The Cruellest Month (A Mrs. Mallory Mystery)
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Product Description
Product Description
Widow Sheila Malory has been looking forward to her stay at the Bodleian Library in Oxford as a chance to research wartime women writers and catch up with old friends from her college years, the one “purely happy” time in her whole life. Her relaxing idyll is interrupted when a librarian, Gwen Richmond, is crushed to death beneath collapsed bookshelves. After the “accident” proves to be murder, Mrs. Malory’s godson Tony, who also works in the library, asks her to help investigate. Gwen was manipulative and unpleasant, so there are no shortage of suspects. The dead woman’s World War II diary reveal dreadful truths that may lead to the killer; they will also force Mrs. Malory to revisit the past in a new and colder light. The second of Hazel Holt’s Mrs. Malory mysteries.
About the Author
Hazel Holt has many devoted fans in the United States and Great Britain as a writer of "cozy" British mysteries; she has published nineteen Mrs. Malory novels at last count. She is also known to admirers of Barbara Pym as the friend and biographer who additionally edited Pym's posthumous works.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sheila Malory is visiting Oxford to stay with friends, spend some time with her son, Michael and do some research in the Bodleian library. Betty and Robert have a son, Tony who works in the library and was the unfortunate person who found a former member of staff dead under a pile of books and shelving. Tony is still upset about the accident because he believes it was murder in spite of the inquest verdict. Sheila's curiosity is aroused when she starts to hear from everyone she meets that Gwen, the victim, was not the best loved person in Oxford.
The book presents an interesting mystery with links to the victim's own past and to Sheila's student life at Oxford. There are references to Dorothy L Sayers and her book Gaudy Night - one of her most memorable novels. I enjoyed the story and loved the characters: the Bohemian academic Fitz and his sister Elaine; Betty - green activist - and Robert her GP husband, neither of whom ever seem to stop talking. There are various other academics and librarians as well as Gwen's sister, Molly, who provides Sheila with some useful information about the victim.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is considering reading and of this author's crime stories. If you like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and Gladys Mitchell you may enjoy this book.
The book presents an interesting mystery with links to the victim's own past and to Sheila's student life at Oxford. There are references to Dorothy L Sayers and her book Gaudy Night - one of her most memorable novels. I enjoyed the story and loved the characters: the Bohemian academic Fitz and his sister Elaine; Betty - green activist - and Robert her GP husband, neither of whom ever seem to stop talking. There are various other academics and librarians as well as Gwen's sister, Molly, who provides Sheila with some useful information about the victim.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is considering reading and of this author's crime stories. If you like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and Gladys Mitchell you may enjoy this book.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have read stories by Hazel Holt before and enjoyed them. However this one was awful. Unbelievable characters and boring plot. Also my Kindle edition had an irritating prob-lem. Quite a few words were hy-phenated when they should not have been. Very irritating. I didn't manage to finish it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
An Enjoyable Classic Mystery
10 July 2010
Format:Paperback
Apparently, everyone has a secret or two, so discovers Sheila Malory while she is at the Bodleian researching data for her upcoming article on little know Victorian authors; and meeting up with old friends.
The rather unpleasant Gwen Richmond was discovered crushed under an avalanche of old books. How could that have happened on its own, things like that don't just happen. But then again, Gwen was a blackmailer, so I guess something's are possible. Delving into Gwen's past, Sheila uncovers quite a few irregularities and with the help of an old journal, the truth soon comes to light.
Unfortunately, not all of the truths that Sheila finds on this trip bring her the peace of mind that she was searching for. Sometimes it's best to keep our past the past and hopefully, the future won't be tarnished with the unscrupulous deeds of others.
I enjoy these older cozy mysteries; they aren't clog up with over the top stupidity that seems to be prevalent in the genre day. Sometimes the writer will wander off the course a bit, but that's OK because there aren't pets with above human intelligence or a man rushing in to save the day. The stories stay true to what a good old-fashioned mystery used to be.
The rather unpleasant Gwen Richmond was discovered crushed under an avalanche of old books. How could that have happened on its own, things like that don't just happen. But then again, Gwen was a blackmailer, so I guess something's are possible. Delving into Gwen's past, Sheila uncovers quite a few irregularities and with the help of an old journal, the truth soon comes to light.
Unfortunately, not all of the truths that Sheila finds on this trip bring her the peace of mind that she was searching for. Sometimes it's best to keep our past the past and hopefully, the future won't be tarnished with the unscrupulous deeds of others.
I enjoy these older cozy mysteries; they aren't clog up with over the top stupidity that seems to be prevalent in the genre day. Sometimes the writer will wander off the course a bit, but that's OK because there aren't pets with above human intelligence or a man rushing in to save the day. The stories stay true to what a good old-fashioned mystery used to be.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Another hard to put down Sheila Malory mystery.
13 Oct 1997
Format:Paperback
An author to replace Christie. Because of her age, I can relate to Ms Holt's Mrs Malory. It's refreshing to be able to read about a woman who has been wife and mother who in midlife can still have a career or two (detecting). I am now a confirmed Hazel Holt fan and cannot wait until her next Mrs Malory adventures are published.
British mystery
13 May 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I enjoy her books with Mrs. Mallory as her sleuth. A bit reminiscent of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Easy read but lovely English settings some of which I have visited.
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