Death on the Cherwell

Watson Sisters #2

by Mavis Doriel Hay, Stephen Booth (Introduction)

For Miss Cordell, principal of Persephone College, there are two great evils to be feared: unladylike behaviour among her students, and bad publicity for the college. So her prim and cosy world is turned upside down when a secret society of undergraduates meets by the river on a gloomy January afternoon, only to find the drowned body of the college bursar floating in her canoe.

The police assume that a student prank got out of hand, but the resourceful Persephone girls suspect foul play, and take the investigation into their own hands. Soon they uncover the tangled secrets that led to the bursar’s death – and the clues that point to a fellow student.

This classic mystery novel, with its evocative setting in an Oxford women’s college, is now republished for the first time since the 1930s. Includes an introduction by Stephen Booth, award-winning crime writer.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Classics, British Literature, Detective, Golden Age Mystery

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1935

About the author

Mavis Doriel Hay (1894-1979), who in early life lived in north London, was a novelist, who fleetingly lit up the golden age of British crime fiction. She attended St Hilda's, Oxford, around about the same time as Dorothy L Sayers was at Somerville.

She published only three detective novels, 'Murder Underground' (1934), 'Death on the Cherwell' (1935) and 'The Santa Klaus Murder' (1936). All three titles were well received on publication.

She was also an expert on rural handicraft and wrote several books on the subject including 'Rural Industries of England and Wales' with co-author Helen Elizabeth Fitzrandolph.

In 1929, she married her co-author's brother Archibald Menzies Fitzrandolph, a member of a wealthy and influential family of loyalist Canadians.

Archibald joined the RAF but was killed in a flying accident in 1943, one of a number of tragedies that struck Mavis. One of her brothers was killed aged 19 when his ship was sunk during the Battle of Jutland in 1916, her youngest sibling was killed when his Tiger Moth crashed in a Malayan jungle in 1939 and in 1940 a third brother lost his life working on the notorious Thailand-Burma railway after being captured by the Japanese.

When she set aside her mystery novels, Mavis took up a role as a researcher for the Rural Industries Bureau, which was established to encourage craft industries in deprived areas.

She was said to be so well-connected that she was able to arrange exhibitions in the homes of the aristocracy, connections to which had probably come about from one of Archibald's cousins marrying Sir John Dashwood and the fact that the cousin then became a lady-in-waiting at the court of King George V.

Her final book, 'Quilting' was published in 1972, just seven years before her death, which occurred in the village of Box in Gloucestershire.

Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2015

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hay’s setting of an Oxford women’s college gives this vintage crime novel a certain charm but there’s not much else of substance here. The story centres on a group of “undergraduettes” from Persephone college, reeling from the suspicious death of their bursar, a not-so-beloved college administrator, they decide to swap their customary cocoa and crumpets for a spot of amateur sleuthing. Author Mavis Doriel Hay presumably drew on her earlier time at St. Hilda’s for the background to her murder mystery. It’s not a particularly sophisticated effort, the style’s generally quite workaday, the dialogue’s often of the Angela Brazil girls’ school variety and Hay’s characters are sketchily drawn. After a fast-moving start the action sags in the stretched-out middle sections, and I had a feeling of being led back and forth over the same ground - despite the abrupt shift away from the students’ investigation in favour of the more orthodox attentions of a Scotland Yard detective. One major problem for me was Hay’s treatment of her victim, for most of the book she’s little more than a shadowy figure fulfilling a function in the plot, making it almost impossible to be invested in how she died or why. There’s a definite improvement in tone and atmosphere in the final pages but by then I was beyond caring.

[Anissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The body of Miss Denning, the bursar of Persephone College has been found dead in her canoe floating down a river and this sets off an inquiry into how that happened. She has a head injury and her clothes are wet, though the interior of the canoe is dry. It's sussed quickly that there's friction between her and the students of the college and also two nearby landowners as she was tasked with the acquisition of a tract of land to expand the college. The question of course is if that was what really led to her death.

Inspector Wythe is initially investigating and mostly deals with sorting out the alibis and general minutiae of the women of the college who themselves are investigating the death. Detective Inspector Braydon of Scotland Yard arrives by Chapter 8 and that's really where I felt the book really took off. The group of collegiate investigators recede quite a lot and the police suss out the culprit and to a tidy if slightly disappointing resolution. Given all the characters here, I most enjoyed Draga (very distinct & memorable) and Inspectors Whythe and Braydon. I also liked what was learnt about the deceased Bursar Denning. I think when the focus was on her and the police were involved, the story was stronger. I wasn't much into the lives of Sally and her circle of friends and there wasn't much distinction between them.

I liked this. I have tried more than once to get through Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay (book & audiobook) and have found it didn't engage me so I've relegated it to the rear of my BLCC pile. That book was referenced here as one of the characters is the sister of the character who solves the mystery in that book. I kind of hoped this book would spoil Murder Underground to save me the read but alas, no luck there. 

I will of course, continue with the British Library Crime Classics.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this book was like the Curate's Egg - good in parts! I really enjoyed the conversations that the girls had, and also the book was lifted for me when Sally's sister arrived and later when the Burse's niece finally appeared in Oxford after much discussion of her arrival. There were also a couple of stand out sections such as the incident with the poetry book in Blackwell's Bookshop which was very funny. I appreciated the humour of several light-hearted episodes in the book.

But, on the other hand, there were long sections devoted to establishing alibis and calculating the routes various people took during the relevant timings which I found quite stolid and heavy-going.

I think the book follows the typical Golden Age detective fiction format of this period in that it sets a puzzle which has to be meticulously worked out until the right solution is arrived at. So I think it's my preference for a more character-led story which hindered my enjoyment and I think others would find it a satisfying read.

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this - mostly listening to the audiobook. A Golden Age British murder mystery based in a women’s college at Oxford can’t escape comparison to Dorothy Sayers excellent “Gaudy Night”, I suppose, but this has a much more light-hearted feel, at least until the end.

On a cold January afternoon, four female undergraduate students are meeting on top of Persephone College’s boathouse for the inaugural session of their secret society, formed to bash their unpopular bursar (referred to throughout as “Burse”), aka Miss Denning. A canoe drifts around the bend of the Cher, and lying at the bottom, the students find Burse, dead. Scotland Yard is eventually called in, after the students attempt a bit of amateur sleuthing, but luckily no damage is done, no evidence destroyed, and Inspector Braydon is a low-key, good sort, ably handling the various constituencies of town and gown.

I liked this very much - I did feel the female undergraduates all blended together a bit, and the one foreign student was treated like an alien from another planet, with fears about her unguarded temper, superstitious fears, etc., but probably typical of the period in which the book was written. I always take older books with a grain of salt, knowing I’ll encounter outdated views and prejudices that seem outrageous to modern readers. Despite these flaws, once Braydon was on the job, I felt the investigation moved along at a satisfying pace, and although the conclusion was rather obvious, it made sense.

I’d say I want to read more by this author, but I don’t think she wrote a lot of books, and although two characters from her Murder Underground appear as supporting characters here, the reviews of that book don’t sound promising. But, I might give it a look!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking at the cover of this novel, I imagined punting in the summer sun, so it was a little bit of a surprise to find out the story is set in January. Punting in Oxford in January seems extremely unlikely and, at least, some characters do question why the bursar of Persephone College, Miss Denning, decided to take her exercise that way. However, Miss Denning did indeed set out to row in January and is seen on the river. When friends, Sally, Daphne, Gwyneth and Nina meet up - equally implausibly - on the roof of the boat house (in January, in Oxford, I would have planned an indoor meeting personally) they are planning a rather school-girl plan to curse the unpopular bursar and do need to cast something into the river, which at least makes sense. It works more quickly than they could have imagined, as her body floats up as they sit there...

Of course, the students immediately get involved in trying to discover what happened. There is a lot about disputes over land, a niece with a mysterious past, timings and interviews. I have read other mysteries by Mavis Doriel Hay, but I can't say this was a favourite. It got a little bogged down with working out the how and the why, at the loss of characterisation. Sometimes, plot over character can work, but I would have liked to have got to have known those involved better. Overall, enjoyable, if a little lightweight, and not her best.

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite good story set in a college, but weak mystery.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously, when you read this, you can’t help but compare it to Gaudy Night if you’re a Sayers fan, or at least versed in your Golden Age crime fiction. It’s set at a women’s college in Oxford, after all, though it lacks the maturity and reflection of Sayers’ novel — the characters are mostly undergraduates, and there’s some leaning on stereotypes like the one single foreign student who attends the college (and doesn’t think about time, or tidiness, or anything else in the same way as British students — of course). The characters get all entangled in solving a mystery half for the fun of it, although there is the same focus on protecting the reputation of the college as Harriet and her peers feel in Gaudy Night.

Overall, it’s entertaining, with a fairly obvious (to me, anyway) mystery; it’s an interesting read as part of my ongoing dive into Golden Age crime fiction — but I’m not in a hurry to read Mavis Doriel Hay’s other two novels republished by the British Library. I probably will, but they haven’t catapulted to the top of my list.

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little mystery with a great setting. Evidently it has a connection to Hay's previous mystery, Murder Underground, and I am regretting that she gave up mystery writing in her long and interesting life. The names are ridiculous (and curiously Austenian?) and despite the summery cover, this story takes place in winter. I quite enjoyed it, but it's not a deep story and is rather forgettable. I do love a good Oxford story, and it scratched that itch quite pleasantly!

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

When undergraduates from Oxford's all-girl Persephone College meet on a cold and dreary January afternoon by the River Cherwell for a certain mysterious confabulation, they are surprised by a canoe floating, apparently empty down the river.

But as it passes close by beneath them they quickly realise that it is not empty and that there is someone lying in it. They pull it ashore only to discover that it is the body of their erstwhile bursar, Miss Myra Denning.

It seems at first as though she had drowned for she was soaking wet but it is soon realised that she would have been unable to get back into the canoe had that been the case. So the girls' leader, Sally Watson sends Gwyneth Pane hot foot back to the college to inform the Principal, Miss Cordell.

Sally and her two compatriots, Daphne Loveridge and Nina Harson, remain with the body awaiting the arrival of Miss Cordell, who by the time she arrives down by the river has with her Doctor Shuter. They are soon joined by Inspector Wythe and between them they discover a mark on the back of Miss Denning's head. This leads them to suspect that there might have been foul play involved.

At first it seems as though it could have been a girls' prank that went wrong but when Wythe and his colleague Inspector Braydon begin to investigate it is apparent that this was not the case. In the evocative setting of the Oxford Colleges, they begin to interview those who were in and around the river on the afternoon in question.

And it all gets very confusing because it would seem that nobody saw anything despite all the activity that had obviously been going on in the area concerned. However, once the detectives, with the help of the four girls, begin some serious questioning all sorts of stories come out of the woodwork.

And as they intensify their search for the culprit some surprising facts emerge, even though many of those questioned continually mislead the officers and often do not tell the truth. Indeed, at one point Inspector Braydon is obliged to say, 'We do prefer the truth. It gives us less trouble.'

Once that way forward is established it becomes (murkily) clear what has happened and the mystery is resolved.

The novel is the second of Mavis Doriel Hay's canon of three such novels and enjoyable and atmospheric tale that it is, perhaps it is a pity that she did not write more of this genre and decided to concentrate her efforts on writing craft books!

[Abigail Bok · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for British mysteries in academic settings, so I enjoyed this book more than I might have if it had taken place in an office, for instance. The year is 1936, and a flock of first-year students at the fictional women’s Persephone College at Oxford discover the body of the school bursar under mysterious circumstances. The girls flounder about trying to detect without at all knowing what they are doing, graciously tolerated by a remarkably easygoing Scotland Yard detective. Ultimately it is the pro who gets on to the real nature of the case; the girls’ efforts are more along the line of eliminating the red herrings.

The two parallel investigations are very different and somewhat discordant in tone, but that didn’t bother me much as I found the characters congenial and the school hijinks mildly amusing. The lighthearted tone of most of the book didn’t entirely accord with the ending, which felt written to a regrettable formula. This book is far from reaching the heights of the greats of Golden Age detection, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, and the like, but it was a pleasant diversion.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 1930s murder mystery set in an Oxford women's college. The much-disliked bursar, Miss Denning, has been found dead in a canoe on the river Cherwell, on whose banks the fictional Persephone College stands. The girls who found the body start investigating, sometimes helping and sometimes hindering the police, led by the sensible DI Braydon of Scotland Yard.

This was a lot of fun, although the girls with their secret society and their clambering onto roofs and through windows were more like the Famous Five than university students of today. Fortunately the police arrive to take matters into their own hands, so it becomes more grown-up.

[Iliyana Vacheva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Благодарение на “Смърт край реката” от Мейвис Дориъл Хей прекарах няколко чудесни дни в Оксфорд. :) Книгата поне за мен беше с леко предвидим сюжет, но това грам не попречи на моето читателско изживяване. Всичко е поднесено толкова увлекателно с щипка английски хумор и колежанска мистерия, а да не говорим колко са симпатични героите, които е създала авторката. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Всичко започва един следобед, когато четири първокурснички, събрали се да основат свое тайно общество, попадат на кану, носещо се по реката. В него лежи мъртва техният враг номер 1 - счетоводителката на колежа. Въпреки незабавната намеса на Скотланд Ярд и започване на разследване, момичетата имат свои идеи за провеждането му и се впускат в приключения, които искрено ме забавляваха. Помогнаха ли или попречиха със своите щуротии ще ви оставя да научите сами. 👀 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Книгата е страхотна, носи чудесно настроение и се чете много бързо. Гарантирам, че дори да разгадаете по-рано кой е убиецът, няма да пожелаете да я оставите. Ако ви се иска да си починете от четенето на кървави убийства и напрегнати разследвания, това е точната книга. А също и ако сте по-нежна душа и имате нужда просто да прочетете криминален роман без черва по пода и мозъци по стената. Освен нея разбира се, за подобни читателски цели бих препоръчала и останалите книги от тази колекция класически криминални романи, за два от които може да откриете отзиви тук ⬇️
https://instagram.com/books_with_dash...?

Само ще вметна, че “Смърт край реката” е фаворитът ми до тук.☺️ А също искам да подскажа, че в нея ще намерите връзка с “Убийство в метрото”- книга първа от колекцията. Надявам се да съм събудила достатъчно любопитство към книгата и повече хора да се впуснат да разследват убийство с тези непокорни девойки! Гарантирам, че много ще се забавлявате :)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

[Галина Ганова · Rating 2 out of 5]

„Смърт край реката“ е криминален роман, чието действие се развива около смъртта на счетоводителка в измисления оксфордски девическия колеж „Персефона“ в началото на 20-ти век.
За жалост книгата беше разочароващо скучна за мен, героите нямаха никаква индивидуалност - не можех да различа една от студентките от другите, даже разследващите полицаи по случая нямаха силно сюжетно присъствие.
Макар края да не го предвидих, след стр. 200 вече не се интересувах особено от това да се разплете мистерията, а само да стигне до някакъв завършек.

[Brian G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful golden age mystery set in Oxford.
A body found in a canoe on the River Cherwell starts an investigation into the dead woman's past
A group of young students take on the snooping themselves but soon Scotland Yard are called in.
Wonderfully atmospheric with a great plot and puzzle at the centre.
Too many 'detectives' though made it a bit disjointed. We have the four girls who start the story. A local inspector and then Scotland Yard.
Really enjoyed it though 4 stars

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough call on a star rating here -- I'll opt for like a 3.7 and round up to four stars -- it's a fun story that turned out to be a good mystery with a number of red herrings and many possible suspects.

This book begins with four undergraduate girls who are currently attending Persephone College, Oxford, holding a secret meeting on the roof of a nearby boathouse. They've decided to form their own secret society, the Lode League, the purpose of which is to curse the bursar, the not-much liked Miss Denning. Just as the group rings are being passed out, along comes what looks to be an empty canoe. The girls rush to bring it to shore and discover that the canoe is not only not empty, but that it's carrying the body of the very person they formed their League to curse. Evidently she'd drowned, but as one of the girls, Sally, asks

"How can anyone drown in a canoe?"

Very good question, actually, and one that brings in Scotland Yard to investigate. In the meantime, though, Miss Cordell, Principal of Persephone College, just dreads the publicity that this death is going to bring to the school, one reason why later, the main character Sally (one of the undergrads) realizes that "There'll be an awful tamasha about this," and decides that she and her friends should do all they can to "help try to clear up the mystery, " so as to "find it out so that Persephone doesn't look silly." That's not the only reason that the girls decide to get involved -- their fellow student Draga, a "Yugo-Slav," had already made her feelings about Miss Denning known after the bursar had, as Draga puts it, insulted her. The girls are keen to "cover her tracks," since outsiders evidently won't understand her Yugo-slav temperament. It's a fun little mystery story, and while my choice of suspect turned out to be the killer, it still took me a while to figure it out since there are a variety of people with motives to knock off Miss Denning.

Careful readers will note a wide strand of misogyny running throughout this mystery novel. At one point, for example, a few of the guy pals of our female amateur sleuths are talking, with the main question being that of why "most women get murdered." The answer for one of them is that "Some wretched man gets involved with too many of them and has to remove one or two." Hmmm. Then, of course, there's one suspect whose family has a long, long history of hating women, and as just one final example (although there are many), is that we are told in no uncertain terms that Cambridge in the 1930s has yet to offer real degrees for women students. There's also the anti-foreigner vibe going on a bit here, but thankfully, not too much.

It's a good read, very easy to get through, and I had a much better time with this book than I did with the author's first novel, Murder Underground. Unlike that one, about the only spot where Death on the Cherwell starts to get boggy is while the Inspector takes his time to try to pinpoint alibis for all and sundry, but otherwise it flows very nicely. There are even a few comedic spots that brought out a chuckle or two, my favorite centering on the girls' secret late-night surveillance of a property belonging to one of the suspects. But there's some serious stuff here as well, starting as the book comes down to the big reveal. Nancy Drew it is definitely NOT.

Do not miss Stephen Booth's excellent introduction which puts a nice perspective on Hay's work and that of Dorothy Sayer, whose Gaudy Night was also placed in an academic setting. While Hay's book isn't quite up to the Gaudy Night level of excellence (my personal favorite of Sayers' Lord Peter books), it's still quite fun and a great way to pass a quiet day. People into vintage crime, those who are following the British Library Crime Classics series, or those who are exploring the work of interwar women mystery writers will definitely find a good book here; it may also work well for cozy readers. Plus, I love the cover art -- just love it!!

http://www.crimesegments.com/2017/01/...

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have gotten away with it if not for you snooping kids! Lol, Scooby-Doo flashback!!

Four freshman Oxford college girls are forming a secret society when a canoe drifts by with the body of their Bursar in it. (A Bursar takes care of the financial responsibility of the college-I didn't know that)

It's silly fun, set in the 1930s. The sister of one of her other books is featured in this one. I figured it out pretty quickly, so it's a 3 star for me.

Hays only wrote three mystery novels (of which I've read two and have the third on my TBR) and then wrote a few how-to quilting books. I wish she'd written more mystery 😔.

[Елвира · Rating 2 out of 5]

Авторката пише приятно сатирично, но самата история не е кой знае какво. Бих я гледала на серия, но е много далеч като сложност и атмосфера от Агата Кристи или „Мидсъмър“.

Но пък идеята на „Еднорог“ за издаване на тази поредица е страхона.

[Emma Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this so much. School-set murder mysteries are one of my pet genres and this was really good, plus it's set in Oxford which is my happy place. The one thing I would have liked for it to have is girl detectives - the beginning of the novel has some of the undergrads investigate for a bit but then a detective takes over and he didn't have much charisma (though he was okay). The introduction to this edition is especially good as it reminds us of the sort of Oxford-set murder mystery tradition and does mention Gaudy Night. While Death on the Cherwell doesn't delve as deep into gender issues in academia and in institutions in general as the masterpiece that is Gaudy Night, it does contain some very interesting details and some commentary on that. There's also a foreign student who's introduced with some stereotypical characterization but the author does debunk some of it later on in the novel so do stick with it until the end, it gets better in its dealing with issues of race. I highly recommend this - in fact, I'm really surprised not everyone's talking about this already.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. Well maybe one shouldn't, but I did select the book based on its cover. Charming illustration. Alas, the story was just too dated for me - the writing style, the silliness of the college students, the abrupt way information is revealed. I grew bored with the exhausting details around the timing of who was where along and around the Cherwell around the time of the murder. Sorry, just not for me.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written in 1935 and this is fairly obvious by the style of story telling which does occasional get a bit irritating.
On a January afternoon in Oxford the body of the college bursar of Persephone College is found dead in her canoe by four of the college's students. It is these Persephone girls who suspect foul play and decide to investigate.
A NetGalley Book

[Catie · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 Stars*
BLCC buddy read with @bookishsteph1 - September 2016

[Rosemarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rating for the charming little mystery is actually 3 and a half stars. The novel had an interesting plot, but the writing style was weaker than the plot.

[Vera Zlateva (Kuky.Bookie.14) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Последните дни времето е все по-студено, вечерите все по-мрачни, затова реших, че е време да направя едно книжно приключение до Оксфорд със “Смърт край реката” от Мейвис Дориъл Хей.

Един студен януарски следобед четири студентки от колежа “Персефона” се събират край реката. Тяхната цел е да основат тайно общество срещу госпожица Денинг, която е счетоводителка на колежа и не особено приятна личност. Тайната им среща е нарушена от самата счетоводителка, която лежи мъртва във своето плуващо по реката кану.

Детективите от Скотланд Ярд и момичетата от “Персефона” започват да проследяват всички улики и събития около смъртта на Счети (добре познатото ни нарицателно име на счетоводителите). Показанията на всички заподозрени са объркани и разминаващи се, както и обатоятелствата около самата смърт - дали е случаен инцидент или убийство?

“Смърт край реката” илиза през 1935 година, книгата е част от поредицата на Британската библиотека за класически криминални романи. Обожавам поредицата, защото ме връща в онова време, в което са се използвали класическите методи за разрешаване на дадено престъпление, които често пъти са в проследяване на географското положение, работа на терен с улики, пресъздаване на убийството и класическите британски детективи, разбира се!

“Смърт край реката” е типичен британски криминален роман, който може да ви прави приятна компания в идващите студени дни, докато пиете следобеден чай, типично по английски в духа на самата история.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would say 2.5 for stars. The book starts out all right with first year college students meeting to form a secret club and end up seeing the dead body of their bursar in a boat floating by. I would say the first half of the story felt like a young adult mystery, then the police come in and bam... that ends that and then we follow some of the police, then others at school then the girls again and then Scotland Yard.

This switching of viewpoints to see events made for a fairly muddled story telling; even though the crime and other activities around the Persephone were very interesting. Once I was half way or just a bit more into the story things actually started to smooth out and the detecting actually started to move. The depictions of all the characters were really fun. So while there were elements I found interesting; I found some of the structure actually made the telling awkward a times.

I can't comment on the intro as I got an uncorrected proof to read and it wasn't in the book yet. Also if you're looking for a book that gives some fun descriptions of clothing and speech for this time period it's a great.

[Sharon Ouderkirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

The solution to the Death on the Cherwell is not particularly satisfying, but the journey to get there was filled with charm and humour. Set in the fictional Persephone College at Oxford, it relates the adventures of Sally and her friends as they discover the body of the cranky bursar floating down the Cherwell in a canoe. (The friends have names, but that is the only thing that distinguishes them; Sally was the leader, and thus, more memorable). Their efforts to find out what happened is interspersed by the work of Scotland Yard who are on the case.
I knew who the guilty party was right away, so I would say it was an easy mystery. Still, it was a pleasurable reading experience, a visit to another time (1930s England) where good manners and gentle, teasing humour greased the wheels of social intercourse. I think it could be fairly described as a more sophisticated and better written Nancy Drew; it had the same feeling of youthful high spirits and resourcefulness, but the humour was more subtle and more amusing. Recommended for a relaxing read.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprisingly enjoyable mystery. I did not so much get into the mystery itself, as there was a lot of who was where and saw what on the river at any given minute. However, the atmosphere and characters in the book were great fun, and even the silly girls playing at Nancy Drew were good company. The ending, without spoiling, was also unusual, and I appreciated that fact. It left me a bit sad, but in a rather compelling way.

[Kate Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it’s really important to bear in mind the age in which this book was written and the context of a university college for women. Don’t read the introduction as it acts as a spoiler and the modern lens of patriarchy, misogyny and class, highlighted in the introduction, spoils the read.

It is an early unrecognised detective novel contemporary of many male writers. Saying all this, it’s definitely a naïve spirited detective romp of sorts with the intricate mores of the past evident in the crime. Maybe 4 stars a bit generous but I liked it lots.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Много приятна спокойна кримка от 30-те години на 20-ти век, в която действието се развива в един от девическите колежи на Оксфорд. Авторката създава чудесна атмосфера, а и загадката е интересна. Идеално лятно четиво.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“To my way of thinking, sir, there’s too many impossibilities in this case, and one or other of them’s got to be proved possible if we’re to get any solution,”

[Cphe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed the premise and the setting but the mystery component wasn't as well done.