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A Good Death
It?s 1944 and Theo Cazalle is returning to the family he left in Bonnemort, an estate deep in the French countryside, when he went off to fight with the Free French. Memories of Bonnemort have sustained him through four years of war, but when at last he comes home, he finds his world in tatters. The house has been abandoned, a family servant has been shot, Theo?s wife has been accused of collaborating, and a Nazi officer has been found dead in front of Bonnemort?s front gate. To save his sanity, Theo must restore order to Bonnemort, but first he must understand the disorder into which it has fallen. Is his wife a whore? A murderer? Or could there be another alternative?
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First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 7, 2009
Ironside is insightful and skilled, I have loved her other books, this one is just as well-done but I did not enjoy it, it was too dark for my present mood. I did not particularly empathize with the characters, and perhaps was not meant to. Detective-series (which this was NOT) have an advantage, one identifies with the detective. A man who escaped from France when it was over-run by Germany at the outset of World War II returns in late 1944 to his family home, in an area recently deserted by the Germans, where he finds that his wife's hair has been cut off as if she had been a collaborator. The German officer who had been in charge of the detachment billeted at his home had been found naked, throat slit, in front of the house just after the rest of the Germans left. Who killed him? (not that the local French cared.) Was his wife really a collaborator? What had gone on in the locality during his absence? We gradually find out much of the tangled tale, including, not surprisingly, that the battles were not always Germans-vs-French but sometimes one underground French group (e.g. communists) vs another French group under the guise of fighting the Germans. I thought of that this morning while reading a newspaper article about insurgents in Afghanistan, how many of them are anti-westerner and how many just trying to assert their local authority over other Afhghanis?
October 25, 2013
This book held my interest enough to keep reading it until the end, but just barely.
It was a bleak, kind of dreary story with characters that were for the most part unlikable and there was a lot of cruelty in this book, both physical and mental.
The setting is the countryside in France close to the end of WW II and the some Nazis have installed themselves in a manor outside a small town. The story was confusing for me to follow alot of the time because it jumps back and forth in time and is told from several different characters perspectives.
There is a mystery, of sorts, after-all the story begins with a naked dead Nazi major in the courtyard of the manor, but mostly it seemed more like a character study to me.
The epilog of the story when two characters have a chance meeting in airport 50 years after the events of the book left me feeling slightly let down and with some unanswered questions.
I guess this book was just not my cup of tea, this is the second book I've read by this author and I really enjoyed the first one, so I will try another of her books and see if I like it better.
It was a bleak, kind of dreary story with characters that were for the most part unlikable and there was a lot of cruelty in this book, both physical and mental.
The setting is the countryside in France close to the end of WW II and the some Nazis have installed themselves in a manor outside a small town. The story was confusing for me to follow alot of the time because it jumps back and forth in time and is told from several different characters perspectives.
There is a mystery, of sorts, after-all the story begins with a naked dead Nazi major in the courtyard of the manor, but mostly it seemed more like a character study to me.
The epilog of the story when two characters have a chance meeting in airport 50 years after the events of the book left me feeling slightly let down and with some unanswered questions.
I guess this book was just not my cup of tea, this is the second book I've read by this author and I really enjoyed the first one, so I will try another of her books and see if I like it better.
November 11, 2019
They aftermath of war in the french countryside, the terrible mind of a rotten teenager, the things women have to resort to to stay alive in terrible times, the truth will set you free.
Interesting to understand after war no one is still safe..
Interesting to understand after war no one is still safe..
December 14, 2019
Theo Cazalle returns to his home in the French countryside in 1944, after serving with the Free French a few years before. Very little is the same, however. The Germans had occupied the area and had lived in his family home while his wife and child and visiting child moved to a nearby building. His wife, Ariane, was beautiful and had attracted the attention of the German leading the occupation. When Theo returned some were saying she was a collaborator. Was she?
In this book the war times and the after-war times are intertwined so that we gradually figure out what went on during those years. As important as Adriane are her two charges, Sabine and Suzie. Sabine is her daughter while Suzie is the daughter of friends from another part of France, who are very ill.
Sabine and Suzie grow into their early teens together and are seen as close. However, Sabine controls their relationship, ordering Suzie around and managing all of their activities.
Meanwhile, the family caretaker, Henri, has joined the resistance. He is cautious and circumspect so that of course not everyone knows. His wife is not happy with the situation as it threatens their lives.
Adriane is drawn into the web of conspiracies among the Germans, the Free French, and the Resistance. Is she part of any of them? Does she have feelings for the German officer? Theo doggedly seeks out the answer.
An interesting perspective of the French after and during WWII. Always it is useful to learn a little more about this period, as experienced by those in other countries.
I was a bit put off by Sabine's personality as presented here. I did not want to buy it. I believe that people often attribute base motives to others without finding out what the real motives are, and it seemed odd to me that Sabine would spring from good parents and caretakers to become so cruel. Cruelty had been inflicted on her but not by everyone. I would have appreciated a more nuanced character.
Altogether a good story with much to think about. And a bit of a mystery to be sure.
In this book the war times and the after-war times are intertwined so that we gradually figure out what went on during those years. As important as Adriane are her two charges, Sabine and Suzie. Sabine is her daughter while Suzie is the daughter of friends from another part of France, who are very ill.
Sabine and Suzie grow into their early teens together and are seen as close. However, Sabine controls their relationship, ordering Suzie around and managing all of their activities.
Meanwhile, the family caretaker, Henri, has joined the resistance. He is cautious and circumspect so that of course not everyone knows. His wife is not happy with the situation as it threatens their lives.
Adriane is drawn into the web of conspiracies among the Germans, the Free French, and the Resistance. Is she part of any of them? Does she have feelings for the German officer? Theo doggedly seeks out the answer.
An interesting perspective of the French after and during WWII. Always it is useful to learn a little more about this period, as experienced by those in other countries.
I was a bit put off by Sabine's personality as presented here. I did not want to buy it. I believe that people often attribute base motives to others without finding out what the real motives are, and it seemed odd to me that Sabine would spring from good parents and caretakers to become so cruel. Cruelty had been inflicted on her but not by everyone. I would have appreciated a more nuanced character.
Altogether a good story with much to think about. And a bit of a mystery to be sure.
August 11, 2021
Two points to relate:
1. I finished the book hoping to be engaged or enlightened- I received neither.
2. The book is aptly named, historically speaking. A dead Nazi is "A Good Death", however, the premise and delivery costs the reader a little death as well.
World War 2 was truly despicable and harmful to all who endured it. There are numerous stories of occupation that read better than a text book character study of French communists, which this turned out to be. Not a Detective Story, more of a "How I spent my Occupation" book report delivered in segments, through a ping pong of relative time. (Also, from the perspective of a returning French deserter/refugee within a French countryside community, spoken in English, when the story had Russian and German characters as well, also told in English.)
The author spent quality time describing and developing the mundane nature of the locale. Unfortunately, it didn't engender any sympathy for those in the story. War is Hell, sure, and then?
Can't say I will seek out other Ironside efforts. Thanks for this one.
Thanks for reading.
1. I finished the book hoping to be engaged or enlightened- I received neither.
2. The book is aptly named, historically speaking. A dead Nazi is "A Good Death", however, the premise and delivery costs the reader a little death as well.
World War 2 was truly despicable and harmful to all who endured it. There are numerous stories of occupation that read better than a text book character study of French communists, which this turned out to be. Not a Detective Story, more of a "How I spent my Occupation" book report delivered in segments, through a ping pong of relative time. (Also, from the perspective of a returning French deserter/refugee within a French countryside community, spoken in English, when the story had Russian and German characters as well, also told in English.)
The author spent quality time describing and developing the mundane nature of the locale. Unfortunately, it didn't engender any sympathy for those in the story. War is Hell, sure, and then?
Can't say I will seek out other Ironside efforts. Thanks for this one.
Thanks for reading.
January 8, 2026
A dark tale about a single family faced with unimaginable situations during occupation by the Nazis during World War II.
The tale begins with Theo Cazalle in 1944. Four years ago he went off to flight with the Free French, and returns as an aide to General de Gaulle to his family in Bonnemort in the French countryside. Memories of Bonnemort have carried him throughout those four years but what he finds is far different. The house has been abandoned, a family servant shot just as the Nazis fled France. But much more — Cazelle's wife, Ariane, has been accused of collaborating, and a Nazi officer has been found dead.
He must restore order but overriding everything, he must understand what happened. It's a story shared by several individuals but ultimately it comes down to a family, a time and a place.
Elizabeth Ironside has once again created a story that is complex, emotional and riveting. Her use of language is amazing in drawing in the reader to the story through realistic dialogue, and twists and turns to the tale. I have read three earlier works and each has hit me with an emotional charge. A Good Death is an impressive work.
The tale begins with Theo Cazalle in 1944. Four years ago he went off to flight with the Free French, and returns as an aide to General de Gaulle to his family in Bonnemort in the French countryside. Memories of Bonnemort have carried him throughout those four years but what he finds is far different. The house has been abandoned, a family servant shot just as the Nazis fled France. But much more — Cazelle's wife, Ariane, has been accused of collaborating, and a Nazi officer has been found dead.
He must restore order but overriding everything, he must understand what happened. It's a story shared by several individuals but ultimately it comes down to a family, a time and a place.
Elizabeth Ironside has once again created a story that is complex, emotional and riveting. Her use of language is amazing in drawing in the reader to the story through realistic dialogue, and twists and turns to the tale. I have read three earlier works and each has hit me with an emotional charge. A Good Death is an impressive work.
November 17, 2022
This was my first Elizabeth Ironside mystery. There were so many details about living in occupied France during WWII, that she must have done some considerable research to make the characters and events true to life. Madame Ariane and her family are involved in the French Resistance movement when the SS come and occupy her house. Madame is forced to survive with Germans in her house, caring for her farm, her 2 children, her family, and trying to stay true to her country. Her husband, Theo, returns near the end of the war to try and find out what really happened at their house when the body of a German officer was found dead with his throat slit on their property.
March 21, 2018
I really enjoyed this murder mystery set in recently liberated France. The plot was well thought out and had many twists right up to the end.
February 24, 2025
Read February 2015
March 29, 2012
Judging by the two books by Elizabeth Ironside that I have read so far, she is a very versatile author. The first one I read (last year), Death in the Garden, was a country house murder with a bit of twist. This most current novel, A Good Death, is a less than straight-forward murder mystery set during the time of the French Resistance under Nazi rule. In both stories one of the most striking features is the sense of place and time that Ironside evokes. One feels very much what it was like to be on home front in war-torn France. How very difficult it was to navigate the territory between resisting the enemy and doing whatever necessary to save your friends, your family, your neighbors. And a major theme in Ironside's books seems to be betrayal--what constitutes betrayal and who is betraying whom?
Colonel Theo Cazalle returns to his family home in Bonnemort, France in 1944. He had left in 1940, faking his death so he could join the Free French in an effort to help end the war and bring peace to his divided country. The estate is deep in the countryside and memories of Bonnemort and his wife Ariane have carried him through the long four years of secret fighting. Now the enemy is being slowly driven from his homeland and he returns to find everything he knew changed and his dreams are shattered.
In his absence, his very home had been invaded by a Nazi officer and his men. The Nazis have since abandoned his estate, but they left a trail of terror and destruction in their wake. A family servant has been shot, several villagers have been hung, his wife has been denounced as a collaborator, his daughter is beaten, and the Nazi officer has been left naked and dead at the front gate of the Bonnemort estate. Theo finds that if he is to restore order to his world he must somehow find out what happened while he was gone. Is his wife a murderer? Did she become the mistress of the officer? Did she betray the resistance fighters? Or were there others who betrayed not only their compatriots but his wife as well? And what role has his daughter and the young girl his wife has sheltered during the occupation played in this drama?
As with the previous book, Ironside moves between time periods in this historical novel. The time jumps aren't quite as great in A Good Death--but they are just as important. We are given Theo's viewpoint "now" (1944) and then as he interviews various participants we are given the stories of the previous years as if they were happening as they are being told. It is a very interesting narrative technique and Ironside manages it very well. It is also interesting to be given so many versions of "what really happened." As is always the case, each character has their own version of the truth--slanted by their own fears and prejudices. In the end, when we finally discover what really happened to the German officer, we're still not sure that we've been given the entire truth.
A very compelling historical read. It's not a straight-up mystery--so purists may not enjoy it quite so much. It is also a bit darker than Death in the Garden, so I can't really say that it is a fun and enjoyable book. But is a good book. Four stars.
{This is my review and was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission to repost any portion. Thanks.}
August 16, 2009
If you like your mysteries to run true to traditional form, this is may not be for you. If you like haunting historical fiction A Good Death might be, it is really no more a mystery than a book such as Shreve's Resistance or McBride's The Miracle of Santa Anna. Returning from exile and working in England as part of the Free French movement, Theo finds his family and home rife with secrets, his wife in disgrace and his daughter sullen and uncommunicative. The key to understanding the state his family is in depends on his learning what happened it the final days of the Nazi occupation of the area, and how the leading Nazi officer came to be murdered and left at the gates of his estate.
The mystery unfolds through Theo's interviews with the various people in his household and and the village, and flashbacks, the central one being the story of the Jewish child who was harboured within his family. The characterization shows psychological depth and insight; the style is polished, reading more like straight literature than genre fiction often does. The plotting however is problematic, at points getting bogged down and tedious.
The mystery unfolds through Theo's interviews with the various people in his household and and the village, and flashbacks, the central one being the story of the Jewish child who was harboured within his family. The characterization shows psychological depth and insight; the style is polished, reading more like straight literature than genre fiction often does. The plotting however is problematic, at points getting bogged down and tedious.
February 16, 2009
Having read The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, I was skeptical about reading another WWII historical fiction involving children during the Occupation of France. However, this book was incredibly well-written (contrary to Hansel and Gretel).
It is a mystery where the setting, the characters, and the events are pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that you have to turn in just the right direction to fit into the whole.
The beginning of the book is NOT COMPELLING, but keep reading. You will understand the beginning when you get to the end and re-read the beginning.
It is a multi-layered novel with symbols that are accessible.
The only problem for me was trying to identify and keep straight the multitude of Resistance organizations and the French words used to refer to them. The complexity of the interaction among these groups adds to the depth of the novel.
To my mind, the theme was "What is Truth?" I would be interested to know if anyone who reads this book knows the "truth" at the end.
It is a mystery where the setting, the characters, and the events are pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that you have to turn in just the right direction to fit into the whole.
The beginning of the book is NOT COMPELLING, but keep reading. You will understand the beginning when you get to the end and re-read the beginning.
It is a multi-layered novel with symbols that are accessible.
The only problem for me was trying to identify and keep straight the multitude of Resistance organizations and the French words used to refer to them. The complexity of the interaction among these groups adds to the depth of the novel.
To my mind, the theme was "What is Truth?" I would be interested to know if anyone who reads this book knows the "truth" at the end.
December 8, 2010
In 1944, after the Allied liberation, Theo de Cazalle returns to his remote country estate, expecting everything to be exactly as he left it. Instead he finds the body of a German officer at the gate and his wife Ariane accused of collaboration. However, nothing is as it seems in this book. De Cazalle starts off as a hero who faked his death four years earlier to join the Free French. But it soon becomes apparent that his actions can also be seen as an act of betrayal of his family whom he left at the mercy of the invaders. Ariane, left completely powerless, has no choice but to make the best moral compromises that she can. At the heart of the book is the question of good and evil in human nature. Some are able to find a little goodness in the midst of their struggle to survive and some are so casually evil that they lose no opportunity to do harm. At the end, the murder is solved, but few of the questions are answered.
June 10, 2009
Elizabeth Ironside does an excellent job of creating an intense story about something that is rather straight forward. She does this by telling the story in bits and pieces and not necessarily in chronological order. The setting is in WWII France in a country villa. There's a overtone of darkness to the story b/c of the setting and the storyline which made me eager to finish but nothing that kept me up at night. Ironside isn't writing mysteries of the same mold each time - a feat that most authors don't seem to accomplish.
June 21, 2011
I read "A Good Death" while in Europe for the first time, so it really had an effect on me, not just because it is a fascinating, well-written semi-mystery set in World War II, but because she shows profound sensitivity, especially at the end of the book. I won't be spoiling anything to talk about the ending which presents an accidental rendezvous of two characters. To me, the characters represent what in some sense Germans had to do after the war - forget - and what Jews had to do after the war - remember.
April 1, 2011
This novel of occupied France begins with a murder and progresses with Theo
Cazalle investigating how and why it happened while he was in England with de
Gaulle but it doesn't read like your standard mystery. It is a beautifully written
"mystery" of who the people we love really are and what are they capable of in
the midst of war. I will definitely read more of her.
Cazalle investigating how and why it happened while he was in England with de
Gaulle but it doesn't read like your standard mystery. It is a beautifully written
"mystery" of who the people we love really are and what are they capable of in
the midst of war. I will definitely read more of her.
Read
September 29, 2011I did not know very much about the time period of this mystery, Vichy France and so was very pleased to read this well written book. Also, I was reading it on my trip back from a week in France so that also added to the enjoyment.
Have read other books by this author and will continue to read more.
Have read other books by this author and will continue to read more.
December 30, 2008
Excellent and atmospheric! Set in Vichy France at the end of WWII, the mystery is not so much the crime as the circumstances. Fascinating to read about all the conflicting forces affecting France during and after the war.
January 20, 2009
Interesting more for the picture it paints of France at the close of WWII than for its mystery properties.
July 16, 2009
I found this book difficult to follow at first, but then I started to get into it. A good story set in Occupied France during WWII.
January 8, 2013
Interesting premise. Dark. Sabine character could have just been a bully without the added background.
August 30, 2014
it definitely wasn't a light mystery, but it was a very thoughtful and complex portrayal of the relationship between bullies of all types and their victims.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews