, the Mothers' Union is a voluntary organisation linked to the Church of England. I don't know all that much about it but found its website which has some information about its history here:
https://www.mothersunion.org/our-story

Jackie wrote: "I don't think Lady Lupin did guess it was all made up, because I don't think she gave it that much thought! Just let it slide off her, as well she might. really, she is doing a very good job of adjusting to having no idea what is going on...."

You could well be right that she isn't really thinking much about it at all. I love your description of Lupin "doing a very good job of adjusting to having no idea what is going on".

I think it's all supposed to be Lady Lupin's scattiness rather than being cruel, but, looking back at the conversation with Gladys Simpkins, when she says she has been seduced and is pregnant, Lady L makes some appalling comments such as "What? I mean, are you sure? Haven't you made a mistake?"
Then, when Gladys says "I shall kill myself," she replies "Oh, I shouldn't if I were you. It's so cold, besides, it would all come out at the inquest..." etc!

It then turns out that Gladys made it all up, as Lupin had guessed since she isn't very good-looking and she can't believe anyone would have seduced her. This is some of the humour which has not aged well, although to be fair I did find some other parts of the book really entertaining.

Sorry you didn't enjoy it, Carol. I was in the mood for something light and did manage to finish it, but I don't think I'll be tempted to read more in the series unless I hear really good things about the later books.

I thought some of the humour hadn't aged all that well, for instance the two bored/frustrated single women (I think they are both single, unless I'm misremembering) who make up stories about their lives to make themselves sound more interesting!

What did anyone think of the plot of this? I thought the solution was clever, but found it a bit hard to keep track of some of the characters in this one, I must admit! I did spot the mention of Devonshire as being possibly significant early on, but then forgot all about it.

I found it a bit unlikely that the blackmailer would be willing to commit crimes to raise money for charity, but I suppose that's all part of the general quirkiness.

For any paid subscribers of the Shedunnit podcast's book club, this book is their choice for December and Caroline Crampton has done a podcast about it for subscribers.

Lots of us have loads to read and do at the moment... but just a reminder that our latest batch of buddy reads are now open! If you have time to join in now, great, but, if not, the threads will stay open for if and when you do want to jump in. :)

Here are links to the non-spoiler threads:

A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The Immaculate Deception by Iain Pears:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The Locked Room by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (Martin Beck series):
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Last Respects by Catherine Aird (Sloan and Crosby series)
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The Golden Dagger by E R Punshon (Bobby Owen series)
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

P.S. I thought Beck seemed surprisingly laid-back and cheery in this book (for him!) compared to his character in the previous ones, and, as you said, Susan, actually falls in love - I wonder if his new love will be in the next book. I hope so, as it would be nice to have something going right for Beck at last.

Susan wrote: "Yes, when they went to the apartment to track down the bank thieves and ended up falling out of windows and shooting each other. .."

Yes, that was chaotic - I could hardly believe what I was reading and had to read some of it twice to take it all in. I know there are some armed police here, although it isn't everyday, but I do take your point, Susan - the incident you mention was awful.

Getting back to the book, there's more humour when Beck phones up the pathologist who wrongly seems to think that he's a new recruit and starts giving him patronising explanations of obvious terms.

Another bit that made me laugh, though I'm not sure if this was supposed to be funny, was when Beck apparently manages to get a big dried chocolate stain off his trousers just with water and then dries it off quickly in the sun. Without being any kind of laundry expert, i don't think this would work. ;)

There's a story in the Observer newspaper saying that a new Maigret series is being made - sounds from this as if it is going to be modernised, though, like shows such as Sherlock.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Yes, I also thought the political content was more on the surface at times in this one than in the previous books, with a few mini essays thrown in.

Another thing I noticed in this one was a lot of (sometimes black) humour, which I don't remember as much of in the previous books, such as several carefully planned operations which end up being disasters! I enjoyed this element though it made the book feel less noir than the others ;)

I read this almost in one sitting! Very enjoyable, I agree, Susan. I think it's even more of a police procedural than others in the series, with different members of the team investigating different crimes.

I've just started this one, and am sad that it's the last, as I've enjoyed this series!

Yes, I believe you're right there was a big age gap between the couple in Murder at the Vicarage too, Frances. I also don't think I could put up with 3 more books of Lupin, unless she becomes a lot less scatty!

I really liked the opening too, Susan. I thought this was a little slow at times early on, but then got quite compelling.

I've just read this and must agree that Lupin is very silly - I had the feeling she had wandered in from a Wodehouse book or maybe from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes! I found some of her misunderstandings entertaining but I do think she gets a bit much at times to be honest.

Thank you for setting up and opening up the threads, Susan. :)

And the winner is ... Unexpected Night by Elizabeth Daly, which will be our February group read. Thanks to all who voted.

Full results:
Unexpected Night (Henry Gamadge, #1) 5 votes, 31.3%
The Belfry Murder (Inspector Hugh Collier #3) 3 votes, 18.8%
Death in White Pyjamas 3 votes, 18.8%
The Polo Ground Mystery 2 votes, 12.5%
The Lyttleton Case 1 vote, 6.3%
The Big Bow Mystery 1 vote, 6.3%
The Wyndham Case (Imogen Quy, #1) 1 vote, 6.3%

Thanks for the Lorac article, Sandy. Very interesting but I see what you mean about pop-up ads on the CrimeReads site!

Yes, I agree about the long, detailed summing up at the end of mysteries, Susan! Great point about these often being easier to follow in a dramatisation.

I'm also not a big fan of too many fake identities etc, although obviously these are sometimes needed for brilliant twists!