From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Death on the Cherwell (Watson Sisters, #2)

Mavis Doriel Hay

Start date: July 1, 2021

Finish date: July 31, 2021

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Winner of the poll for our July group read.
[close] Winner of the poll for our July group read.

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Group reads

* November 2025 group read - Winner!
By Judy · 20 posts · 32 views

last updated Sep 17, 2025 08:43AM

* Sept 25: Lonesome Road (#3 Miss Silver Mysteries) by Patricia Wentworth
By Susan · 16 posts · 16 views

last updated Sep 19, 2025 01:03PM

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What Members Thought

Jan 27, 2021 Anissa rated it liked it

Shelves: british-fiction-uk-ireland, mystery-suspense-crime, british-library-crime-classics, 2021

The body of Miss Denning, the bursar of Persephone College has been found dead in her canoe floating down a river and this sets off an inquiry into how that happened. She has a head injury and her clothes are wet, though the interior of the canoe is dry. It's sussed quickly that there's friction between her and the students of the college and also two nearby landowners as she was tasked with the acquisition of a tract of land to expand the college. The question of course is if that was what real ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Nov 26, 2015 Ruth rated it liked it

Shelves: golden-age-and-vintage

For me this book was like the Curate's Egg - good in parts! I really enjoyed the conversations that the girls had, and also the book was lifted for me when Sally's sister arrived and later when the Burse's niece finally appeared in Oxford after much discussion of her arrival. There were also a couple of stand out sections such as the incident with the poetry book in Blackwell's Bookshop which was very funny. I appreciated the humour of several light-hearted episodes in the book.

But, on the other ...more

15 likes · Like · see review

Mar 17, 2015 Damaskcat rated it really liked it

This is an interesting detective story originally published in the same year as Dorothy L Sayers' 'Gaudy Night' which was also takes place in Oxford. It is set in and around the fictional Persephone College where a dead don is found floating in her canoe along the Cherwell on a cold January afternoon. The four undergraduates who discover her decide to try and find out who murdered her. She appeared to have drowned but as several people remark you can't actually drown in a canoe and to drown in t ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2016 AngryGreyCat rated it liked it

This is another re-released British Library Crime Classic. Death on the Cherwell involves a group of young women, students at an Oxford Women's College, who have formed a secret "club" or group, mainly it seems for the purpose of complaining about the college bursar, Miss Denning. The girls find the bursar dead, at first apparently drowned, but very quickly found to be murdered. They join in investigating the murder with Detective Inspector Wythe. The story ebbs and flows, there are parts that a ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2021 Sandy rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery-classic, mystery-detective-grp

A pleasant enough read but all the emphasis on timing the events was boring. The setting was good and I enjoyed meeting the students. Their "investigation" reminded me of my childhood Nancy Drew reads. Still confused why the cover shows a summer scene in punts, while the book is set in January and features canoes. ...more

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Jun 16, 2021 Jill rated it liked it

This is the third book I have read by this author, and I have to say, I felt it was just not up to the other two. Four undergraduates meet to form a club of the girls who do not like the bursar of their college. Whilst their meeting is convening, a canoe is spotted drifting down the river and stops at their location. On investigation they find it is occupied by same bursar they were about to plot against. It appears that Miss Denning has drowned but the inside of the canoe is dry. They carry the ...more

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