From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Seven Dead

J. Jefferson Farjeon

Start date: October 1, 2023

Finish date: October 31, 2023

Discussion: Group reads

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What Members Thought

Jul 03, 2020 Anissa rated it liked it

Shelves: british-fiction-uk-ireland, mystery-suspense-crime, 2020, british-library-crime-classics

The story of how seven dead people come to be in a locked room of a manor house was what hooked me into reading this and I loved the way it began with a burglar being the one to happen upon them while trying to rob the house. Sadly, what followed was mostly disappointing to this reader. I loved Mystery in White by Farjeon so my disappointment was probably felt more.

The investigation took two paths with Inspector Kendall (whom I very much enjoyed) and reporter Thomas Hazeldean (whom I didn't enj ...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Dec 29, 2018 BrokenTune rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

This is not Ted Lyte’s story. He merely had the excessive misfortune to come into it, and to remain in it longer than he wanted. Had he adopted Cardinal Wolsey’s advice and flung away ambition, continuing to limit his illegal acts to the petty pilfering and pickpocketing at which he was fairly expert, he would have spared himself on this historic Saturday morning the most horrible moment of his life. The moment was so horrible that it deprived him temporarily of his senses. But he was not a prop This is not Ted Lyte’s story. He merely had the excessive misfortune to come into it, and to remain in it longer than he wanted. Had he adopted Cardinal Wolsey’s advice and flung away ambition, continuing to limit his illegal acts to the petty pilfering and pickpocketing at which he was fairly expert, he would have spared himself on this historic Saturday morning the most horrible moment of his life. The moment was so horrible that it deprived him temporarily of his senses. But he was not a prophet; all he could predict of the future was the next instant, and that often wrongly; and the open gate, with the glimpse beyond of the shuttered window, tempted him.

Oh I wish we had more of J. Jefferson Farjeon's books widely available to us, but alas I only have one more of his books to look forward to (The Z Murders) - unless I want to give the Ben, the Tramp series another shot.

Seven Dead was a curious book. It didn't start out like the usual Golden Age mystery. There was little that was twee about the start of the book (and even less about the ending!), we didn't get to meet any characters that we can fully trust (apart from the police), we get snippets of facts that seem to be pieces of a horrible puzzle, but each turn of event just put a question mark on the suppositions made in the previous chapter.

The only guide through all this is Detective Inspector Kendall, whose no-nonsense approach is lauded in mockery.

“You mentioned your name. There are plenty of Kendalls in the world, but I remember one who did pretty good work recently at Bragley Court, in the case of the Thirteen Guests. What I liked about him was that he didn’t play the violin, or have a wooden leg, or anything of that sort. He just got on with it.”

Fear not: Kendall gives as good as he gets.

So, there is a fun undertone to the story, some flippancy, some snark, but this really is only light relief from the tense atmosphere that Farjeons sets up for us - especially whenever we are near the scene of the crime, the ironically-named Haven House:

“Hey! What’s that?” jerked the sergeant. Something was happening in the house. As they darted towards it, an unearthly noise issued from the hall, and the sergeant admitted afterwards that it “fair went up his spine.” The sound grew venomously. It was like a hive of bees that had gone mad. There seemed no rhyme or reason in it, unless it had been designed as a macabre overture to what was to follow.

The light touch, the mockery, and the jokes are still not enough to lift the story into the realms of a cozy mystery. The underlying plot - even tho we do not find out until the end what actually happened - is entirely sinister and just plain horrible.

"There’s some mighty queer story behind all this, and maybe, when we’ve unearthed it—as we’re going to—suicide will fit the climax. But I’m not going to accept that theory until it’s explained to me how (view spoiler).”

Farjeon wasn't writing in the horror genre but there was something about the three books that I have read by him that makes me think he could have been at home in it. The atmosphere of his settings, and the suspense in his plots are well-crafted and reminded me of some of the Gothic tales written by late Victorian authors. I'd also wager that he may have been influenced by the writing of Arthur Conan Doyle, not just the Holmes stories, though I was somewhat reminded of them when reading the conclusion of Seven Dead (not a spoiler or a clue, btw.).

Btw, this story also had another one of Farjeon's delightful romances in it, which is improved only by the fact that I couldn't figure out until the end if any of the characters were trustworthy:

“Good-evening, Miss Fenner.”
She almost dropped her book. The brown eyes were on his again, bright with both astonishment and alarm. He discovered within himself an intense desire to dispel the latter, and dreaded the moment ahead when he would have to introduce a far greater alarm than any she could now be feeling.
“I’m quite harmless,” he smiled.
“Who are you?” she asked. “I don’t know you. Do I?”
“No.” ...more

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Sep 30, 2023 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This crime book has a very interesting opening. A small time crook breaks into a house, hoping to find a few silver spoons, and comes across a locked room with seven dead bodies in it. As he flees, he is caught by journalist Thomas Hazeldean, and he helps assists Detective-Inspector Kendall to investigate. Hazeldean is intrigued by a portrait in the house of a young lady, who turns out to be Dora Fenner, who lives in the house with her uncle.

The story struggles to live up to the premise, but it ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Sep 27, 2023 Susan in NC rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, tbr-with-gr-groups, dnf-never-again-author

DNF - I’ve tried this author before, figured one more time, as the group voted for him. I got almost halfway through, but too many books, too little time. This author just babbles on about nothing for too long - 20 words when eight will do! Melodrama, trying for a horror-like vibe, too much “woo woo” paranormal feel to ending, just not my thing at all.

This one started out with a good premise, then veered into nonsense. I jumped to last chapter to see how he’d resolve this mess, couldn’t figure ...more

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Oct 02, 2021 Bev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-mystery, mcpl-book, virtual-mount-tbr-2021, vintage-mystery, mystery

The title is just a tad misleading--there are more than seven deaths in the story, but it is the seven bodies found together in one abandoned house that sets the investigation off with a gruesome beginning. Ted Lyte, petty thief and pickpocket, spies an empty house and decides to make a career move--into the housebreaking business. The house is nice and isolated, on the outskirts of a village. It has an abandoned air about it. There's no one in sight and the shuttered windows just seem to call h The title is just a tad misleading--there are more than seven deaths in the story, but it is the seven bodies found together in one abandoned house that sets the investigation off with a gruesome beginning. Ted Lyte, petty thief and pickpocket, spies an empty house and decides to make a career move--into the housebreaking business. The house is nice and isolated, on the outskirts of a village. It has an abandoned air about it. There's no one in sight and the shuttered windows just seem to call his name. So, he goes round to the back and makes his way through a window into the kitchen. After fortifying himself with some bread and cheese, he finds a splendid bit of silver, scoops it up, and wonders what else there might be. But, being all nervous on his first ever spot of burglary, he decides to take what he's got and run.

And yet...there's a door with a key in it that tempts him. His curiosity gets the better of him (much to his regret) and he opens the door and finds--not a treasure in need of safe-keeping, but seven people. All dead. He takes to his heels, shedding silverware along way, until he runs into Thomas Hazeldean, amateur yachtsman and freelance journalist, who spots him as the petty thief he is. He also recognizes that the gibbering man has had quite a fright and hauls him off to the police station where Inspector Kendall has been bemoaning how quiet it has been in detective-land. That's all about to change....

Hazeldean and Kendall form an alliance of sorts and begin investigating the mystery. One clue is a revolver bullet hole in the portrait of a very pretty young woman, Miss Fenner. Miss Dora Fenner and her uncle are the legitimate residents of Haven House, but they are not among the seven found dead in the drawing room. All evidence points to the Fenners have left the place in a hurry. Hazeldean follows the Fenner trail to Boulogne, France where he runs into a mysterious silk merchant and suspicious and uncommunicative servants. He does manage to track down Miss Fenner, but before he can really get down to discussing the mystery with her, he is hit over the head and locked in a room.

Meanwhile, Inspector Kendall has been uncovering clues at Haven House. He's got everything from two dead cats, a missing bicycle, a hidden laboratory, and an abandoned lifeboat from an ocean-going vessel. All trails lead to France, where Mr. Frenner is missing, his friend--a certain Dr. Jones--has died in a plane crash, and a lot of rough house has been going on in the boarding house where they all lived while in France. Kendall and Hazeldean uncover most of the answers--but they won't get the final solution until they make one final trip in Hazeldean's boat.

This is an interesting and eclectic hodge-podge of a book. It starts out in classic detective mode with a dash of possibly impossible crime thrown in. It then moves into a thrilleresque mode, and ends with a chase scene that is done slightly in reverse. I thoroughly enjoyed another outing with Inspector Kendall (whom I first met in Thirteen Guests). He is a steady copper with a somewhat quirky sense of humor (I don't think Sergeant Wade appreciates it as much I do, though) and an intelligent penchant for noticing details. Hazeldean is also a nicely fleshed-out character, though he does seem to have been invented expressly to fulfill the thriller-hero role in the second portion of the adventure and to fall in love with Miss Fenner. Still, he does do a good bit of detective work himself.

I plume myself on having pinpointed the killer's identity (and most of the slight twist involved). Fortunately, that didn't spoil my enjoyment of the story. I did find the ending to be a bit anti-climatic and wish there had been a better way of revealing ALL to us. I'm also a bit baffled as to (view spoiler) But...putting aside those few quibbles, I thought this well-plotted and quite enjoyable.

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

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Nov 19, 2023 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2023, gr-group-read, mystery, england

This is the second Farjeon story that I have read. Both of them really creeped me out at least during the beginning of the stories. But both turned out to be very interesting. The first one involved a stranded train. Here, a thief breaks into an empty house and the thief discovers seven dead bodies in one room. No wonder he goes running out of the place with nothing but some stolen spoons, which he promptly drops on the ground.

Not sure if he ran into a policeman or ran to the police station. The ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 16, 2023 Lady Wesley rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-golden-age-or-similar, to-listen

Review of the audiobook narrated by Gordon Griffin.

This is a weird mystery. The set-up is brilliant, but the investigation bounces around a lot. The who and why eluded me until the very end. That’s because the who and why are complicated and . . . weird.

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Jan 21, 2018 Yorky Caz rated it it was amazing

Shelves: blcc

Fantastic. Loved the plot from the very start. An amateur thief breaks into a house to find 7 dead bodies locked in a room. The story develops from there in the best way. I am surprised this doesnt have a higher goodreads rating as it was absolutely brilliant.

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Dec 06, 2017 Annarella rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A good book that stood the passing of time. Even if it was written in 1939 it is still very enjoyable. It has an unusual plot and it is quite different from the whodunnit of the Golden Age of Mystery. There are very interesting characters and it keeps guessing til the end.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Poison Press.

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Sep 26, 2023 Jill rated it really liked it

Shelves: j-jefferson-farjeon

I believe this is the second in the books featuring Inspector Kendall. It is a pretty complicated plot that begins in England, but soon takes us to France, South Africa and a deserted island. The death of seven bodies being discovered in one room at an English house, by a hungry burglar, starts off the mystery, which at first becomes unfathomable, but Kendall follows up each incident that may have a connection with the owners of the house. He is to a certain extent aided by a journalist who besi ...more

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