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Mrs. Bradley #24
The Devil's Elbow.
Mrs. Bradley's skills are once again called for in a ticklish murder. A member of an English tour bus group has been murdered while in Scotland, so a Scottish Inspector is called in along with a member of Scotland Yard (unofficially, "on leave"), who is a friend of Mrs. Bradley's. She is not just some interested nosy parker - she has some official standing as a psychologist and has been "briefed by the Home Office". She also has a personal link - her temporary secretary's boyfriend is the unlucky tour guide caught up in the incident. A secondary plot was introduced and linked quite well with the activities of some of the passengers, adding further complications. ( Amazon customer)
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1951
44 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Gladys Mitchell
93 books141 followersAka Malcolm Torrie, Stephen Hockaby.
Born in Cowley, Oxford, in 1901, Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell was the daughter of market gardener James Mitchell, and his wife, Annie.
She was educated at Rothschild School, Brentford and Green School, Isleworth, before attending Goldsmiths College and University College, London from 1919-1921.
She taught English, history and games at St Paul's School, Brentford, from 1921-26, and at St Anne's Senior Girls School, Ealing until 1939.
She earned an external diploma in European history from University College in 1926, beginning to write her novels at this point. Mitchell went on to teach at a number of other schools, including the Brentford Senior Girls School (1941-50), and the Matthew Arnold School, Staines (1953-61). She retired to Corfe Mullen, Dorset in 1961, where she lived until her death in 1983.
Although primarily remembered for her mystery novels, and for her detective creation, Mrs. Bradley, who featured in 66 of her novels, Mitchell also published ten children's books under her own name, historical fiction under the pseudonym Stephen Hockaby, and more detective fiction under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie. She also wrote a great many short stories, all of which were first published in the Evening Standard.
She was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger Award in 1976.
Born in Cowley, Oxford, in 1901, Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell was the daughter of market gardener James Mitchell, and his wife, Annie.
She was educated at Rothschild School, Brentford and Green School, Isleworth, before attending Goldsmiths College and University College, London from 1919-1921.
She taught English, history and games at St Paul's School, Brentford, from 1921-26, and at St Anne's Senior Girls School, Ealing until 1939.
She earned an external diploma in European history from University College in 1926, beginning to write her novels at this point. Mitchell went on to teach at a number of other schools, including the Brentford Senior Girls School (1941-50), and the Matthew Arnold School, Staines (1953-61). She retired to Corfe Mullen, Dorset in 1961, where she lived until her death in 1983.
Although primarily remembered for her mystery novels, and for her detective creation, Mrs. Bradley, who featured in 66 of her novels, Mitchell also published ten children's books under her own name, historical fiction under the pseudonym Stephen Hockaby, and more detective fiction under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie. She also wrote a great many short stories, all of which were first published in the Evening Standard.
She was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger Award in 1976.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 12, 2021
Enjoyable but flawed Gladys Mitchell novel, 4 stars is probably a bit of a stretch, but I have a soft spot for the Great Gladys.
Set on a Scottish coach holiday, this is predominantly about the murder of one of the coach party, with some other shenanigans on the side. It’s written partly in letters from the guide and partly on the third person.
On the plus side, I really enjoyed the writing - it’s got more humour in than the other Mitchell books I’ve read, and the old Crocodile Mrs Bradley is her usual cutting self. It’s a good plot, with a great setting and some good observations on human nature.
On the downside there are way too many characters - a whole coach worth. As a result I really struggled to keep track of who’s who, which kind of takes away from the ending.
Set on a Scottish coach holiday, this is predominantly about the murder of one of the coach party, with some other shenanigans on the side. It’s written partly in letters from the guide and partly on the third person.
On the plus side, I really enjoyed the writing - it’s got more humour in than the other Mitchell books I’ve read, and the old Crocodile Mrs Bradley is her usual cutting self. It’s a good plot, with a great setting and some good observations on human nature.
On the downside there are way too many characters - a whole coach worth. As a result I really struggled to keep track of who’s who, which kind of takes away from the ending.
June 17, 2018
Cracking good tale
Although I was pretty sure who the murderer was, there was just so much else to be looked at. Gladys Mitchell is always a winner! And a great ride along the way.
Although I was pretty sure who the murderer was, there was just so much else to be looked at. Gladys Mitchell is always a winner! And a great ride along the way.
February 28, 2022
A somewhat convoluted and improbable plot, but a very enjoyable read.
February 17, 2023
Excellent
Mrs Bradley is superb. I love the books interesting characters and the wonderful settings. The mysteries of course are wonderful too. It is great fun reading them.
Mrs Bradley is superb. I love the books interesting characters and the wonderful settings. The mysteries of course are wonderful too. It is great fun reading them.
June 11, 2024
The pros and cons of bus tours.
Say you live in England and want to check out the beauties (natural and man-made) of your country. Bus tours are inexpensive and provide a knowledgeable guide to give you all the details and to arrange housing and meals. There’s also the possibility of meeting entertaining people who’ll make your trip more enjoyable.
On the other hand, your intinerary is arranged by the tour company, accommodations may be substandard, and there’s sure to be at least one person on the bus who drives everyone crazy. Seldom is a travel companion sufficiently irritating to provoke murder, but what’s a mystery without a dead body? Did the murder occur because this particular tour guide was a newbie? Would an experienced guide have stepped in and prevented bloodshed?
George Jeffries is a well-educated young man who falls into the tour guide job because the regular guide is sick. He’s astonished at the complexities of the job and not pleased to learn that his middle-aged or older clients tend to be disgruntled with the bus, the accommodations, the guide, and each other. They’ve paid their money to have a happy holiday and, by God, someone better get busy and make them happy. It’s harder than it sounds.
George is also good-looking and fair game for the man-hunting spinsters who make up the bulk of the group. Some of the women are quite blatant, but Miss Pratt is in a class by herself. She's after George, but also in hot pursuit of driver Bert Edwards. Bert’s an experienced driver and can handle both dangerous mountain roads and flirtatious females, but Miss Pratt scares even him. From the elderly woman-hating Mr Leese to fifteen-year-old Robert Binns, Miss Pratt tries to rope in anything in long pants.
Then one passenger decides to rent a boat and take a group by sea to meet up with the bus further along the route. This plays merry hell with the schedule, but George manages until one of the sailing crowd ends up dead on the boat. Murder was definitely NOT on the intinerary.
Mrs Bradley is pressed into service by George’s GF, who’s serving as her temporary secretary while Laura Menzies is on vacation. Detective-Inspector Gavin of the Metropolitan Police is vacationing with his intended (Laura) and he gets in on the act, aiding local Inspector Mactavish (he of the barely intelligible accent.)
So did Miss Pratt annoy one of her targets to the point of murder or did she record one of the tourists in a criminal activity on her handy video camera? Was the boat detour simply a way to make the tour more exciting or was it a cover for something more serious? And how do the mysterious couple in the parked caravan come into the story?
This one is hard to follow because you have a whole busload of characters to sort out and try to remember. On the plus side, much of the story is narrated by George Jeffries and he’s an intelligent, witty man with a talent for story-telling. When he and young Cathleen Wells and even younger Robert Binns are sent off by Mrs Bradley to follow the caravan and spy on it, the three amateur detectives put in some excellent work, as well as risking their necks a few times. Mrs Bradley is aware that the assignment is potentially dangerous, but she believes in the ingenuity of young people and her trust is always on target.
Two of the passengers are writers of mystery books and Inspector Gavin is inclined to be suspicious of them. Mrs Bradley assures him that no mystery writer would commit a crime, having written too often of criminals who make a mistake and end up in prison. And when the wisdom (or lack of wisdom) of marriage is being discussed, Mrs Bradley informs her audience that she’s tried it three times. I thought that Mr Lestrange and Mr Bradley were her only husbands. Wonder who the third lucky guy was?
It would be improved by a list of characters (with brief bios) at the beginning and I'm still wondering why Chief Inspector Gavin is so involved, but Laura Menzies (no shrinking violet) is barely mentioned. Still, it’s a lively story and generously endowed with the odd-but-believable characters Gladys Mitchell created so well. Jeffries is likable and not afraid to laugh at himself. All in all, a good book for Mrs Bradley fans.
Say you live in England and want to check out the beauties (natural and man-made) of your country. Bus tours are inexpensive and provide a knowledgeable guide to give you all the details and to arrange housing and meals. There’s also the possibility of meeting entertaining people who’ll make your trip more enjoyable.
On the other hand, your intinerary is arranged by the tour company, accommodations may be substandard, and there’s sure to be at least one person on the bus who drives everyone crazy. Seldom is a travel companion sufficiently irritating to provoke murder, but what’s a mystery without a dead body? Did the murder occur because this particular tour guide was a newbie? Would an experienced guide have stepped in and prevented bloodshed?
George Jeffries is a well-educated young man who falls into the tour guide job because the regular guide is sick. He’s astonished at the complexities of the job and not pleased to learn that his middle-aged or older clients tend to be disgruntled with the bus, the accommodations, the guide, and each other. They’ve paid their money to have a happy holiday and, by God, someone better get busy and make them happy. It’s harder than it sounds.
George is also good-looking and fair game for the man-hunting spinsters who make up the bulk of the group. Some of the women are quite blatant, but Miss Pratt is in a class by herself. She's after George, but also in hot pursuit of driver Bert Edwards. Bert’s an experienced driver and can handle both dangerous mountain roads and flirtatious females, but Miss Pratt scares even him. From the elderly woman-hating Mr Leese to fifteen-year-old Robert Binns, Miss Pratt tries to rope in anything in long pants.
Then one passenger decides to rent a boat and take a group by sea to meet up with the bus further along the route. This plays merry hell with the schedule, but George manages until one of the sailing crowd ends up dead on the boat. Murder was definitely NOT on the intinerary.
Mrs Bradley is pressed into service by George’s GF, who’s serving as her temporary secretary while Laura Menzies is on vacation. Detective-Inspector Gavin of the Metropolitan Police is vacationing with his intended (Laura) and he gets in on the act, aiding local Inspector Mactavish (he of the barely intelligible accent.)
So did Miss Pratt annoy one of her targets to the point of murder or did she record one of the tourists in a criminal activity on her handy video camera? Was the boat detour simply a way to make the tour more exciting or was it a cover for something more serious? And how do the mysterious couple in the parked caravan come into the story?
This one is hard to follow because you have a whole busload of characters to sort out and try to remember. On the plus side, much of the story is narrated by George Jeffries and he’s an intelligent, witty man with a talent for story-telling. When he and young Cathleen Wells and even younger Robert Binns are sent off by Mrs Bradley to follow the caravan and spy on it, the three amateur detectives put in some excellent work, as well as risking their necks a few times. Mrs Bradley is aware that the assignment is potentially dangerous, but she believes in the ingenuity of young people and her trust is always on target.
Two of the passengers are writers of mystery books and Inspector Gavin is inclined to be suspicious of them. Mrs Bradley assures him that no mystery writer would commit a crime, having written too often of criminals who make a mistake and end up in prison. And when the wisdom (or lack of wisdom) of marriage is being discussed, Mrs Bradley informs her audience that she’s tried it three times. I thought that Mr Lestrange and Mr Bradley were her only husbands. Wonder who the third lucky guy was?
It would be improved by a list of characters (with brief bios) at the beginning and I'm still wondering why Chief Inspector Gavin is so involved, but Laura Menzies (no shrinking violet) is barely mentioned. Still, it’s a lively story and generously endowed with the odd-but-believable characters Gladys Mitchell created so well. Jeffries is likable and not afraid to laugh at himself. All in all, a good book for Mrs Bradley fans.
December 6, 2011
A promising start as the coach tour to Scotland is recorded in a series of letter from the courier to his lady friend. This sets the scene for what follows.
A baffling murder takes place and Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley of the Home Office is called to look into the matter. Her methods, and the explanation of them, is somewhat confusing but she does come up with the right answer in the end. How and why, I am not too sure but that probably says more about me than about the way the book is written.
But, after that promising start the book degenerates into a somewhat confusing plot.
A baffling murder takes place and Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley of the Home Office is called to look into the matter. Her methods, and the explanation of them, is somewhat confusing but she does come up with the right answer in the end. How and why, I am not too sure but that probably says more about me than about the way the book is written.
But, after that promising start the book degenerates into a somewhat confusing plot.
April 25, 2016
Mystery set in Scotland. A group of Brits take a bus tour through Scotland. During the trip Miss Pratt a tedious spinster is murdered. Bradley, Gavin and McTavish join forces to solve the crime. The author is a contemporary of Agatha Christie but not as adept at storytelling. While I enjoyed the novel, the reader is buried in details. Initially I enjoyed the descriptions of Scotland, but again, as witnesses/suspects were being questioned, the reader is inundated
by too many geographic details of Scotland.
by too many geographic details of Scotland.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews