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The Abbey Court Murder (Inspector Furnival, #1)

Annie Haynes

Start date: January 1, 2018

Finish date: January 31, 2018

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Our first group read of 2018.
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What Members Thought

Oct 28, 2015 Susan rated it really liked it

This is the first mystery featuring Inspector Furnival, published in 1923. Author Annie Haynes was one of many Golden Age mystery writers who were very popular in her day, but died in 1929 and her books were out of print for many years. I have enjoyed discovering some of these long forgotten authors and, although this mystery might be a little melodramatic for modern tastes, I found I soon became quite caught up in the story.

Lady Carew and Sir Anthony are attending a wedding, when Lady Carew is ...more

26 likes · Like · see review

Aug 10, 2019 Nancy Oakes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1920s, 2019, crime-fiction-uk, crime-fiction, dean-street-press

http://www.crimesegments.com/2019/08/...

The Abbey Court Murder was also published in 1923; it is the first of three novels to feature Inspector Furnival of Scotland Yard, and it's a definite page turner to the very end.

It begins at a wedding, as happily-married Lady Judith Carew and her husband Lord Anthony are leaving the church after the ceremony. There, she gets a nasty surprise on recognizing someone she had thought long dead, and her entire world changes in that moment. The man demands tha http://www.crimesegments.com/2019/08/...

The Abbey Court Murder was also published in 1923; it is the first of three novels to feature Inspector Furnival of Scotland Yard, and it's a definite page turner to the very end.

It begins at a wedding, as happily-married Lady Judith Carew and her husband Lord Anthony are leaving the church after the ceremony. There, she gets a nasty surprise on recognizing someone she had thought long dead, and her entire world changes in that moment. The man demands that she meet him later that night at 42 Abbey Court; there is no way she can refuse because the man has information about her past that her husband Lord Anthony does not know and that she does not want him to know. The Carews are scheduled to attend a dinner that evening; she tells Anthony to go on as she fakes a headache to keep her at home. As soon as her husband leaves, Judith grabs one of her husband's revolvers and makes her way to the appointed rendezvous, but things go tragically wrong and someone is killed. Judith finds her way home, but lives in abject fear that her presence at the murder scene will be discovered; her doctor suggests rest and quiet, so the Carew family makes its way to the family home, Heron's Carew. And that's when things really start popping. Not only does Judith have to worry about being found out, but there is also a matter of young Peggy Carew's new admirer, a certain Lord Chesterham whom nobody but Peggy thinks will make a suitable match (and with good reason ...); Judith also has suspicions about Anthony's cousin Lady Sybil Palmer who has recently become a widow and goes digging around to find out any dirt on Lady Carew, and of course, the appearance of Inspector Furnival, whose superiors at the Yard are putting pressure on him to make an arrest in the matter of the Abbey Court Murder.

I couldn't turn these pages fast enough. I am a huge, huge fan of sensation novels, and I can't get enough of this stuff! I will say that I guessed the who here once a major clue was revealed but it's okay ... I was actually more interested in getting to Lady Carew's secret and waiting to see how the good inspector was going to finish off his case.

True-blue lovers of vintage crime are sure to enjoy this one; I'm so grateful to Dean Street Press for making the work of this obscure writer available to everyone. ...more

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Sep 01, 2017 Carolien rated it liked it

Shelves: 2017, english-mystery

3.5 stars. An interesting plot and a good example of the classic English mystery genre. The main female characters were however too much given to swooning and melodrama for my taste. I will probably read the next in the series as the book was well-written and overall a slow, but enjoyable read.

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Jan 07, 2018 Leslie rated it liked it

Shelves: kindle, mysteries, owned

While I was entertained by this Golden Age mystery, I found it irritating to have the story told primarily from Judith's point of view while hiding from the reader facts about her past which obviously she knew. It would have been better from her husband Anthony's point of view if the author wanted these facts hidden.

I was also a bit disappointed by the fact that Inspector Furnival does almost all of his detecting "off stage" and barely appears until the last quarter of the book. It was more lik ...more

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Jul 13, 2016 Jill rated it really liked it

Was obvious who had committed the murder, so the majority of the book was taken up with the history of the characters and their angst. Was much more a love story than a who-dun-it, but was quite interesting. The police inspector, who I had imagined would be the main character, didn't turn up until over half way through. Hoping to see more of him and how he works in future books. ...more

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Nov 22, 2015 Damaskcat rated it really liked it

The murder takes place near the start of this book but the reader doesn't make the acquaintance of Inspector Furnival for quite some time. Instead the story follows Lady Judith Carew who was at the dead man's flat when he was shot and killed. But who committed the murder? Who has a motive to kill the rather unpleasant victim? As he was living under an assumed name the police are to say the least, confused at first.

This is a well written story with some very clever plotting though I found it a tr ...more

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Jan 27, 2018 Sandy rated it liked it

Judith's past comes back to haunt her and her future looks even gloomier after the events at Abbey court. This is a fun murder mystery with a sweet romance mixed in. It is rather predictable but a very entertaining read. ...more

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