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Andrew Basnett #3
The Crime and the Crystal
Spending Christmas in Australia with a former student and his wife, Professor Andrew Basnett finds his quiet holiday shattered by two murders, in which the most significant clue is a mysterious piece of crystal
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
51 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Ferrars
91 books28 followersAka E.X. Ferrars.
Born Morna Doris McTaggart in Rangoon, Burma of a Scottish father and an Irish-German mother, she grew up in England where she moved at age six. She attended Bedales school and then took a diploma in journalism at London University.
Her first two novels, 'Turn Single' (1932) and 'Broken Music' (1934), came out under her own name, Morna McTaggart. In the early 1930s she married her first husband but she left him, moved to Belsize Park in London and lived with Dr Robert Brown, a lecturer in botany at Bedford College in 1942. She eventually divorced her first husband in October 1945 and married Dr, later Professor, Brown.
It was in 1940 that her first crime novel 'Give a Corpse a Bad Name' was published under the pseudonymn that she had adopted, Elizabeth (sometimes Elizabeth X. - particularly in the USA) Ferrars, the Ferrars her mother's maiden name. This novel featured her young detective Toby Dyke, who was to feature in four other of her novels.
When her husband was offered a post at Cornell University in the USA, the couple moved there but remained only a year before returning to Britain. They travelled with her husband's work, on one occasion visiting Adelaide when he was a visiting professor at the University of South Australia, and later moved to Edinburgh where her husband was appointed Regius Professor of Botany and they lived in the city until 1977 when, on her husband's retirement, they moved to Blewsbury in Oxfordshire where they lived until her sudden death in 1995.
She continued to write a crime novel almost every year and in 1953 she was a founding member of the Crime Writers' Association of which she later became chairperson in 1977.
As well as her short series of works featuring Toby Dyke, she wrote a series featuring retired botanist Andrew Basnett and another series featuring a semi-estranged married couple, Virginia and Felix Freer. All in all she wrote over seventy novels, her final one 'A Thief in the Night' being published posthumously.
Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor described her as having "a sound enough grasp of motives and human relations and a due regard for probability and technique, but whose people and plot are so standard".
Gerry Wolstenholme
November 2010
Born Morna Doris McTaggart in Rangoon, Burma of a Scottish father and an Irish-German mother, she grew up in England where she moved at age six. She attended Bedales school and then took a diploma in journalism at London University.
Her first two novels, 'Turn Single' (1932) and 'Broken Music' (1934), came out under her own name, Morna McTaggart. In the early 1930s she married her first husband but she left him, moved to Belsize Park in London and lived with Dr Robert Brown, a lecturer in botany at Bedford College in 1942. She eventually divorced her first husband in October 1945 and married Dr, later Professor, Brown.
It was in 1940 that her first crime novel 'Give a Corpse a Bad Name' was published under the pseudonymn that she had adopted, Elizabeth (sometimes Elizabeth X. - particularly in the USA) Ferrars, the Ferrars her mother's maiden name. This novel featured her young detective Toby Dyke, who was to feature in four other of her novels.
When her husband was offered a post at Cornell University in the USA, the couple moved there but remained only a year before returning to Britain. They travelled with her husband's work, on one occasion visiting Adelaide when he was a visiting professor at the University of South Australia, and later moved to Edinburgh where her husband was appointed Regius Professor of Botany and they lived in the city until 1977 when, on her husband's retirement, they moved to Blewsbury in Oxfordshire where they lived until her sudden death in 1995.
She continued to write a crime novel almost every year and in 1953 she was a founding member of the Crime Writers' Association of which she later became chairperson in 1977.
As well as her short series of works featuring Toby Dyke, she wrote a series featuring retired botanist Andrew Basnett and another series featuring a semi-estranged married couple, Virginia and Felix Freer. All in all she wrote over seventy novels, her final one 'A Thief in the Night' being published posthumously.
Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor described her as having "a sound enough grasp of motives and human relations and a due regard for probability and technique, but whose people and plot are so standard".
Gerry Wolstenholme
November 2010
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 26, 2022
3.5 STARS | Next to Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Ferrars has become my favorite mystery writer of the past. Like Christie, she tells a story in short order, mainly through dialogue. It's always a good whodunnit.
Not my favorite of her books or the Andrew Basnett (retired botany professor) series, but definitely a good read. In this one, Andrew travels to Australia at Christmas. He seemed awkward and out of his element compared to his small cozy village in England. The characters spoke openly in front of him a little too much, as if he weren't visible, giving themselves away. But I do love Ferrars concise writing!
Not my favorite of her books or the Andrew Basnett (retired botany professor) series, but definitely a good read. In this one, Andrew travels to Australia at Christmas. He seemed awkward and out of his element compared to his small cozy village in England. The characters spoke openly in front of him a little too much, as if he weren't visible, giving themselves away. But I do love Ferrars concise writing!
May 16, 2023
Not a big cozy reader, but I have gotten attached to this series, with Professor Basnett. 3rd of 6.
This one is set in Australia over the Holidays. But, other than a Christmas dinner, not much "holiday-ish" about it. She doesn't even bring up Boxing Day or New Year's Eve - and New Year's Day just gets mentioned because that is what day it is. No one in the group, or in the whole town for that matter, seems to be celebrating the Holidays! No description of Holiday decorations - or how cool, yet odd, it looks to have warm weather trees strung with Christmas lights.
And at times the conversations are strained to make it a mystery. Who was where and why and when etc etc etc back and forth (like right after the body is found, and the group is coming in off the beach).
OTOH, at times some lovely writing on the Australian setting. And, it is cool that even back in the mid '80's Ferrars was into the Australian wine scene!
In the ened, it kept me wondering who did it until the very end.
But, published in 1985, some of the drug info is hilariously bad! Weed leads to heroin, smoker rushes into house and collapses into a stupor, student of the Prof commits suicide by swallowing a bottle of aspirin!
Nice, quick (165 pp) cozy read. I'll do the other 3 at some point. Relaxing, if not great.
2 = It Was OK.
This one is set in Australia over the Holidays. But, other than a Christmas dinner, not much "holiday-ish" about it. She doesn't even bring up Boxing Day or New Year's Eve - and New Year's Day just gets mentioned because that is what day it is. No one in the group, or in the whole town for that matter, seems to be celebrating the Holidays! No description of Holiday decorations - or how cool, yet odd, it looks to have warm weather trees strung with Christmas lights.
And at times the conversations are strained to make it a mystery. Who was where and why and when etc etc etc back and forth (like right after the body is found, and the group is coming in off the beach).
OTOH, at times some lovely writing on the Australian setting. And, it is cool that even back in the mid '80's Ferrars was into the Australian wine scene!
In the ened, it kept me wondering who did it until the very end.
But, published in 1985, some of the drug info is hilariously bad! Weed leads to heroin, smoker rushes into house and collapses into a stupor, student of the Prof commits suicide by swallowing a bottle of aspirin!
Nice, quick (165 pp) cozy read. I'll do the other 3 at some point. Relaxing, if not great.
2 = It Was OK.
July 27, 2025
I'm still dedicated to this series, but this one is not a favorite. In it Andrew "takes a break from" his own tiny village and travels to Australia to stay with a former student of his who was also, apparently, a good friend.
First of all this is not something I could ever in my life imagine doing, and so the visit felt awkward to me purely based on my own projected awkwardness. Second, we have yet to even see Andrew's tiny village. Here's hoping he stays home for the next one. If Louise Penny can find a way to kill thirty to forty people in a town with three trees, I think Andrew's village can fit a murder or two in somehow.
I also didn't much like the characters in this one, I didn't like the day at the beach on Christmas and the mystery was eh. Thanks to the travel Andrew was tired and falling asleep through at least a third of the book. On the bright side, I still like him and much like the most brilliant of mystery writers (AC), E.X. keeps her books on the shorter side.
First of all this is not something I could ever in my life imagine doing, and so the visit felt awkward to me purely based on my own projected awkwardness. Second, we have yet to even see Andrew's tiny village. Here's hoping he stays home for the next one. If Louise Penny can find a way to kill thirty to forty people in a town with three trees, I think Andrew's village can fit a murder or two in somehow.
I also didn't much like the characters in this one, I didn't like the day at the beach on Christmas and the mystery was eh. Thanks to the travel Andrew was tired and falling asleep through at least a third of the book. On the bright side, I still like him and much like the most brilliant of mystery writers (AC), E.X. keeps her books on the shorter side.
December 3, 2018
Surprisingly interesting Christmas mystery set in Adelaide Australia. Retired professor Andrew Basnett of London is invited to spend the holidays in Adelaide by a former student of his. Turns out the wife of this student is a suspect in a cold-case murder, and a local cop is relentless in his search for the killer. Andrew is a low-key subdued sleuth in his 70s who listens to people, analyzes evidence and comes up with a solution to the case. I shall try to read more books featuring Prof. Basnett.
In addition to being a cozy mystery this is a travelogue featuring southern Australia. There are good descriptions of the landscape and the people in this region. The beaches in the area seem especially interesting. However, remember that Christmas in the southern hemisphere is the peak of summer.
In addition to being a cozy mystery this is a travelogue featuring southern Australia. There are good descriptions of the landscape and the people in this region. The beaches in the area seem especially interesting. However, remember that Christmas in the southern hemisphere is the peak of summer.
November 9, 2019
This was a reread because I have misplaced Trial by Fury also by Ferrars.
I love her. She creates an atmosphere that I can't quite put my finger on.
What makes the book relevant to me today is that I am writing a novel. Her main character, a retired professor, is writing a book on famous scientist Robert Hooke. The professor loves going to the library and doing the research, but he also writes daily. What makes him especially interesting is that daily he eliminates as many words as he writes. This is deliberate. He doesn't want to finish. If he were to finish, then what would he do? He loves the writing process. This is so fun to me.
Anyway, I now find the need to own every EX Ferrars.
I love her. She creates an atmosphere that I can't quite put my finger on.
What makes the book relevant to me today is that I am writing a novel. Her main character, a retired professor, is writing a book on famous scientist Robert Hooke. The professor loves going to the library and doing the research, but he also writes daily. What makes him especially interesting is that daily he eliminates as many words as he writes. This is deliberate. He doesn't want to finish. If he were to finish, then what would he do? He loves the writing process. This is so fun to me.
Anyway, I now find the need to own every EX Ferrars.
August 12, 2025
Good story: entertaining murder mystery. A retired professor travels to Australia from England to visit a former student of his. He gets swept up in a bizarre situation involving a "cold case" murder investigation in which his host's wife is a suspect. Things heat up with another murder: is it linked to the first one? The story has a good plot, some interesting characters (several are annoying people) and the Australian setting plays a small role. It's not the best in the series, but is still worth reading.
Read
August 25, 2023Its hard to enjoy a murder mystery if you dislike all the characters, suspects and victims alike. The only person that landed in jail was someone I felt kind of neutral about. She was pretty bland, wasn't a murderess, and hadn't done much wrong by 2023 standards.
This is a short book, and it started out slow. Add an unsatisfying ending. There's not much to get excited about.
A Christmas mystery set in the heat of an Australian December.
This is a short book, and it started out slow. Add an unsatisfying ending. There's not much to get excited about.
A Christmas mystery set in the heat of an Australian December.
November 16, 2025
B–:
A notch down from the previous two entries in the series, if only because Ferrars reverts to the kind of messy and neurotic circle of characters that makes her lesser novels a bit insufferable. I'm still a fan of these Basnett books but I really hope Ferrars goes back to the cosy, neat structure exhibited in #1 and #2.
It's still a diverting double murder mystery (set a year apart from each other) and I didn't correctly guess the identity of the killer.
A notch down from the previous two entries in the series, if only because Ferrars reverts to the kind of messy and neurotic circle of characters that makes her lesser novels a bit insufferable. I'm still a fan of these Basnett books but I really hope Ferrars goes back to the cosy, neat structure exhibited in #1 and #2.
It's still a diverting double murder mystery (set a year apart from each other) and I didn't correctly guess the identity of the killer.
October 25, 2022
Excellent story
Andrew Basnett, a 71 year old widower, is visiting a former student, Tony, in Australia. Tony is recently married to a woman who may have killed her first husband. And a cast of characters and circumstances begin to accumulate. And a quietly, written book becomes a startling murder mystery.
Andrew Basnett, a 71 year old widower, is visiting a former student, Tony, in Australia. Tony is recently married to a woman who may have killed her first husband. And a cast of characters and circumstances begin to accumulate. And a quietly, written book becomes a startling murder mystery.
November 4, 2021
easy, easy read, Like the main character a lot. Mystery okay too.
July 10, 2022
Fun read
This series is fun and the main character is likable. Read the first two books and will check out # 3
This series is fun and the main character is likable. Read the first two books and will check out # 3
February 11, 2023
This isn't a great series but it is an enjoyable one. They (well, the first 2 at any rate) are rather like a leisurely Sunday drive, relaxing, interesting scenery and good company.
December 25, 2024
The main character is the most amateur of amateur detectives, but he always manages to solve the crime. Short, pleasant read. Set in Australia where they swim after Christmas dinner.
April 23, 2025
Not as good as the previous books in the series but I still enjoyed spending time with Professor Basnett.
July 10, 2015
Septuagenarian and retired biology professor Andrew Basnett heads south of the equator to Australia for the third novel in Elizabeth Ferrars's series starring the academic amateur sleuth. One of Basnett's former students, Tony Gardiner, and his wife Jan have invited him to spend the Christmas holidays with them at their home in Adelaide. Basnett was initially thrilled to have the chance to see his former pupil and to leave the cold, dreary English winter behind for the warmth of the southern hemisphere. But it immediately becomes clear that something is bothering Tony and that there is a tension between him and his wife. Basnett wonders if perhaps he should shorten his holiday and move on to another former pupil who has invited him to visit after the Christmas festivities are over.
Tony assures Basnett that they don't want him to leave and explains the primary reason for their unease. Jan was married previously and lives under a cloud of suspicion following her first husband's murder. To all appearances, Jan has an alibi for the critical time and even if that were to prove untrue it would seem that she is physically incapable of moving the body in the way in which the murderer must have done. But still the sergeant responsible for the investigation seems intent on wearing her down with constant questions and proving her responsible somehow.
On Christmas Day most of the likely suspects are gathered for a beachfront party at Jan's sister's house. When Kay [the sister] is killed in similar circumstances on Christmas Day and Jan disappears from the scene, suspicion again is focused on Tony's wife. It's up to Professor Basnett to spot the clues that will lead to the villain of the piece.
The Professor Basnett mysteries comfortable cozies that satisfy the mystery reader without a lot of blood and gore or psychological thrills and tension. Believable characters are a stock-in-trade for Ferrars and she gives those characters believable motives as well. The plots aren't terribly intricate and the culprit here is easily spotted--though it's a bit more difficult to figure out how they might have managed the first one. I always enjoy a mystery with an academic twist to it and having the good professor as the sleuth provides just enough academic atmosphere to count. A good day's read.
First poste on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
Tony assures Basnett that they don't want him to leave and explains the primary reason for their unease. Jan was married previously and lives under a cloud of suspicion following her first husband's murder. To all appearances, Jan has an alibi for the critical time and even if that were to prove untrue it would seem that she is physically incapable of moving the body in the way in which the murderer must have done. But still the sergeant responsible for the investigation seems intent on wearing her down with constant questions and proving her responsible somehow.
On Christmas Day most of the likely suspects are gathered for a beachfront party at Jan's sister's house. When Kay [the sister] is killed in similar circumstances on Christmas Day and Jan disappears from the scene, suspicion again is focused on Tony's wife. It's up to Professor Basnett to spot the clues that will lead to the villain of the piece.
The Professor Basnett mysteries comfortable cozies that satisfy the mystery reader without a lot of blood and gore or psychological thrills and tension. Believable characters are a stock-in-trade for Ferrars and she gives those characters believable motives as well. The plots aren't terribly intricate and the culprit here is easily spotted--though it's a bit more difficult to figure out how they might have managed the first one. I always enjoy a mystery with an academic twist to it and having the good professor as the sleuth provides just enough academic atmosphere to count. A good day's read.
First poste on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
January 3, 2025
For my full review click on the link below:
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https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
January 24, 2016
I'm not sure what actually led me to select this novel from my local library but it came as a pleasant surprise to find that it was set in my home city of Adelaide.
Andrew Basnett comes to Adelaide to spend Christmas with his former student Tony Gardiner. Tony has recently married and he and his wife Jan live in the fictitious seaside suburb of Betty Hills, which I decided was probably either Brighton or Hove. Twelve months earlier Jan's first husband had been murdered at a local quarry and she and Tony had married within a few months. Jan's sister Kay has also recently married and she and her husband live nearby, a little closer to the beach.
At first I suspected that the author had got most of the details for her setting from travel brochures but then discovered she had actually lived in Adelaide for a short time (see about the author below). I'm not sure why the suburb was named Betty Hills, possibly because it is a combo of the features of more than one of the southern suburbs. Basnett takes a ride on the Glenelg Tram, visits Botanic Park, and refers to The City of Churches.
Basnett thinks things are pretty strained between Tony and his new wife, a little more than is usual in the case of relative newly weds. On Christmas Day a second murder takes place and Jan disappears. Similarities between this murder and the earlier one make it likely that the murderer is the same person.
There is nothing really remarkable about this novel, plenty of allusions to Adelaide's tourist attractions, filling in the setting of a comfortable cozy. It does make me curious about what the other settings of the Basnett series were like:
Andrew Basnett
Something Wicked (1983)
Root of All Evil (1984)
The Crime and the Crystal (1985)
The Other Devil's Name (1986)
A Murder Too Many (1988)
Smoke Without Fire (1990)
A Hobby of Murder (1994)
A Choice of Evils (1995)
They were all published in the last 12 years of Ferrars' life.
Andrew Basnett comes to Adelaide to spend Christmas with his former student Tony Gardiner. Tony has recently married and he and his wife Jan live in the fictitious seaside suburb of Betty Hills, which I decided was probably either Brighton or Hove. Twelve months earlier Jan's first husband had been murdered at a local quarry and she and Tony had married within a few months. Jan's sister Kay has also recently married and she and her husband live nearby, a little closer to the beach.
At first I suspected that the author had got most of the details for her setting from travel brochures but then discovered she had actually lived in Adelaide for a short time (see about the author below). I'm not sure why the suburb was named Betty Hills, possibly because it is a combo of the features of more than one of the southern suburbs. Basnett takes a ride on the Glenelg Tram, visits Botanic Park, and refers to The City of Churches.
Basnett thinks things are pretty strained between Tony and his new wife, a little more than is usual in the case of relative newly weds. On Christmas Day a second murder takes place and Jan disappears. Similarities between this murder and the earlier one make it likely that the murderer is the same person.
There is nothing really remarkable about this novel, plenty of allusions to Adelaide's tourist attractions, filling in the setting of a comfortable cozy. It does make me curious about what the other settings of the Basnett series were like:
Andrew Basnett
Something Wicked (1983)
Root of All Evil (1984)
The Crime and the Crystal (1985)
The Other Devil's Name (1986)
A Murder Too Many (1988)
Smoke Without Fire (1990)
A Hobby of Murder (1994)
A Choice of Evils (1995)
They were all published in the last 12 years of Ferrars' life.
March 6, 2014
#3. The Crime And The Crystal [1985] 6 hours 30 mins, read by Graham Roberts
Andrew Basnett, that endearing professor of botany who has discovered in retirement a talent for solving crime, decides to accept an invitation from a former student, Tony Gardiner, to spend Christmas with him and his newly wedded wife in Adelaide, where, so Andrew observes, he has heard more bizarre murders have happened than anywhere else in Australia. He soon finds his quiet holiday shattered by two more murders, in which the most significant clue is a mysterious piece of crystal...
going to dump this series.....
Read
January 7, 2022The third book by Elizabeth Ferrars featuring retired professor of Botany, Andrew Basnett, although you would not know it from the contents as his previous crime solving exploits are not mentioned.
This one brings him to Australia from the old dart to spend Christmas with an old student and his new wife.
Naturally he gets caught up with a murder. This is an unusual whodunnit in that the finale is rather open ended.
This one brings him to Australia from the old dart to spend Christmas with an old student and his new wife.
Naturally he gets caught up with a murder. This is an unusual whodunnit in that the finale is rather open ended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2011
Short but good psychological murder mystery and thriller. It's a story where the feelings and actions of the people are palpable... and the Professor as the outside observer, was a perfect way to have us watch this story.
October 18, 2012
A meandering, easily paced mystery. Set in Australia, it features elderly sleuth Andrew Basnett who is visiting an old friend Tony and his wife. Both an old murder and a new one involve him and he carefully comes up with his own solution.. A nice parlour mystery.
December 4, 2008
Not as esoteric as it sounds.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews