The Murder at Sissingham Hall

Angela Marchmont Mystery #1

by Clara Benson

On his return from South Africa, Charles Knox is invited to spend the weekend at the country home of Sir Neville Strickland, whose beautiful wife Rosamund was once Knox's fiancee. But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it? As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery. This 1920s whodunit will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical, Cozy Mystery, Crime, Ebooks

260 pages, ebook

First published March 16, 2013

About the author

Clara Benson is the author of the Angela Marchmont Mysteries and Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventures - traditional English whodunits in authentic style set in the 1920s and 30s. One day she would like to drink cocktails and solve mysteries in a sequinned dress and evening gloves. In the meantime she lives in the north of England with her family and doesn't do any of those things.

If you want to be the first to hear about new releases, and to receive a free, exclusive short story, sign up to her mailing list at clarabenson.com/newsletter.

Reviews

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5★

This was a competently written mystery - the dialogue gave a great feel for the 1920's. Not too large a caste of characters, so it was easy to remember all the identities.

The main weaknesses for me were that it was so obvious who the murderer was!

Turning Charles into an unreliable narrator was a great idea, but it should have been done earlier. This could have added a whole new twist to the story.

I would have liked to have seen Angela make more of an appearance in the story.

Other members of the Reading the Detectives Group assure me that the series really improves. I think Ms Benson has shown enough ability that I will read her next mystery tale.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When we meet the narrator of this book, Charles Knox, he is returning to England from South Africa after several years abroad. Charles is an idealistic young man who, after having his offer of marriage rejected by the beautiful Rosamund, and realising she did not want him after his father lost most of their money, decides to make his fortune elsewhere. Indeed, he succeeds in establishing a successful gold mine and returns with his finances much improved. Met by his oldest friend, Bobs, and his now grown up sister Sylvie, Charles sets about rediscovering his old life. Before long, Charles is invited to Sissingham Hall, where Rosamund lives with her husband, Sir Neville Strickland.

Sir Neville is much older than the beautiful Rosamund and prefers his study and country life to the balls and parties that his young wife craves. Charles, Bobs and Sylvie are not the only guests who visit their country house. There is also Hugh MacMurray, the closest relative of Sir Neville, who hopes to inherit Sissingham if Sir Neville has no children, plus his wife Gwendolen, Sir Neville’s young ward Joan Havelock, his secretary Simon Gale and Rosamund’s cousin Angela Marchmount. Charles is hoping that both Bobs father and Sir Neville may want to enter into a business venture with him, but when he speaks to the older man alone, he confides that he is surrounded by liars and schemers . When Sir Neville’s solicitor arrives and there are rumours he plans to change his will, tragedy ensues and all the house guests become suspects.

This is a good, modern mystery, with a real Golden Age feel.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

You will guess the murderer before the body is cold.

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A free kindle book, this one is more or less a locked room mystery, set in the 1920s in a country-house. Our narrator is Charles Knox who has returned to England after eight years in Africa, during which period he has made his fortune prospecting gold. On his return he finds his old friends welcoming him back, though all is not the same. His former fiancé Rosamund is now married to the wealthy but much older Sir Neville Strickland. He also finds himself beginning to admire Slyvia, sister of his friend Bobs. When he finds himself invited to Sissingham Hall with Sylvia and Bobs, he expects things to be a little awkward but the first meeting with Rosamund puts him at ease. But things at Sissingham are not quite as pleasant as they seem ostensibly. Sir Neville fears he is surrounded by deceivers and liars. Soon he is found dead in his study, locked from the inside, and while all the guests at the house seem to suspect an outsider, the police realise that this was an inside “job”, all the guests, which include besides Charles, Bobs, and Sylvia, Rosamund’s cousin Angela Marchmont, Sir Neville’s cousin and heir Hugh MacMurray and his wife Gwen, his ward Joan, and secretary Simon Gale, begin to fall under suspicion. Charles, Angela, and Joan in particular also try to look into the case but while some guests have obvious motives to do away with Sir Neville, was it them that really did it.

The whodunit in this one was quite clear from fairly early on but that didn’t really spoil my enjoyment of the book. It was interesting watching the events unfold, and waiting to see if indeed what seemed to be the case was right or not. There were also a few twists along the way, including a second murder attempt and a revelation that certainly surprised me. Some elements I found myself comparing to Agatha Christie’s stories (though not the puzzle of course). Angela Marchmont certainly does figure things out but works in the sidelines in a way, Charles Knox remaining the central character. I wonder if this changes in the later books. Still, this was a pleasant, entertaining read.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle, easy-to-read murder mystery. Pretty predictable, but still enjoyable.
The narrator was a fascinating character, and I would have loved to learn more about him but apparently this is an 'Angela Marchmont' mystery - which was rather confusing as Angela comes across as little more than a secondary character in this story. I preferred Charles Knox - far more interesting.;)

But, a fun read, nicely written and with enough suspense to keep me interested.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frightfully melodramatic, what? Typical Golden Age whodunnit except that it was blindingly obvious who did it as soon as it was done! When the truth came out, it was explained in such detail that I lost the will to live, or at least to read on, so I skimmed the last couple of chapters. It’s well written and it held my interest for longer than it should have because I thought there was going to be a clever twist. There wasn’t!

[Pauline Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good country house murder mystery, something that Agatha Christie specialised in but which is hard to find nowadays. This is a very good substitute, which captures the social nuances and language perfectly, and if the identity of the murderer isn't the hardest thing in the world to work out, well, at least I can bask in my own cleverness. I'm usually a sucker for the red herrings, so it's nice to guess right for once.

The story starts with Charles Knox returning from several years in South Africa, where he's conveniently made his fortune by gold mining. He's met by his old friend Bobs and Bobs’s sister Sylvia, now all grown up and a possible love interest. But Charles was once engaged to Rosamund, now married to Sir Neville Strickland, and when he's invited to their country house and there's a murder, things get a bit murky.

As with all whodunits, there is an array of likely suspects who had motive, and the story unfolds by revealing more and more backstory. The focus of the unfolding is Angela Marchmont, a cousin of Rosamund's and a lady with an eye for anything just a little out of place. It's an unusual strategy for a book labelled as 'An Angela Marchmont Mystery' that the title character is almost a side-issue, since all the focus is on the main point-of-view character, Charles Knox. There are good reasons for that in this particular story, but it still feels a little awkward.

The ending is not terribly convincing, but nevertheless I enjoyed this immensely. For those who like their murder mysteries quaint and undemanding, with beautifully authentic dialogue and some nicely Christie-esque characters, this is a good series to try. I wouldn’t normally rate this kind of formula book as more than three stars, but one has to give full credit to an author who knows how to use ‘one’ correctly. Four stars.

[Lady Wesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This country-house party mystery reads as though it was written in the 1920s, which is a good thing. I spotted the guilty party at about the 30% mark, but it was nevertheless entertaining to see how the case was solved. Although it was rather slow at first, there were some developments that took me completely by surprise. I liked this author’s writing well enough that I plan to read the next book in the series.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing murder mystery written in the Golden Age style. Charles Knox returns a wealthy man from South Africa and is invited by friends to stay at Sissingham Hall. The owner of the Hall, Sir Neville, has married Charles' ex-fiancée Rosamund. Charles finds that his feelings for Rosamund are not completely buried in the past, but he throws himself into the social life at the Hall with the other guests. Then Sir Neville is found dead in an apparent accident...

This book starts out well, with the introduction of the decent but rather naive Charles and the gathering of the guests for the party. There are interesting secondary characters, and some nice development of their backgrounds in the GA manner. Unfortunately, the mystery itself needed a more deft touch to make it believable - instead a really clunky piece of narrative reveals the involvement of a certain character far too early, and makes the remainder of the plot too predictable.

The final denouement wanders into the realms of the ludicrous, and Charles' puzzled naivety descends to a level of gullibility that is totally unbelievable in someone who has survived his testing experiences in Africa. Especially as he is fooled once, realises it and comments on it in a level headed manner, and then jumps in to get fooled again. Too much!

There are many Golden Age mysteries that I haven't read yet, so I'm unlikely to read another by this author.

[S.A. Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the mystery in the 1920s.
The story is when the house guests turn into suspects when the host of the house ends up dead. The back story of each character expecially Rosamund and Charles was brought out beautifully.
Enjoyed the mystery and the story because it gave a very real feel of the old era.

[J.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was a rather pleasant murder mystery, although it moved along a bit too slowly. Still, I actually enjoyed reading it as a fun and uncomplicated read. My complaints are really pretty minor but keep me from rounding up to 4 stars: I found too many of the characters to be perfect idiots, and a couple act in completely irrational (unreal) ways. Also, the "Angela Marchmont" character is really very minor and almost completely on the periphery - not at all like a Miss Marple. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it enough that I plan to read more of the series (I've got the next two on my kindle) and hopefully Mrs. Marchmont will become more important and useful.

[~Bonnie~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book would be right up my alley: a 1920's English country house murder mystery with a large cast of characters, Agatha Christie style. It was a slow moving story, so much so that I had to look this up on Amazon to see when it was published. I was surprised it was so modern. I knew who the murderer was nearly right away, which was disappointing to me, although I will say that the author had me second-guessing myself once or twice. Another disappointment for me was the lack of descriptive qualities. For example, the story takes place at an old English country house, but I finished the book not really having much idea what it looked like. Also, many of the scenes are of these wealthy people having dinner parties each evening, but there was not one mention of what any of them were wearing. I'm not even sure what color hair the main characters had. It was just very 2 dimensional. As a reader, I need to be able to picture what's going on, as if I were there myself, and that didn't happen. There are 10 books in this series and judging by the reviews it seems that they get better as they go along. So I will most likely buy another one to see for myself and give it another chance.

[Lynda Wilcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old-fashioned whodunit told in the first person POV of Charles Knox who returns to England a rich man after 8 years gold mining in South Africa.

Invited to Sissingham Hall by his ex-fiancée Rosamund, (the break-up of their engagement being the reason he left England, he is soon embroiled when the owner of the hall, and husband to Rosamund, is found dead in his study.

The story is set in the 1920s and the language and mores of the time come across well. No true whodunit fan will miss the clues to the killer, though the outcome may surprise the casual reader. While the tension mounts nicely, the denouement did strain my credulity somewhat. Ultimately though, I think the books main failing is that the main POV clue is not the sleuth. Although we learn a little of her, she remains largely unexplored; I would have preferred it had the story focused on her.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book last week after reading a Goodreads blog post interviewing Gillian Flynn. In it, Flynn detailed some recommended reads, including The Murder at Sissingham Hall.

I began reading this story thinking it would be very similar to an Agatha Christie read, which it was in many respects. The murder took place at an English country house with a small party in attendance. Similar to All Quiet on the Orient Express, the murder is found from a limited pool of suspects. It is up to the reader to narrow down the list of suspects in an attempt to find the culprit. The language, in particular, was so spot-on that it is surprising that this book wasn't written 100 years ago.

As the story unfolds, we learn that Angela Marchmont, a cousin of the wife of the deceased, is the first of the party to detect something out of place. This is where the comparison to an Agatha Christie story ends. Unlike an Agatha Christie story, where Miss Marple is called in early to help solve a case, I never felt like Mrs. Marchmont was leading the investigation. Her character seemed negligible, as the main point-of-view character, Charles Knox, was at the center of the story. I only knew when things were up when Mrs. Marchmont gave meaningful starts or glances at the remarks of others.

This murder mystery was an easygoing read. I will check out Benson's next book to see how the character of Mrs. Marchmont develops. I rate this a solid three stars.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ubiquitous house party murder, with a locked room to boot, and all the tropes that have made the genre great. An OK sort of read, it did hold my attention straight through, though it is all tell and no show, until the very end. Talk, talk, talk! The reader isn't allowed to see events unfold--no, no, it must all be retailed secondhand by someone who walks into the library/dining room/drawing room or where ever and tells those already there what has just happened. The members of the house party trample merrily all over the scene of the crime before the police are even called, and the Cheif Constable and Scotland Yard man never bat an eyelash. Angela Marchmont must have been Jessica Fletcher's grandmother; she acts and talks much the same, to the point of "bowing her head" when all is revealed. And of course the killer cheerfully tells all in the windup of the plot. I've discovered that the "found manuscript" story is as fictional as these mysteries; Benson may have been a fan of "Murder, She Wrote". It all sounds so familiar.

Aside from the ceaseless talking heads, the most serious drawback to my mind was that the story is narrated in the first person--and not Marchmont's person, either. That might have made sense, if we had been allowed into her thought processes, but no...we are subjected to the bumbling wondering and wandering of another character. However, it was harmless enough and entertaining. Two and a half stars.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's called the Angela Marchmont Mystery, but the main character is not Angela Marchmont. I wish it was because the main character in this one is an idiot. I knew who the murderer was pretty early on so I was actually pretty happy that this book didn't drag on for too long. I also had a feeling that by way of explaining everything that happened, the murderer would confess and tell us exactly how it went down, the author did not disappoint. All in all the book was too predictable.

[oshizu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down. I was surprised to learn that this is Book 1 o the Angela Marchmont Mysteries. Though was the character doing most of the detecting, she was not the story's narrator.
I struggle indecisively to give this book, set in 1920s England, a rating of 3 or 4 stars.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this “cosy” mystery. I call it that because I was able to figure out the murderer right from the beginning clue. However that being said, it was well done, fast paced and kept my interest. I loved all the characters, will I read the next one, not likely, as this is about the 3rd easy reading book I have read on my ereader and I am now ready to hold a book again and chose one with a bit more bite to it. If you are new to the mystery genre, you may like this one.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fluffy little cozy murder mystery emulating the Christie genre. Set in the 1920s in an English country estate, with lots of suspects, an amateur sleuth, and and victim who had been planning to change his will. Formulaic, but a quick and easy read.
2.5 stars

[Gigi Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

On his return from South Africa, Charles Knox is invited to spend the weekend at the country home of Sir Neville Strickland, whose beautiful wife Rosamund was once Knox's fiancee. But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it?

As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery.

This 1920s whodunit in the vein of Agatha Christie will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories.

My Thoughts...

First a little about the author, Clara Benson: Clara Benson was born in 1890 and as a young woman wrote several novels featuring Angela Marchmont. She was unpublished in her lifetime, preferring to describe her writing as a hobby, and it was not until many years after her death in 1965 that her family rediscovered her work and decided to introduce it to a wider audience.

Now on to my thoughts...I found it a little tedious while reading the novel. It was in my mind a lot of repetitious writing of the events going on throughout the story. It was distracting to the point of making the story boring at times. Actually it put me to sleep a few times. She may have based her story on Agatha Christie's writings, I don't know, but I didn't find her as interesting as Agatha. I figured out whodunit very early in the story, but had to read the whole story to see if I was correct. I kind of thought I must be wrong that was way to easy to figure out, but no I was correct, no twists and turns in this one.

Will I read this author again, I doubt it, I really didn't enjoy this story much and only awarded it 2 sad stars. This book is a part of my Kindle library, and was a freebie I found on Bookbub.com.

[Jan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't too sure about this book at first. But I warmed up to it. Main problem was she took a long time (seemingly) to get to the murder.

Charles Knox returns from South Africa. He had been engaged to the lovely Rosamunde who spurned him when his father was sent to jail. He comes back to England and his friend Bobs and his sister Sylvia ask him down to Rosamunde's place, Sissingham Hall, for a weekend party. Rosamunde married the older Sir Neville. Other people are at the party, too. Probably 6-7 others. Sir Neville locks himself in his study. The following morning he is discovered dead. Was it murder (okay, the title gives that away) or an accident.

Scotland Yard is called in. The doctor notices certain problems with the crime scene. First one person is accused, then another. Thank goodness, Angela is there to straighten everything out.

She apparently wrote these stories for her own entertainment. And it is entertaining.

I figured out which it was when the second body was getting ready to fall.

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First in a series of British mysteries written in the 20s or 30s featuring Angela Marchmont as the sleuth. Set at a country-house weekend party, this one is told first-person by a partygoer and possible suspect, and of course an unreliable narrator, or more a naive narrator who has too much invested to see everything the way that Angela does. I figured whodunit before the murder was even disclosed, because of a plot trick that stood out to me, but that didn't interfere with the pleasure of watching everyone else try to figure it out. Like Agatha Christie in the presentation and some details, though not as self-consciously "literary" as Christie could sometimes be. A fast and fun read. I'll be digging up more of these, I think, for summer reads.

[Lawrence FitzGerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a between the wars English country house murder where one of the female guests solves the crime. This is on my short list of favorite niche genres so Clara Benson carried all of my best hopes and wishes from the get go. And she largely delivered.

Good prose with that late 1920's flavor, mostly good characterization especially the villain and a decent puzzle with mostly good misdirection. Except...

There was a rather clumsy scene early on that led me to figure it out almost instantly. You can hardly fail to notice it. I kept hoping that this might be some devilishly clever misdirection, but alas, no.

I had a great time anyway. I was reading a new country house murder in the classic style and was as happy as a matron with a full box of bonbons.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this imitation of a 1920s mystery a bit tedious. Angela Marchmont, the detective, does not really emerge as a fully developed character, simply as an interested observer. But neither are the other characters. What Sayers and Wodehouse did to perfection--describe both sides of British society in ways that further the plot and poke fun at its pretension--Benson utterly ignores except for occasional mentions. I figured out the murder as soon as the first clue was planted and read on without finding any reward for my loyalty other than the minimal satisfaction of being proved right.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a fondness for vintage mysteries, and this one did not disappoint, even though the clues to the mystery pretty much stared you in the face. I enjoyed the period writing, and the typical stock English country house murder characters, but I thoroughly enjoyed the intrepid lady detective, Angela Marchmont. I'll be reading Benson's other Marchmont stories as well. Good fun!

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who doesn’t love a little country manor house murder in July?

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun period mystery!

This is a great retelling of Christie’s Mysterious Affair at Styles, with some critical differences thrown in to make it feel fresh.

[Gribouille Lechat · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai beaucoup aimé ce cozy mystery tout à fait dans le style d'Agatha Christie. Une galerie de personnages hauts en couleurs invités pour un week-end dans une grande propriété anglaise, un meurtre, tous les protagonistes suspects et une détective amateur, tous les ingrédients étaient réunis pour me faire passer un bon moment. Et en effet, l'enquête m'a passionnée. L'habitude de ce genre de romans m'a fait deviner assez rapidement l'identité du coupable, mais cela n'a pas gâché mon plaisir car je n'avais pas découvert son mobile ni comment il avait procédé. De plus, j'ai adoré la scène qui précède son arrestation, qui m'a agréablement surprise. Je suis ravie d'avoir lu ce roman et je lirai les tomes suivants avec grand plaisir.

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little whodunit, as Agatha Christie might have written – I discovered the culprit very soon because there is an obvious clue at the start –
although I knew who did it, I went on with the reading, and I did well because there are some twists I did not foresee.

I must say, apart from Angela Marchmont, I was not taken by all the characters – they were a bunch of quite superficial people, some of them I thoroughly disliked –
Am I the only one who thought of the characters of « the Great Gatsby » ?

[Vidya · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 ⭐