Last Will and Testament

Virginia Freer #1

by E.X. Ferrars

The death of an elderly friend was posing problems for Virginia, for there was something suspicious about her will. She had had a penchant for changing wills, and the bequest in her last one was suprising - but was it actually her last? The author also wrote "Alive and Dead" and "A Legal Fiction".

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 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

[Jazz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the two main sleuths, Virginia and Felix Freer—separated, but not divorced, because they had never bothered and simply gone their separate ways. Felix just pops in on her whenever. He is a charming rascal and a con man, while Virginia is the moralist and realist. As she puts it, "If only we could have arranged to see little enough of each other, we might have worked out some kind of happy marriage."

Felix takes the lead in this first of the series solving the case of an elderly woman whose will was (or was not) changed at the last moment. But it is not she who is the murder victim, so that was a nice change of plot. The surprise is who does get murdered.

My only criticism was Virginia acts mostly as a Dr. Watson here and there seemed to a be a lot of repetition of the facts in the course of the book. But I quite liked the thing as a mystery. And E.X. Ferrars has turned into one of my very favorites.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was disappointing, after my great love of the Andrew Bassnett series. This series features a bickering couple who is planning their divorce as the investigators. I found that aspect depressing—the woman can’t really stand the man and she feels like she can’t trust him because he lies and steals. So to me, that’s a major downer to be reading about in between the mystery plot.
I don’t plan to read further in this series.

[Stela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mi-a placut autoarea asta britanica, iar intriga e bine sustinuta. Ca sa nu mai spun ca detectivul ad-hoc e un escroc simpatic care mi-a amintit de Arsène Lupin.

[Cece · Rating 3 out of 5]

She plots a good mystery, in the vein of Christie, Marsh, Sayers and Heyer.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Într-o frumoasă dimineaţă de mai, la ora opt şi câteva minute, de cum am băgat cheia în broască şi am deschis uşa locuinţei mele din strada Ellsworthy, am ştiut că ceva nu este în regulă. Am simţit miros de ţigară, deşi nu mai fumam de zece ani.

Intrând în casă, am închis uşa cu oarecare zgomot, mi-am agăţat pardesiul pe un cuier din antreu şi am intrat în camera de zi.

― A, tu erai, păi sigur, am zis. Ce naiba cauţi aici?

Fostul meu soţ Felix Freer se sculă de pe canapeaua pe care stătuse întins confortabil şi mă întâmpină cu un zâmbet sfios.

― Dacă-i pe-aşa, Virginia, tu spune-mi mie unde-ai fost toată noaptea? ― mă întrebă el. Am fost al naibii de îngrijorat din pricina ta.

― Când ai sosit? ― l-am luat eu la întrebări.

― Aseară pe la zece.

― Ce vânt te-a adus?

― De ce mi vorbeşti pe tonul ăsta. Pentru Dumnezeu? Îşi stinse ţigara. Am nişte treburi de rezolvat prin împrejurimi şi m-am gândit să trec pe-aici, să stăm la o şuetă. Şi când am văzut că nu vii acasă şi n-ai luat cu tine nimic, nici măcar periuţa de dinţi, mi-am zis că mai bine rămân să văd dacă n-ai păţit ceva.

― Poate mi-am cumpărat o periuţă nouă, am răspuns eu. Uneori îmi mai cumpăr.

― Bine, bine, făcu el. Dar cum plecaseşi cu maşina, ai fi putut avea un accident. M-am hotărât să-ncep cu telefoanele la spitale şi, eventual, la poliţie, dacă nu apari până la ora nouă dimineaţa. Să nu uităm că se-ntâmplă nişte lucruri cumplite. Uneori dispar oameni şi nu se mai aude niciodată nimic despre ei. Doar nu te aşteptai să plec înainte de-a te găsi, nu-i aşa?

― Nu eşti tu omul care să sune la poliţie după ajutor, i-am spus eu.

M-am prăbuşit pe un scaun, Eram prea obosită ca să mă mai las cuprinsă de supărarea neputincioasă, neghioabă, care mă-ncerca ori de câte ori îl vedeam pe Felix. Eram despărţiţi de cinci ani, dar nu izbuteam să trec peste amărăciunea pe care mi-o lăsase scurta experienţă a căsătoriei noastre.

Ne luaserăm când aveam amândoi vârsta de treizeci şi trei de ani şi ne despărţiserăm după trei ani. Nu ne-am bătut capul niciodată cu divorţul, ci, pur şi simplu, ne-am urmat fiecare calea pe cont propriu; Felix şi-a continuat viaţa obscură, misterioasă pe care o ducea la Londra, iar eu m-am întors în casa pe care o moştenisem de la mama în orăşelul Allingford, unde copilărisem şi unde mi-am reluat vechea mea îndeletnicire de fizioterapeută, lucrând cu program redus.

Adevărul e că n-aveam nevoie să muncesc. Mama îmi lăsase destui bani din care să trăiesc, chiar dacă nu pe picior mare, dar mă-ntorsesem la clinică, fiindcă era de preferat activităţilor filantropice sau partidelor de golf ori bridge; cât despre ocupaţia exactă a lui Felix, preferam să nu ştiu prea multe.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fresh from the concluding chapter of the Andrew Basnett series, I've cracked open this series by Ferrars. While a sample reading long ago didn't thrill me, I'm somehow now in a place to suspect I might end up liking this series even more.

There are, of course, some similar ingredients. Here, as often with Ferrars, we have a contested inheritance, as well as a cast of characters with various motivations to see the last known existing will go through (or not). Throw in a murder (and then usually at least another call-and-response murder) and you're off to the Ferrars races.

As for our protagonist(s), this time we've got a (happily?) divorced couple, and there is where I think greater magic may lie for me. By book 8 of the Basnett series, Ferrars had still only really dipped her toe into a broader, deeper pool of character for her protagonist, in that his bristly edges were usually quickly brushed down. Here, both of our protagonists come out bristles blazing, to the point where the fate of their friendship/union holds equal intrigue to the marriage at hand.

As a reader in 2026, Virginia and Felix often brought not only a Nick and Nora vibe but also a Kate and Hal (Netflix's Diplomat) feel to things, where the stakes of "will they ever just finally get along?" are artfully raised to the level of whatever other intrigue is going on.

All in a all, a great start to this series, even if, in semi-typical fashion for me with this author, the spiderweb of suspects occasionally goes from intriguingly tangled to h0-hum-ed-ly muddled.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just couldn’t get into this one. The bickering couple isn’t endearing in large part to the fact that Virginia feels more contempt and distrust than affection for her ex husband, con man Felix who is neither reformed nor contrite. Perhaps these skills translate well to detection when needed, but they grate so much in the introductory scenes that I couldn’t imagine spending a few hundred pages with this character as one of the protagonists and good guys. He’s too shady and manipulative and I empathize deeply with Virginia trying to keep her distance and maintain boundaries, which he blithely disregards on all fronts.
A shame because from what I have read of the biography of this author she lead an interesting life, pulling from real world observations and experiences to build her stories, and her plotting for mysteries received numerous accolades and praise. She was a member of the famed Detection Club along with the other legends of the Golden Age of Mystery. Will consider trying one of her other series featuring another sleuth if I happen across it, but can’t say I’ll make it a priority to go looking for her other works given the lackluster amateur detective leads here.

[Kidlitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I try to read a Virginia and Felix mystery whenever I can - they're so quiet and spare in the style as rather dull English people go about their business but then pop! something horrid happens. Of all people, the permanently-separated-but-still-attached couple of amateur sleuths decide to wade in and solve whodunnit. They always get their man (almost always a man) and Felix does most of the detecting in these decidedly pre-lib books, but Virginia's dry observations on all and sundry, most especially Felix, add quite a bit to the story. Ferrars is not one to go too deeply into emotion, but there's always an awful lot bubbling under the surface, particularly Virginia's. She is not the coziest of writers but absolutely a clever one.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Satisfying golden age detective mystery with interesting detectives that reminded me some of the couple in Murder at the Brightwell. It takes a while for the murder to actually happen and the mystery itself didn't really hold my interest. But it was interesting enough to pique my interest in reading more by this author.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

perhaps 3 1/2.

I enjoyed this story though it was a bit complex. I do dislike having my attention confused by the characters going on about who is guilty and why…then I forget my own trail of thought. But I suppose that’s the purpose of the meandering monologues about who’s guilty and why.

[Melissa Lindberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I was a bit confused by the time period - it read very 1950s to me, but she actually wrote it in 1978 and I think it really was her take on 1970s British life. A very good mystery, with much confusion about what is actually going on and who did what.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect English mystery! I found a kindred spirit in narrator, Virginia Freer.

[Allison Henle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was surprisingly charming and intelligent.

[Kat Walter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light read. Very light.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wealthy 84 year old Mrs Arliss is dead from her second stroke. Unfortunately for her relations most of her wealth has gone. Then the first murder occurs. Virginia and Felix Freer wonder who the murderer is. Can Virginia trust anything that her estranged husband says.
An enjoyable mystery

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

worth the read

An interesting potpourri of characters. Felix is a liar and a con man. As a consequence, he makes for an imaginative detective. He is Virginia's estranged husband. He involves himself in the murder of the niece of one of Virginia's elderly friends. Lots of intrigue in a comical sort of setting.

[Andrea]

Trying my hand at Ferrars again, but first a note on ebook quality. The version I bought (on Google Play) has no quotation marks, apostrophes or dashes - making for a rather challenging reading experience! The same ebook on Amazon doesn't seem to have this issue. Poor quality control.

For the book itself, this is a very unusual pair of detectives. Virginia is a physiotherapist (aged around 40), who is separated from an extremely charming man named Felix, who proved to be an inveterate, almost compulsive con artist. While he does have certain crimes he won't do (blackmail, murder) he never hesitates to embroil Virginia in his crimes and to steal from her.

I really hate con artist characters. I'm so-so on thief characters altogether, but con artists so frequently betray _trust_ that I hate spending time around them. And Felix makes Virginia miserable. The concept of him turning his own criminal tendencies to the investigation of crime for a series of seven or eight books is rather clever, but I so thoroughly dislike the relationship between them - thoroughly believable as it might be - that even though I really liked Virginia I won't be reading on with this series.

[Jeff Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are from a subgenre that I personally enjoy very much, not sure there's even a title for it though. Genteel mysteries, perhaps? Anyway, they usually feature very little in the way of sensational violence, and they're not particularly active, so they can be quite a slow read, but i find them relaxing, enjoyable, and they don't require a particularly attentive reader. I listen to many audiobooks at work, so i end up reading (or listening to) 5-8 books a week, and I don't like not finishing a book once i start, so I probably could be said to have lower standards than many readers. I would recommend this book to someone who doesn't mind books that move slowly, and being an anglophile probably would help, as they have a distinctly British sensability.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When wealthy Mrs. Arliss dies, the family is shocked to learn that she had spent all her money on annuities, so no-one was going to inherit much in value. Her husband's collection of miniatures was worth something, probably--but it had disappeared, along with the servants. Enter Felix Freer, estranged husband of Mrs. Arliss's friend Virginia. Virginia knew that Felix was dishonest, but she's shocked to learn that he had recommended the servants to Mrs. Arliss. In his defense, he swears that he believed that they were going to go straight this time. But when one of Mrs. Arliss's heirs is found murdered, things get even more tense among the survivors.

[Melly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Virginia Freer, the chief sleuth, has an estranged con-artist quasi-ex-husband named Felix who drops in every once in awhile. He lounges around the house, makes her tea, and cooks her meals. Then he leaves.
If you ask me, this is one of the most realistic romantic relationships ever presented in modern literature.

[Shannon Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio book. Fun listen, great reader.