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The Santa Klaus Murder

Mavis Doriel Hay

Start date: December 1, 2015

Finish date: December 31, 2015

Discussion: Group reads

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What Members Thought

Nov 03, 2015 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a good example of a Golden Age traditional mystery, set around the classic Country House party – this time set during Christmas, when the Melbury family meet up for Christmas at the family home, Flaxmere. However, rather than being a time of good cheer and festive feasting, virtually all the family members – plus two guests – have misgivings about this annual get together and, to add to all the various alliances and intrigue, Sir Oswald Melbury is considering changing his will.

It is fair ...more

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Dec 26, 2016 BrokenTune rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, christmas

2.5*

“Well, I’m jiggered!” said Constable Mere. “We looked in that pile! I’d’ve said there couldn’t be a dead rat left in it, let alone Father Christmas’ Sunday suit!”

I was inspired by Moonlight Reader to pick this up. The Santa Klaus Murder is another installment of the British Library Crime Classics series that focuses on works by authors of the Golden Age of Mystery, who have been largely neglected in favour of such giants of the genre as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gladys Mitchell, et 2.5*

“Well, I’m jiggered!” said Constable Mere. “We looked in that pile! I’d’ve said there couldn’t be a dead rat left in it, let alone Father Christmas’ Sunday suit!”

I was inspired by Moonlight Reader to pick this up. The Santa Klaus Murder is another installment of the British Library Crime Classics series that focuses on works by authors of the Golden Age of Mystery, who have been largely neglected in favour of such giants of the genre as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gladys Mitchell, et. al.

The Santa Klaus Murder is set in a typical mystery setting: a country house, a family gathering for the holidays, a murder that was impossible to take place, and a lot of red herrings.
The story had all the markings of a perfectly cozy read, except....there were some darker themes that meandered through the book that gave this mystery an air of interest beyond the pure fun of solving the puzzle.
For example, one of the characters is suffering from PTSD, or shell-shock, and one of the interesting aspects of the novel was how his family cope with his altered self.
However, the topic was not given as much depth as for example Sayer's allocated to it in the Lord Peter Wimsey novels. Altogether, The Santa Klaus Murder remained a diversion, a light read.

As for the mystery, ... it dragged a bit and thanks to the incompetence of the investigators, some of the conclusions seemed a bit far-fetched. I would rather have all the facts and try and piece them together than be presented with new evidence just as the case is wrapped up. It always seems to be too convenient to the author (rather than the characters) when a conclusion is rushed.

One other note, tho, I loved the language that is used in this book. I could not decide whether it was just quaint or actually funny. The passing of time since its original publication in 1936 may have a lot to do with it, but some of the expressions that were used really made me smile.

Once Jenny reached the door she was so quick that I couldn’t help see her rush at him and throw herself incontinently into his arms. ...more

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Dec 30, 2019 Anissa rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019, british-fiction-uk-ireland, mystery-suspense-crime, cozy-mystery, british-library-crime-classics, christmas-and-winter-mysteries

"So there we all were; as we were so unpleasantly forced to realize later on, nearly all of us with good cause for wishing Sir Osmond dead and few with any cause to wish him long life."

Well, this went on longer than necessary. As a Christmas themed murder mystery, this had all the things. A country house, an ill-tempered, bully of a patriarch, a handful of adult children uneasy with their inheritance prospects, a young secretary that adds to their unease. children that are mostly invisible s "So there we all were; as we were so unpleasantly forced to realize later on, nearly all of us with good cause for wishing Sir Osmond dead and few with any cause to wish him long life."

Well, this went on longer than necessary. As a Christmas themed murder mystery, this had all the things. A country house, an ill-tempered, bully of a patriarch, a handful of adult children uneasy with their inheritance prospects, a young secretary that adds to their unease. children that are mostly invisible save one annoyingly precocious one, a dash of servants, a seemingly locked room murder and law enforcement investigators who range from clever and thorough to eager but rather stupid. Literally everything but a dog lounging by a fire. So for that, I was very content and happy with this. I even give points for some very good misdirection.

But there were seemingly obvious questions that the reader is asking about far too long before the investigators got around to it (view spoiler). And I mean like a third of the book! There's a good deal of information withheld from the investigators by the family for inane reasons but those mostly served to cause delay and save one important instance, didn't much play into the murderer's plan. And this is all in aid of stringing this tale out far longer than necessary. The denouement was simple and tidy enough but this could have been done with less a third of this story.

This had some good lines that were highlight-worthy & memorable. My very favourite quote of the book really stood out:

"They love talking about points of view, but they are both far too young to understand the point of view of anyone over forty. They're pathetically young and that's partly what makes them both so charming. Being so nearly forty myself, I believe I really can get some inkling of how both the twenties, and the fifties and over, feel- though possibly that's just imagination and I'm really as self-centered as the rest."

I don't know if I'd strenuously recommend this. I suppose if you're really determined to read all the British Library Crime Classics (as is my plan), then definitely do. If you're looking for a cracking Christmas mystery, get around to it eventually. ...more

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Nov 13, 2015 Leslie rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, holiday, mysteries

Quite good holiday murder mystery. Hay made me suspect several people at various times but I didn't guess the solution! I did find the cast of characters a bit hard to sort out at first but after the first 30 pages or so, I had gotten them straight in my mind. ...more

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Nov 30, 2015 Bev rated it really liked it

Shelves: british-mystery, christmas, mystery, vintage-mystery, library-mystery, now-mine

Forget about Grandma getting run over-by a reindeer. Did Santa really murder Sir Osmond Melbury, the difficult family patriarch, during the Christmas festivities at Flaxmere, home of the Melburys?

Sir Osmond, not usually known for his good will, had decided that this year Santa Klaus (none of that Father Christmas nonsense for him) would deliver the toys to the grandchildren during the annual family gathering. So, he orders up a suit and invites Oliver Whitcombe, his preferred suitor for his youn Forget about Grandma getting run over-by a reindeer. Did Santa really murder Sir Osmond Melbury, the difficult family patriarch, during the Christmas festivities at Flaxmere, home of the Melburys?

Sir Osmond, not usually known for his good will, had decided that this year Santa Klaus (none of that Father Christmas nonsense for him) would deliver the toys to the grandchildren during the annual family gathering. So, he orders up a suit and invites Oliver Whitcombe, his preferred suitor for his youngest daughter, Jennifer, to join the country house gathering and dress up for the children. The suit doesn't arrive on time and another is ordered in time for the gift-giving.

But after the presents have been distributed--to grandchildren, children, and staff alike--Santa returns to the study for final orders from Sir Osmond only to find Flaxmere's lord and master shot through the head. When Colonel Halstock, the Chief Constable, and Detective-Inspector Rousdon investigate it appears that everyone but Santa (Whitcombe) had plenty of reasons to want the old man out of the way, but nobody but Santa had an opportunity to do the deed. But then, everyone is hiding a secret or two and nearly everyone has told a few lies. Once the evidence has been sifted, the secrets have been uncovered, and the lies have been traded in for truth, it looks like Santa really did kill Sir Osmond. But it wasn't Whitcombe. Who had time to don a second Santa suit and shoot him while the Christmas crackers were popping? And whose motive was great enough to drive them to murder?

In The Santa Klaus Murder Mavis Doriel Hay provides readers with a fine example of that Golden Age standard--the country house murder. We've got the overbearing, difficult patriarch who holds the purse-strings and likes to make his children dance to his tune and punish them when they don't. We've got his children--grown-up with lives of their own and a desire for dear old dad to pass the family wealth along to help make those lives more comfortable. And a fear that dear old dad may be too fond of his faithful, devoted secretary and be silly enough to marry her or at the very least leave her a sizable chunk of the cash if he decides to change his will. Jennifer, the youngest, just wants to be able to leave home and marry the man she loves (NOT Oliver Whitcombe, by the way). The servants are even hoping for a bit of an inheritance to help make their lives more comfortable as well. In other words, the place is simply bursting with motives.

As mentioned, we also have all kinds of misdirection--through outright lies or a reluctance to tell everything one knows. There are red herrings and planted clues and mysterious messages and the phone call that never came. There's the disappearance of a former chauffeur. It all makes for great fun and a rollicking good tale of murder and mayhem just in time for the holiday season.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 13, 2021 Neer rated it liked it

Shelves: new-authors-21, reads-21, vintage-mystery, brit-lit, women-writers, mysteries, downloads, 1930s

Entertaining mystery set at Christmas.

More here: https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...
...more

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Jan 05, 2017 AngryGreyCat rated it really liked it

This is a classic manor house mystery with an extended family and the staff brought together, an unexpected death, a plethora of suspects, and of course the question of an inheritance of substantial assets as part of the storyline. What does the will say? Is it the real will? Is it what the victim intended? Who knew about the contents of the will? How was Santa Klaus involved?

The chapters have varying points of view but the narrators are clearly laid out in the chapter headings so there is no co ...more

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Dec 28, 2020 Dina Borhan rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really loved to plan the idea that around Christmas time I would be reading this novel. I loved a lot the author’s (murder underground) and as she only wrote three novels I was excited to read another one this year and around the season of the crime. It is really well plot and interesting characters very close to an Agatha christie novel but you are less in the dark and no one is very smart.

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Nov 13, 2015 Andréa rated it liked it

Shelves: british-isles, arc, mystery-thriller-crime, netgalley-edelweiss, digital, christmas-hanukkah

Note: I received a digital ARC through NetGalley.

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Jan 03, 2019 Sarah G rated it liked it

Jolly country-house murder mystery from the 1930s. Loved the period detail too.

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Jan 09, 2021 Laura Hannaway rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: british-library-crime-classics

Excellent Festive Murder Mystery

This was a really excellent book. The story was well paced, the characters interesting and the crime kept me guessing. I particularly liked the fact that this was very much a ‘fair play’ mystery and when all was revealed at the end you could go through the clues and draw the same conclusions.

In short it was well written, well paced and highly recommended.

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Dec 17, 2024 Sandy rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery-classic, rread-2024

A 'standard' Golden Age troupe: patriarch gathers family for Christmas and patriarch gets killed. You would think they would learn. This family is pleasanter than most (the exception is a very spoilt child), with an adequate local detective helped in his investigation by a family friend. There is a will and there are prospective changes to that will (isn't there always?). A good read. ...more

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