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Adam Ludlow #2
KILLED BY SCANDAL
The scholar Adam Ludlow is asked to deliver a lecture on Sheridan to an aspiring group of amateur actors who are about to present The School for Scandal. It becomes overly dramatic perhaps when at a rehearsal with Ludlow present, the famous revelation scene in Act IV discloses a state of affairs even more shocking than that intended by the playwright. Killed by Scandal thereby becomes a doubly evocative title. Ludlow's keen observation provides good clues and permits him to demolish a clever alibi when he joins Inspector Montero of the C.I.D. in an adroit and witty investigation.
- GenresMystery
223 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1962
12 people want to read
About the author
Simon Nash
18 books1 followerA pseudonym used by Raymond Chapman, Emeritus Professor of English at London University and an Anglican priest, for five mystery novels published in the 1960s. Professor Chapman worked as a non-stipendiary priest in Southwark, and is currently on the staff at St Mary's Barnes in Southwest London. His police detectives are Inspector Montero and Sergeant Jack Springer, unofficially aided by the gifted amateur Adam Ludlow. Chapman has also written many books on religious themes and English literature.
(info courtesy ofgadetection)
Born in 1924, passed away in 2013.
(info courtesy ofgadetection)
Born in 1924, passed away in 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 31, 2021
This is a 1962 book by English author Raymond Chapman, writing using the pseudonym Simon Nash. It is the second book in his five-book series featuring amateur detective / university lecturer Adam Ludlow. This is one of those old school English village cozy mystery with an academic as the detective. It is also a police procedural book with a lot of witness interviews and where the police (Scotland Yard Inspector Montero and his sidekick Detective Sergeant Springer) are both quite competent. Montero is a good friend of Ludlow so the two cooperate on the case instead of working against each other.
The setting of the story is in early 1960s in a small village outside London called Haleham Green in a civic building that has a stage and an auditorium. The book has a very handy diagram showing the layout of the amateur theater which is crucial for readers who want to try to solve the puzzle plot or to understand how the murder is carried out. The book is well written although it did get a little bit slow in the middle. The ending and the solution, however, are quite brilliant.
Spoiler Alert. Adam Ludlow is an English literature scholar and a lecturer at London University. When an amateur theatrical society called Haleham Green Thespians wants to put up a play written by Richard Sheridan called The School for Scandal, they invited Ludlow to go the Haleham Green to give a speech on Richard Sheridan. There, Ludlow got to see first-hand the conflicts and tension among the various members of the cast. A week later, he accepted an invitation to visit Haleham Green again to attend the dress rehearsal. During the rehersal, a local big wig, a rich semi-retired businessman called Bartholomew Bould, was found murdered on stage with his neck broken. While he was last seen alive going to the kitchen of the building during the rehearsal, his body was inexplicitly found on the stage behind a screen. Since Bartholomew is widely unpopular, being rude and obnoxious to all, everyone in the building during the dress rehearsal became a potential suspect. A lot of efforts were spent by the police in trying to pinpoint everybody’s movements during the dress rehearsal and to figure out who has a motive to kill him. This gave Nash plenty of opportunity to lay down a few red herrings for readers.
It turns out the murderer is Terrance Colbert, the producer of the play and a teacher at the local Grammar School. Ludlow, while doing background check on Colbert, checked with the school registrar of the university where Colbert claimed he graduated from but Ludlow were not able to find his name there. Ludlow found, however, a Terrance Bould who graduated around that time. With the help of Inspector Montero, they were able to uncover that Terrance is the son of Bartholomew Bould. Years ago Bartholomew divorced Terrance’s mother and left mother and son in very poor financial condition. Recently, Terrance’s mother died and Terrance decided to kill Bartholomew in revenge. That night, during the dress rehearsal in the dark auditorium, Terrance took advantage of the geography of the building (that’s why the map is important for readers to have handy) and the fact that an actor called Donald Hedge always make mistakes in his performance. Terrance was able to time his movement so that he slipped out of the dark auditorium and went to the kitchen and killed Bartholomew in the minutes that he will not be missed. He then waited behind a curtain until he heard Hedge has made a mistake. Terrance then complained loudly about that error and made a point of walking up the stage from a stair that look like he is coming from the auditorium whereas he was coming from a different stair that is from the kitchen side. His plan, however, was put into disarray when another actor, Clifford Fielding, discovered Bartholomew’s dead body in the kitchen later. Fielding just had a heated argument with Bartholomew in front of everybody and Fielding also owe Bartholomew 500 pounds and have given him a promissory note. In order to avoid suspicion and to have a chance to go to Bartholomew’s house to steal the note back, Fielding moved the dead body from the kitchen to behind the screen on the stage, thinking it then will not be discovered until tomorrow since the part of the play that involved moving the screen has already been played. Unbeknownst to Fielding, Terrance decided to replay that scene, and therefore Bartholomew’s dead body was prematurely discovered. In the end, Ludlow set up a dénouement scene by having all parties go back to the theater to recreate the rehearsal, where he demonstrated how Terrance had the opportunity to slip out to kill Bartholomew and how Fielding were able to move the body. Terrance was then arrested for murder.
The setting of the story is in early 1960s in a small village outside London called Haleham Green in a civic building that has a stage and an auditorium. The book has a very handy diagram showing the layout of the amateur theater which is crucial for readers who want to try to solve the puzzle plot or to understand how the murder is carried out. The book is well written although it did get a little bit slow in the middle. The ending and the solution, however, are quite brilliant.
Spoiler Alert. Adam Ludlow is an English literature scholar and a lecturer at London University. When an amateur theatrical society called Haleham Green Thespians wants to put up a play written by Richard Sheridan called The School for Scandal, they invited Ludlow to go the Haleham Green to give a speech on Richard Sheridan. There, Ludlow got to see first-hand the conflicts and tension among the various members of the cast. A week later, he accepted an invitation to visit Haleham Green again to attend the dress rehearsal. During the rehersal, a local big wig, a rich semi-retired businessman called Bartholomew Bould, was found murdered on stage with his neck broken. While he was last seen alive going to the kitchen of the building during the rehearsal, his body was inexplicitly found on the stage behind a screen. Since Bartholomew is widely unpopular, being rude and obnoxious to all, everyone in the building during the dress rehearsal became a potential suspect. A lot of efforts were spent by the police in trying to pinpoint everybody’s movements during the dress rehearsal and to figure out who has a motive to kill him. This gave Nash plenty of opportunity to lay down a few red herrings for readers.
It turns out the murderer is Terrance Colbert, the producer of the play and a teacher at the local Grammar School. Ludlow, while doing background check on Colbert, checked with the school registrar of the university where Colbert claimed he graduated from but Ludlow were not able to find his name there. Ludlow found, however, a Terrance Bould who graduated around that time. With the help of Inspector Montero, they were able to uncover that Terrance is the son of Bartholomew Bould. Years ago Bartholomew divorced Terrance’s mother and left mother and son in very poor financial condition. Recently, Terrance’s mother died and Terrance decided to kill Bartholomew in revenge. That night, during the dress rehearsal in the dark auditorium, Terrance took advantage of the geography of the building (that’s why the map is important for readers to have handy) and the fact that an actor called Donald Hedge always make mistakes in his performance. Terrance was able to time his movement so that he slipped out of the dark auditorium and went to the kitchen and killed Bartholomew in the minutes that he will not be missed. He then waited behind a curtain until he heard Hedge has made a mistake. Terrance then complained loudly about that error and made a point of walking up the stage from a stair that look like he is coming from the auditorium whereas he was coming from a different stair that is from the kitchen side. His plan, however, was put into disarray when another actor, Clifford Fielding, discovered Bartholomew’s dead body in the kitchen later. Fielding just had a heated argument with Bartholomew in front of everybody and Fielding also owe Bartholomew 500 pounds and have given him a promissory note. In order to avoid suspicion and to have a chance to go to Bartholomew’s house to steal the note back, Fielding moved the dead body from the kitchen to behind the screen on the stage, thinking it then will not be discovered until tomorrow since the part of the play that involved moving the screen has already been played. Unbeknownst to Fielding, Terrance decided to replay that scene, and therefore Bartholomew’s dead body was prematurely discovered. In the end, Ludlow set up a dénouement scene by having all parties go back to the theater to recreate the rehearsal, where he demonstrated how Terrance had the opportunity to slip out to kill Bartholomew and how Fielding were able to move the body. Terrance was then arrested for murder.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2011
I stumbled across Simon Nash in one of my many used bookstore rambles. I'd never heard of him before. But when I read the synopsis of the book I held in my hand that day, I was immediately hooked--for I had found another academic mystery series to hunt down. Nash wrote five books featuring scholar Adam Ludlow and his frequent brushes with mysterious circumstances. And that's just about all I've been able to find out about Nash. It appears from various links in Google that Nash was a pseudonym for Raymond Chapman who also wrote religious works and works on literature. But I couldn't dig up much more under that name either.
However, I can give you a synopsis of Killed by Scandal, the delightful academic mystery that I read a few too many moons ago to give you a real review--although I do remember it as a very witty and smartly written book. I'll also share a few of the choice quotes that I snatched and added to my collection. First, the synopsis:
The scholar Adam Ludlow is asked to deliver a lecture on Sheridan to an aspiring group of amateur actors who are about to present the play The School for Scandal. It becomes overly dramatic perhaps when, at a rehearsal with Ludlow present, the famous revelation scene in Act IV discloses a state of affairs more shocking than that intended by the playwright. Killed by Scandal thereby becomes a doubly evocative title. Ludlow's keen observation provides good clues and permits him to demolish a clever alibi when he joins Inspector Montero of the C.I.D. in an adroit and witty investigation.
However, I can give you a synopsis of Killed by Scandal, the delightful academic mystery that I read a few too many moons ago to give you a real review--although I do remember it as a very witty and smartly written book. I'll also share a few of the choice quotes that I snatched and added to my collection. First, the synopsis:
The scholar Adam Ludlow is asked to deliver a lecture on Sheridan to an aspiring group of amateur actors who are about to present the play The School for Scandal. It becomes overly dramatic perhaps when, at a rehearsal with Ludlow present, the famous revelation scene in Act IV discloses a state of affairs more shocking than that intended by the playwright. Killed by Scandal thereby becomes a doubly evocative title. Ludlow's keen observation provides good clues and permits him to demolish a clever alibi when he joins Inspector Montero of the C.I.D. in an adroit and witty investigation.
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August 27, 2016I love two mysteries by Simon Nash (a pseudonym), Death over Deep Water and Dead Woman's Ditch, so I tracked down this one. I think I'm going to have to reread it, because even though I read it just a month or two ago, I remember nothing.
The amateur detective character is a university professor. here's a passage demonstrating the dry-wit tone of his books: He handed the test-paper back to a final year student and looked more benevolent than his words suggested. "Furthermore, you shouldn't talk about Browning's psychology when you mean Browning's religious belief. You don't make hard things easier to explain by putting them in terms which claim a scientific backing." Nice!
The amateur detective character is a university professor. here's a passage demonstrating the dry-wit tone of his books: He handed the test-paper back to a final year student and looked more benevolent than his words suggested. "Furthermore, you shouldn't talk about Browning's psychology when you mean Browning's religious belief. You don't make hard things easier to explain by putting them in terms which claim a scientific backing." Nice!
Want to read
October 2, 2018Synopsis: scholar Adam Ludlow is asked to deliver a lecture to a group of amateur actors. A body shows up.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews