Exit Actors, Dying

Penny Spring and Sir Toby Glendower #1

by Margot Arnold

First in the Penny Spring and Sir Toby Glendower mystery series.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Cozy Mystery

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

*Marguerite Marie Dominique Monro Arnold (1879-1969), British novelist.
aka
Margot Arnold.

*Petronelle Marguerite Mary Crouch Cook (1925-2016), British-American novelist, author of Penny Spring and Sir Toby Glendower Series
aka
Petronelle Cook and Margot Arnold.

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exit Actors, Dying by Margot Arnold (1979) is the first in a series of cozy, academic (according to my loosely-defined rules) mysteries featuring Penny Spring and Sir Toby Glendower. Penny is originally from New England, but throughout the series she is a lecturer at Oxford University specializing in anthropology. Sir Toby is a Welsh archaeologist, also from Oxford. When we first meet them it is obvious that they have been friends for quite some time. They have a close relationship--filled with mutual respect and banter, sounding almost like an old married couple.

The mystery itself is an interesting one. Penny and Toby (he won't actually be knighted until after this adventure) are on a sight-seeing trip in Turkey--a busman's holiday of sorts, checking out ancient Greek ruins. Penny has gone on her own to look over a ruined amphitheater (before Toby can come along and give her the full archaeological lecture) when she stumbles over the body of a murdered young woman with a wound in her throat. By the time she makes it back to the small town where they are staying and convinces the local police to come investigate the body has disappeared. The chief of police is looking cross-eyed at her and is all set to lock her up for wasting valuable police time when Toby produces a body of his own. This time it is a young black man--a former football player who has been working with a film company that is in the area to film a movie entitled, “The Travels of Telemachus.”

The description of the woman Penny saw matches another member of the film company and when the actress doesn't show up as expected the police chief begins to credit what Penny claims to have seen. Toby manages to charm the officials into letting Penny stay on the outside of the jail--and convinces the chief that he and Penny will have a better chance of getting information out of the "foreigners" in the film company. They also need to help the police get things wrapped up as soon as possible--Toby has a date with the Queen in ten days to claim his knighthood. The two set to work and soon have their choice of motives--jealousy over parts or love affairs? Drug smuggling gone bad? Ditto for smuggling rare artifacts? It's seems like there was more going on with the film company than just making a movie....way more.

Overall, a very satisfying mystery. The solution is a bit twisty and tangled, but the pieces fit and there are clues along the way. I absolutely enjoyed the relationship between Penny and Toby and enjoyed getting to know them in this first outing. I have several more of this series waiting in the TBR wings and I anticipate having a good time with them as well. The one problem I had was with racial references. Both the young black man and an Indian man are referred to as "bucks" in what is clearly a derogatory sense and the n-word is also thrown out there, to no purpose, as far as I can see. Yes, Arnold was trying to establish one of the characters as racist, but there was no point to it. It wasn't as if race was a major factor in the murders--or even brought in as a red herring. Had that been the case, then the racist language might have had some relevance. Three stars for a good solid mystery.

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

[Jazz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the second in the series, Zadok's Treasure, so though this is the first book, I wouldn't necessarily start with it. The mystery was set up quickly with clues that take a while to pay off. The ending/solution was a bit convoluted and explanations seemed long, but it was a first novel, so exceptions can be made. I like the two lead characters very much, an archaeologist and an anthropologist—both of a certain age and somewhat frumpy, which provides a welcome relief from standard characters. The jeopardy one of the two was put in toward the end was unique and fun. The movie set and Turkish setting was entertaining to read about. With amateur detectives, the local police always have to be a bit dense, and this was no exception. I look forward to the rest of the series as I have a special fondness for mysteries about archaeology.

[Eugene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very satisfying. I’d read a few (several?) of these years ago, as they were coming out and I do recall enjoying them then, but somehow I didn’t stay with them. Acquired a few used ones recently, including this number 1. I can’t say I did or didn’t read this one then, but I’m very happy to have read it now. Fun storyline, interesting/believable characters and realistic interactions and relationships, the denouement very good.
Archeologist Toby Glendower and anthropologist Penny Spring are fellow faculty members at Oxford University, and very good friends who like to travel together. As such, it seems each of the 12 books in the series is sited at an old world/ancient locale of interest to each of them professionally and personally. Here we’re in Pergamum, in current day Turkey but which was anciently the city of Mysia in eastern Greece @ 300 BCE, where there was a magnificent theatre high on a hill above the nearby Aegean Sea. At their hotel is also the cast and crew of a film company using this location in their film. It falls to Penny to discover a body at the ruins of the theatre, and the local Turkish police seem to think that alone makes her a likely suspect. She and Toby quickly realize that if this mess is to be straightened out, it will be them doing the straightening. But the film company begins to contentiously unravel, and before long there’s another death. What’s the connection?
They solve all successfully, I get to enjoy a wonderful reading experience, and since I don’t remember any of the books any longer I have 11 more of these to look forward to!

[Rebecca Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't read this trash. I love a good cozy mystery novel but this thing is offensive. The author repeatedly uses offensive racial terms under the pretense of "scienticfic categorization" and the whole story reeks of white savior complex. Everyone that isn't white is a racial stereotype and after the N-word came up, I ripped the book in half and tossed it in my recycling bin. Neither of the main characters was all that likeable (a drunk archeologist and a weak white woman in a pantsuit with "mothering tendencies" who they claim is an anthropologist but spends most of her time being duped or whining about lack of food) so I found I didn't care about either of them as the story unfolded. There are many books in this world to read. Don't lose part of your life wasted on this.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written in 1979. This authors first few books were in paperback only. I had a hard time after reading books on my kindle and hard covers. The print is so small, but I love this series and wanted to read the first one. This was a good book. I have ordered a few through our library system and am hoping they are hard cover.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mystery is pretty good, I kept changing my mind as to the guilty party's identity. The two main characters, however, are rather mundane. I do have the next book, so I'm inclined to read at least one more in the series. But if Penny and Toby aren't more interesting in Book 2, I probably won't read on.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #1. Cute who done it, lots of red herrings. Set between 1920-1970's, so language is old - grab a thesaurus.
In comment to other comments I read...this story dealt with racism/prejudice from multiple cultures. Interesting, as Dr. spring is an Anthropologist, she would use terms and notice cultural biases. (Duh, her bio is in the front of the book 🙄)

[Neer · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Margot Arnold which makes me keen to pursue this series.

*

First Line: Penelope Spring leaned back in her theater seat with a sigh of contentment.

First published: 1979
Source: Open Library

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of an odd story with some very dated racial stereotypes. Not sure I would recommend.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad.

[Laurel Bradshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1979, the first of the Penny Spring and Toby Glendower mysteries is showing its age a bit. Still good fun - reminds me a bit of Jane Langton, or Alisa Craig. Middle aged amateur sleuths, academia, witty, good plotting, interesting settings. I picked this up because the name Glendower is Welsh. Indeed, we are told that Tobias Merlin Glendower was born in Swansea, and that his father had been a "wild-eyed fanatic on the subject of Welsh nationalism and, for that matter, all things Welsh and wonderful. No wonder the word 'Celt' to Toby was like a red flag to a bull! As a compensation for the thorough brainwashing of his childhood, Toby had become almost an equal fanatic in other directions" namely Greek antiquities. He is a near genius with a photographic memory and a particular gift for languages. But it is Penny who seems to be the star of the show - described as "forty-eight years old, five-foot-one, and a dumpy five-foot-one at that." She has her own brand of maternal instincts, the curiosity to get herself into trouble, and the ingenuity to get herself out of it again. They make a good pair.

The "who done it" was a bit convoluted, but it kept me guessing, and all the pieces fit together in the end. My only quibble was with some of the language seeming a bit racist - a black man and a Native American man described as "bucks", for example. But it was written over thirty years ago. I definitely plan to continue with the series, and will hope that we might see something of Toby's Welsh roots.

Book Description: American anthropologist Penelope Spring and British archaeologist Tobias Glendower are traveling in the Mediterranean. One day in a Greek amphitheatre, Penny comes upon the corpse of a beautiful young movie actress. And Toby discovers a body there too, that of a black actor decked out as a Roman gladiator. Investigating among the cast and crew filming "The Travels of Telemachus," they encounter enough plausible suspects to confound themselves and the Turkish police. At steadily increasing risk to their lives, to be sure.

Series info:
Penny Spring and Toby Glendower series
01. Exit actors, dying - read
02. The Cape Cod caper - read
-------------------------
03. Zadok's treasure
04. Death of a voodoo doll
05. Death on the dragon's tongue
06. Lament for a lady Laird
07. Menehune murders
08. Toby's folly
09. Catacomb conspiracy
10. Cape Cod conundrum
11. Dirge for a Dorset druid
12. The Midas murders

[Lori Henrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dr. Penny Singer and her friend Toby Glendower are in Turkey on vacation. They each see a dead body when they are sight seeing. They both decide that the only way to make sure they are free to continue on with their trip. Of course things don't quite as planned. Will they be able to figure out who commit these murders and manage not to get hurt in the process? You'll just have to read this to find out.

It was an ok read for me. I don't know whether it was the style of the author or what, but I had a hard time getting into the book. It caught my attention enough that I wanted to find out who did it, but I don't think that I want to read any of the others in the series.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Archaeologist Toby Glendower and anthropologist Penny Spring are vacationing in Turkey when Penny finds a dead body in the ruined theater she's visiting. But when she returns with the police, there's no body--and the police chief thinks she's lying. But when Toby finds a different body, the situation changes dramatically. First in this enjoyable series.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story featuring American anthropologist, Penelope Spring, and British archaeologist Tobias Glendower (soon to be Sir) who get mixed up in several murders In an ancient Greek amphitheater in Turkey. Also mixed up in the situation are a movie crew. Good twists and turns keep you forever guessing. The ending really gets twisted---but it's good.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of a series featuring Dr. Penny Spring and her colleague Sir Toby. She is an anthropologist, he is an archaeologist. They play off each other well. This book is set in Turkey. It is a fun cast and a good mystery. I recommend this one.

[Ruth Kevghas · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the first book- its a great read- however, this is the 5th one of their mysteries I have read! I am out of order! It definitely keeps the plot going and keeps you guessing!

[Tiffany Bannworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

In reading the first three books of the series, there seems to be some mix up in the timeline of how each book refers back to the other.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Penny teaches anthropology and Sir Toby is an archaeologist. They are on a tour of Turkey and she discovers a body among the ruins.