Welcome Death

Sir Richard Cherrington #2

by Glyn Daniel

Cambridge Don, Sir Richard Cherrington is invited by his aunt to her small sleepy village in the Vale of Glamorgan, in Wales, to solve a poison-pen mystery. Little did he expect his ingenuity as a detectiveto be used to solve a murder No death could have been more widely welcome than Evan Morgan's. For Morgan had spent the war making money and enemies with about equal facility. On the night of the "Welcome Home" celebrations for returned soldiers, a whole posse of murderers beat a path to the door of the Manor House. Sir Richard solved this intricate puzzle of motives and alibis.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime

180 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1954

About the author

Aka Dilwyn Rees

Taken from a cover from a book published in 1962:

Dr Glyn Daniel, who has been a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, since 1938, and a University Lecturer in Archaeology since 1948, was born in Pembrokeshire in 1914. Proceeding from Barry County School and University College, Cardiff, to Cambridge, he took a 'First' with distinction in archaeology and anthropology, and subsequently was awarded several prizes and studentships and took a Ph.D. in 1938. During the war he served in the R.A.F. and was mentioned in despatches while in charge of air-photo interpretation in India and S.E. Asia, as a Wing-Commander. Since the war he has held several lectureships and achieved a wide popular fame as question master in the TV game, Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral? He is now a director of Anglia Television. Along with golf and squash (both of which he plays badly), travel, food, and wine (taken in France for preference), Glyn Daniel, who is married, regards his detective fiction as a hobby.

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poison pen letters plagued the village of Llanddewi in Wales during the war and then tapered off a bit. But now they have started up again. Miss Mary Cherrington invites her nephew, Sir Richard Cherrington to come and put a stop to it. Cherrington has often shown an interest in little detective puzzles. She doesn't need him to figure out who is doing it--she's sure she knows the culprit--but she wants him to find a way to get the culprit to stop before real harm is done. He arrives on the evening the village plans to celebrate its returned war heroes--the last two, Bryn Davies and David Morris, having just arrived home from the East. But before the evening is over the investigation will become more serious...from poison pen to murder.

Evan Morgan was a philanderer who had caused grief to more than one woman in the village. It's rumored that he had seduced Bryn Davie's sister Daphne (whom David Morris had planned to marry) and that her death was the result of a botched abortion. On the night of the Welcome party, he had planned to announce his engagement to Janet Anderson--the girl Bryn had loved before setting off for war. But these events don't just affect Bryn and David and there are plenty of people with reason to hate Evan Morgan. With a new marriage, Evan's long-time mistress Ellen Williams will be displaced as the consistent woman in his life...and they say there's no fury like a woman scorned. Add to that, the fact that Evan planned to change his will and practically cut out Ellen and his two sons, Rees (by his first wife) and Mervyn (by Ellen) in favor of the new wife and any future progeny. The Andersons aren't thrilled to learn that their daughter plans to marry a man old enough to be her father and the Davies are still upset about Daphne's death.

It was Mr./Ms. X in the library with the knife.

So, when Evan is found stabbed to death at his desk, no one is really surprised and most of the village really wouldn't mind if the killer is never caught. But the police mind and so does Sir Richard. Killing mustn't go unpunished...no matter how much the murderee seems to have deserved it. But there are several questions that will need answered before they can find the culprit. How did the murderer overpower two ex-commandos (Bryn & David)--leaving one tied up in the Manor and knocking one out cold? Do the anonymous letters have anything to do with the murder? Did anyone know that Evan planned to sign his new will the very next morning? And...was there a single villager who wasn't in or near the Manor that night? And why didn't any of them see anything of interest?

Daniel does an excellent job of portraying British village life where everyone knows everyone and their business. Supposedly, the circumstances of Daphne's death was hushed up and "no one" knows what happened. So, of course, this means that everyone knows. Given the tensions that are running under the surface, there are plenty of suspects for the murder and the investigators have too many to choose from. Just when it looks like they know who did it, they discover that another of their suspects has been telling lies and was on the spot near the time of death.

While this is an entertaining mystery and it has something I always like--an academic amateur sleuth, to be honest, the plot is just a bit too complicated. I'm still not certain that I've got the timings down and I don't quite see how all those people could have been running about and not run into each other. I'm also not sold on Sir Richard as an amateur sleuth. He's not all that engaging and the reason for his being in the village is flimsy at best--especially when his aunt tells him straight up that she already knows who is behind the letters and just wants him to put a stop to it. Not sure how she thinks he's going to do that. And, finally, I would have been much more satisfied with the solution as given in one of the confessions (yes, there's more than one) than the one we are ultimately left with especially given the subtle hints inserted in the text that would make it perfectly plausible: we're told on a few occasions that people with nothing left to fear may take the risk of murder if they know they'll die before being hanged. There would have been a certain rightness to Daphne's mother exacting a revenge for her daughter's death.

Overall, a decent mystery and I'm definitely curious to give Daniel's other mystery, The Cambridge Murders, a try. ★★★ and 1/4

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

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is far too long. Over 250 pages (Penguin 1964 reprint ) of very complicated plotting. The string of coincidences in the timing is just not believable. I quite enjoyed the build-up which set out all the reasons why so many people wanted Evan Morgan dead but the detection bit was overly complex and became boring. Why, for instance, would the police allow a civilian to virtually take over the case? Cherrington is not a very plausible detective either. Disappointing.

[Blasr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complicated is an understatement.

[Martin Pilkington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was first published in 1954, this edition is from 1962 and I bought it in the Deanery Bookshop at Winchester Cathedral. Glyn Daniel only wrote two detective stories, and wrote at least three books on Archeology, his academic subject.

The book is set in the small town of Llanddewi in Glamorgan as the last soldiers are coming home from the war in the far east. The main, non police, detective is Sir Richard Cherrington, who is supposed to be based, loosely, on Sir Mortimer Wheeler, renowned archeologist and TV personality. He is only in Llanddewi because he has been invited there by his aunt.

It’s an interesting book with a multitude of suspects, and one obvious victim, the most disliked person in the town. Spoiler alert: It’s interesting to me that the obvious story line, rich elderly man about to marry considerably younger woman doesn’t really get investigated.

Interesting, as i said, and i will look door the other detective book he wrote, but not an essential read perhaps,

[Sara Aye Moung · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. Interesting characters and an intriguing puzzle to solve

[Sara Tilley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guess how to spell all the Welsh words. Couldn't keep a grip on all the characters however detailed period piece, Dennis does detective.

[Alonzo Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

A melancholy mystery set in Welsh village just after the end of WW II. The local squire is quite the awful person —- getting one girl pregnant and then facilitating the botched abortion that killed her. He, of course, inserts himself in the plans to hold a party for the boys just returned from war. He also finds ways to give lots of people motives for his well deserved demise. Meanwhile, a poison pen writer is busy maligning everyone, and just complicating everything. Of course, an amateur sleuth, an Oxford don visiting between terms, is around to figure out the way too complicated plot.

Starts well, with a setting that is interesting. The murder plot and the investigation, however, is simply tedious after a while. This one is at its best when it is being sad.

[Justine Shenton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a good golden age type detective novel but a little over complicated in parts
Still lots of postwar atmosphere snd very well written

[Thistledown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting for the period mores, but otherwise a bit dull.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the setting and the period references. Some of the characterisation good, too. The early chapters created a nice sense of mystery. But it got bogged down in endless rehearsals of who was where and when and timings of radio broadcasts, which up to a point was essential for the plot, but after a while became tedious. One needed a spreadsheet to log each person's movements , and you could scarcely move for red herrings. I thought there were too many coincidences and half truths reluctantly dragged out of too many suspects.
Still, enjoyable enough on cold January night over a G&T

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
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