In at the Kill

by E.X. Ferrars

After arriving at a rented cottage in the countryside for a holiday, a young woman discovers that the landlord has been murdered and that she has the strongest motive for committing the crime and soon realizes that her own life may be in danger

Genres: Mystery

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Aka Elizabeth Ferrars

Elizabeth Ferrars is a pseudonym of Morna Doris MacTaggart Brown. She was born in Rangoon, Burma.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Charlotte rents a cottage from Edgar Frensham, she has more in mind than a quiet month in the country. But when Frensham's body is found, with a very suspicious suicide note nearby, and no gun in the room, she's faced with the problem of what to tell the police. All the neighbors seem charming and friendly, yet it's soon clear that one of them is a murderer. And Charlotte has no friends among them, except for a rather sketchy private investigator who keeps telling her lies.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 2/3 of this one from 1978 are better than average Ferrars, in which we find Charlotte Cambry perhaps not so innocently booking a month-long rental from a man who might have something to do with her brother's current legal plight. Wouldn't you know it, that guy turns up dead, and someone who pretended to be the housekeeper might have something to do with it. Our protagonist ends up teaming forces with a kind of weird guy she met on the train.

While it was in no way a bad read, this one suffers from Ferrars's perhaps most troublesome infliction. She sometimes stumbles at the dismount with finales/resolutions that are a bit talky and convoluted for my taste. That said, the journey there is fun enough. The destination just leaves a tad to be desired.

[Jazz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS | This is the second title I've read by E.X. Ferrars and I'm very much enjoying her clean, unnecessarily-embellished style of writing. Violence is kept offstage or minimally described, though the crimes are taken quite seriously. I may have enjoyed my first read, Foot in the Grave, a tad more, but this one is very good indeed. All loose ends are cleanly tied at the conclusion.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written, easy read with many red herrings to keep one guessing. I did not tumble at all to the identity of the bank robbers.

[Amyem]

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