Blue Murder

by Harriet Rutland

That settles it, thought Smith savagely. He shall be murdered, even if I have to do it myself!The Hardstaffe family are not the nicest people in the world. In fact, he - schoolteacher, lothario and bully, she - chronic malcontent - and their horsey unmarried adult daughter seem to be prime candidates for murder. A writer planning these deaths, on paper at least, and a young girl, chased by old Hardstaffe, are the only outsiders in a deliciously neat, but nasty, case.Blue Murder was the last of Harriet Rutland's mystery novels, first published in 1942. This new edition, the first in over 70 years, features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.'(A) newcomer of exceptional promise' Howard Haycroft

Genres: Mystery, 20th Century, Mystery Thriller, Golden Age Mystery, Crime

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Harriet Rutland was the pen-name of Olive Shimwell. She was born Olive Seers in 1901, the daughter of a prosperous Birmingham builder and decorator. Little is known of the author's early life but in 1926 she married microbiologist John Shimwell, with whom she moved to a small village near Cork in Ireland. This setting, transplanted to Devon, inspired her first mystery novel Knock, Murderer, Knock! which was published in 1938. The second of Harriet Rutland's mysteries, Bleeding Hooks, came out in 1940, and the third and last, Blue Murder, was published in November 1942. All three novels are remarkable for their black comedy, innovative plots, and pin-sharp portraits of human behaviour, especially concerning relationships between men and women. Olive and John were divorced in the early forties, and Olive apparently did not publish anything further. She died in Newton Abbot in 1962.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1942, this is the third, and last, of Harriet Rutland's published mysteries. I am delighted they have been republished as she is a little-known author now, but her books are really very interesting.

Arnold Smith is a writer who has been advised by his publisher to try a crime novel. His romantic adventures are out of date, but he doubts he can do anything new. When he is bombed out, he rents a room at the Hardstaffe's and soon decides to use the family as his fictional victims. Mr Hardstaffe is a love-lorn headmaster, who is violent and abusive towards his hypochondriac wife and wants to make a young teacher his mistress. Leda is the hearty and capable daughter, who breeds dogs and helps out in the village of Neether Naughton, while the married son has argued with his father and lives elsewhere.

There are motives a-plenty in this book, while Rutland, divorced herself in the early 1940's, portrays the characters weaknesses, unhappiness and faults realistically. If you like Golden Age crime, give Harriet Rutland a try.

[Carolien · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Arnold, an author in search of inspiration and to escape the bombing of London ends up in the countryside with the Hardstaffes - headmaster of local school and philanderer, his hypochondriac wife and very competent daughter, Leda, who breeds dogs and runs most of the war committees in the little village. The atmosphere in the house is such that Arnold is soon writing a murder mystery using the household members as cast. Well plotted with a very unexpected ending, we also experience some of the logistical challenges of managing a household on rations without staff during wartime. I wish the author wrote more books in her life.

[Kavita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third and final book by Harriet Rutland, Blue Murder is just about brilliant. In this one, the setting is World War II. The Hardstaffe family had to take in a boarder to help with the war effort. The autocratic and brutal headmaster of the local school, his wife, the ever-suffering hypochondriac, and their daughter, the hearty and not so beautiful Leda, make up this household into which the writer, Arthur Smith, enters. Throw in a German Jewish maid on the run from Hitler, a young, beautiful teacher, and a disinherited son into the mix, and you have a recipe just right for murder.

Blue Murder is a very convincing tale of the war years. But it also shows the old-world village life to full effect. The characters are very beautifully taken from real life and I spent my time wondering who could have done the deed. To be honest, I managed to deduce the murderer quite early on, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the book. And there was a surprise coming, anyway!

The ending is unusual for a book of this sort, but I really enjoyed it. It was amazingly suspenseful and I couldn't forget the story for a while after I finished reading. What if ...? Hmmm? Oh well! A great writer, Rutland! She should have been more prolific. I am sure she could have rivalled Christie.

[Susan in NC · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, the 1/2 for a shocking, dramatic end - well, not totally, because the killer became rather obvious to me, so I jumped ahead and read the last chapter and learned I was right.

The basic story concerns a pompous, womanizing, elderly schoolmaster in a small village. He lives with his wealthy, hypochondriac wife and horsey, dog-breeding daughter; none are likable characters. A London writer, fleeing the Blitz, comes to board with them. First, the wife is found dead in her bed, unsavory secrets are revealed about the unpleasant father, then he’s murdered.

Despite the unlikeable family, it was pretty interesting, but I found the Scotland Yard Inspector, Driver, rather ridiculous and unprofessional - he seemed to jump on each suspect as he interviewed them, accusing them of being the killer. I don’t know if that was legal back then (this was published during WWII), to accuse a suspect without making a case or formal charges, but it didn’t seem very effective. It just made the lower class people (the maid), panic, and the upper class characters calmly refute the accusation.

This writer only wrote three mysteries, but she seemed to be having fun poking at the profession, publishers, and as the introduction warned, the institution of marriage itself, as she had had a rather miserable time of it herself. Rather dark, but amusing, and interesting that she includes a German Jewish war refugee as a maid, and refers to the awful experiences she has had. I got the impression from the introduction that this was unique in wartime detective fiction.

[Puzzle Doctor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top notch classic crime with a stunning ending. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dragging and a depressing end. Otherwise good.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rather odd and even disturbing mystery with one of the most unpleasant bunch of characters that I’ve ever encountered in such a book. These include a vicious and arrogant headmaster, his bitter hypochondriac wife, their two selfish and callous adult children, a glamorous young teacher who is characterised as a ‘gold digger’, and a Jewish refugee working as a maid who is unsurprisingly deeply disturbed by her experiences but is alternately mistreated and ignored by the household.

Into this home comes an elderly bachelor, Arnold Smith, who is looking for inspiration as a detective novelist as his romance novels have gone out of fashion. Before long, he becomes aware of the growing tensions in the house and soon Mrs Hardstaffe is found dead. As the police investigate the murder, the characters begin to behave ever more bizarrely and another death seems inevitable.

The plot was actually quite clever, but there was so much about this story that I found distasteful, unpleasant or weird that I couldn’t fully concentrate on the mystery and didn’t much care who the killer was. It was well written and had a neat ending, but I won’t be rushing to read any more by Harriet Rutland.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely a different sort of Golden Age mystery and well written but I did not enjoy spending time with the unlikeable characters. Hoped for retribution for them all by the end.

[Karen Plummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly don't know how to describe this book. To say I loved and hated it doesn't make sense. I loved the complexity, the character development, the overabundance of clues that lead in every direction. I hate some of the characters... Rutland has a rare talent for writing characters that you absolutely hate and hope that they are murdered or end up as the murderer. I love the character of Arthur Smith, the paying guest and hopeful mystery writer. I hate Mr. Hardstaffe with a passion I didn't know I had. The characters overall are so quirky and interesting that I really couldn't put the book down. And the ending... I'm still in shock! I ended up reading the last chapter three times!

This is the third of the three mysteries that Harriet Rutland wrote and is, in my opinion, the best of the bunch. Well-written, with a great mix of humor and drama, and an uncomfortable look at the prejudices of the time period (WWII England).

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stood up well in a re-reading.

I would be hard put to choose a favourite from the three Harriet Rutlands as each has its admirable qualities.

Here we have good writing, satire, excellent handling of plot and characters, and interesting insights into English life in WW2. It is one of the few wartime mysteries to deal with Hitler's treatment of the Jews while highlighting the prevalence of anti-semitism in English society.

It is unique in that there is hardly a sympathetic character to be found: victims and suspects alike are pretty loathsome. The ending is a surprise with the final chapters especially well-written.

The writer has a sardonic view of the relations between men and women and a tongue-in-cheek attitude towards the writing of murder-mysteries. Would that she had written more!

Highly recommended.

[Jan C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably 3 1/2☆. Upon completion all I could say was "Wow!". A number of suspects for the first two murders. Inspector Driver didn't seem to be making much headway on the resolution. Both the daughter and the son had motive. The father's girlfriend had motive. She seemed to bewitch every man she met.

But I went back and forth on this book all the way through it. But in the end I am glad I stuck with it. The ending was definitely worth it.

[Gail Gassen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not

Did not see that coming! Well its really a differently written book! Talk about twists & turns this book has it, and the ending is set on the edge of your seat! I almost screamed at the end! So be ready for a twisted not usual ending!

[Gowri N. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though well written, this GAD novel had too few suspects and so, by the time you're halfway in, you'll know who the murderer is. The setup is interesting but the characterization is far from it. As a period piece, it's a good read, but as a work of detective fiction, it doesn't pass muster.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book that I have read from this author, and enjoyed both. The third book she wrote is still to be read by me. Set during the war, this is about an author who finds that life in London is too much for him with the bombings, and so answers an ad to stay at a house in the countryside as an evacuee. He arrives at the house to be met by a family who consist of a mother who is an almost a bedridden hypochondriac, a father who is a very strict, hated headmaster of a school, and a daughter who breeds dogs. He finds the life here very good, he enjoys walks in the countryside with daughter and her dogs, but does find the father to be a stickler for a routine, and a very dominating figure. There also a brother to the sister but he left the house some years ago due to an argument with the father. It now seems that the father, a lecherous old man is having an affair with one of the young female teachers at his school, but it is the mother's money that ties him to his wife. It is not long before the mother is found to have been murdered, and there begins a story of police blunders, and motives of the various members of the family.
I did enjoy the book, and although Rutland did try to complicate events, I did have my suspicions as to who the murderer was, and was proved right, but the journey I found was keeping me interested throughout.

[Martina Sartor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro che, come spiegato anche nella bio dell'autore, risente dell'atmosfera cupa del periodo in cui fu scritto, durante la seconda guerra mondiale. Ma quest'atmosfera alla fine diventa parte integrante del romanzo e contribuisce a crearne il fascino.
Ha un finale insolito, ma non raro da trovare anche nei gialli d'annata. L'assassino la fa franca, ma, se in alcuni gialli di Agatha Christie per esempio questo fatto era legato a motivazioni quasi 'morali' (una vittima più 'cattiva' dell'omicida stesso o che, nell'opinione dell'autrice, aveva meritato la sua morte), qui non esiste una motivazione del genere. Fa tutto parte di quella cupezza che avvolge la storia, il periodo bellico stesso, facendone una storia quasi noir.
L'apparato indiziario che può condurre alla scoperta dell'assassino? C'è un vero, grosso indizio che può condurre al movente e quindi al colpevole. E sta nel titolo. Quello italiano.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

During WWII a failing writer retreats to a quiet village to write a murder mystery and ends up involved in an intriguing set of murders.

I thought the plot was very clever and the end had a real edge. The writing was good as were all the characters and I was hooked after reading a few pages.

If you enjoy Agatha Christie books this is definitely worth a look.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saving the best for last.

Between 1938 and 1942, an Englishwoman wrote three mysteries under the name Harriet Rutland. They were well received, but she stopped publishing and her books were forgotten. Critic Curtis Evans calls this one her darkest and she was hardly a ray of sunshine at the best of times. 1942 couldn't have been an easy time for her. She gave birth to her first child late in life, her marriage was troubled, and the German Army was on the coast of France poised to invade.

Unlike some mysteries written at the time, this one acknowledges the war, although it's set in the north (Yorkshire?) where German bombing raids aren't a problem. The Hardstaffe family suffers from rationing (which makes their normally luxurious lifestyle difficult to manage), nightly blackouts, the lack of servants, and the presence of London evacuees.

As the local school Headmaster, Mr Hardstaffe must deal with London children, whom he hates even more than the local ones. To avoid having to house evacuees, daughter Leda finds a "paying guest" - writer Arnold Smith. A genial gentleman who pays his way is far preferable to noisy, uncouth Cockney children or their mothers.

Not that the Hardstaffes are happy. Nothing on earth could accomplish that. Mr Hardstaffe is foul-tempered and lecherous. He married his wife for her money and has never forgiven her for having it. She's a whiny hypochondriac, but who can blame her? There's a married son who's estranged from his father, but still in covert contact with his mother. Leda Hardstaffe seems reconciled to being a spinster and taking care of her parents for the rest of her life. Her ill-behaved dogs love her, but no one else does.

Even Arnold Smith has a problem. Sales of his old-fashioned novels are falling off. His literary agent advises him to turn to murder and he decides to use the clashing personalities in the Hardstaffe menage as the basis for a plot A creative idea, but does he take it a bit too far? Would it be easier to skip the book and marry an heiress?

One of the Hardstaffes dies what MIGHT be an accidental death, but might not be. A number of people wanted the victim dead, so local police Superintendent Cheam has a complicated situation on his hands. Happily, a second death decides the question and London CID Inspector Driver takes over, aided by the oddly-named Sergeant Lovely. It's shaping up as a fine, twisty mystery and should be a best-selling plot for Mr Smith, IF he's not murdered or arrested before he can finish his manuscript.

I think this is the best of Rutland's books. All are wryly funny and the scene between Arnold Smith and his literary agent is a hoot. All show the author's jaundiced view of humanity, but there's good reason for cynicism in this one. The Hardstaffes are a bunch of stinkers, although I felt sorry for Mrs Hardstaffe.

Femme fatale Charity Fuller is a wonderful character because she keeps the reader guessing. Is she innocent and/or idiotic? Is she manipulating all the men around her for the pleasure of creating chaos? As a driver of action in a plot, she's hard to beat.

Pitiful Austrian maid Frieda is another character who's hard to figure out. She's understandably unhinged by her experiences with the Gestapo, not to mention the harsh prejudice she's facing from the Hardstaffes. But is she really crazy or putting on a good act?

I think this is the best of Rutland's books because it's a domestic drama instead of being set in a medical institution or a hotel. New characters are introduced (Frieda, Charity Fuller, and Stanton Hardstaffe's trouble-making wife Betty) but the basic problem is a bad marriage between a bully and a weakling that's come to a boil after decades of mutual unhappiness. We all understand bad marriages and the unstable children they tend to produce, so the conclusion is logical, if unexpected.

It's a fine old mystery and makes me even sadder that this writer stopped writing. She was the goods and no mistake about it.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating between 3 & 3.5

The third and final novel by this author was another crime story which had an interesting story line, well drawn characters and a large dose of black comedy.
The novel was well written and easy to read.
Unusually the war time setting was used as background to the characters actions in a couple of occasions, in the majority of crime stories written in the war years that I have read it is hardly mentioned at all.
The majority of the characters were not likeable at all for various reasons, even the author didn’t really register as a person you would want to meet. The refugee character was an interesting semi-sympathetic character to use I thought as the majority of period novels do display the inherent if subtle anti semitism of the period.
The finale to the story was well done I thought and could easily appear (probably has) in a modern novel with no one saying it is far fetched or unbelievable.

Overall a good read that I would definitely recommend. A pity the author only wrote the 3 stories that have been reissued.

[BrokenTune · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue Murder by Harriet Rutland was a recent recommendation by a fellow fan of crime and mystery books on Goodreads. He knows my tastes in books fairly well and this recommendation of a book and author I had never heard of entirely hit the spot for me. I have not actually read many mysteries this year so far which is a sad departure from my usual reading mood, but I think Rutland has coaxed me out of the mystery funk.

Blue Murder starts with the story of an author who is bad at writing mysteries and who is taken in as a boarder by the Hardstaffe family during the war. One of the things that immediately intrigued me about the story is that most of the family seemed to be horrible people. In a murder mystery, it always provides an element of fun if I can try and guess which character(s) will get bumped off, or bumped off first as the case may be. And much of my reading enjoyment of the first half of this book focused on exactly this.

For the rest of the book, the author made me cling to the pages with a deep feel of unease about the background to the crime. I seriously could not put my finger on what was the matter with the story and the characters, and just when the solution seemed to be tangible, Rutland kicked me in the shin. And I deserved it. I had expected a formulaic mystery. I had expected a story copying so many other stories I had read before. Silly me.

Harriet Rutland is one of the re-discovered authors I very much want to read more by.

[Rachael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skip it!

Antisemitism, sexism, and so poorly written. I have read hundreds of golden age mysteries, and the language and attitudes of the time never bother me. This is entirely different. It made me feel uncomfortable, for one thing. Beyond that, the writing is abysmal. I’ve not read a book this bad in a long time. I stuck it out to the creepy end, however, and I’m so happy it’s finally over.

[Miriam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was well-written, and it did keep my attention, but pretty much all of the characters were horrible people, or at least not very nice ones. The "shock" ending was a bit of a surprise, but a bit too clever. I probably won't ready any more of her books.

[Mark Shepard · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! I've been reading a lot of mysteries from the 30s. Craig Rice is excellent. I love John Bude and Freeman Wills Crofts. I really like Zenith Brown, Dorothy Cameron Disney, Stuart Palmer and Basil Thomson. But this is the best one yet.

[Gabriela Galescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and dark at the same time

Unlikeable characters make for good reading, I have just discovered. On the backdrop of WWII, the plot is cleverly devised. All in all, a very good reading experience.

[Hana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un ottimo giallo che conferma il talento della purtroppo poco prolifera Harriet Rutland.
Intuire colpevole e movente non è affatto difficile, pertanto a rimare impressi sono soprattutto i personaggi, meschini, patetici, freddi e privi di scrupoli. Consigliato.

[Calum Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

B:

The solution is very guessable but Rutland refrains from choosing one of the two options for the culprit that would have sent a negative political message. It also has a really unconventionally bleak ending. Atypical for the period.

[Ann McTaggart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun

There’s a wry humour and self conscious playing with the genre in this book.
The characters are unlikeable but slippery and our narrator is such an innocent. I liked the face that it’s authentic to the period, not someone faking it.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The murder mystery definitely kept me reading. However, was her black humor, how she included so much of the atmosphere, culture, and societal attitudes of the World War II setting that resulted in a 4 star rating from me.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sparkling dialogue and lots of plot twists give this witty "mystery" a special elan. Arnold Smith takes refuge from the London blitz at a country house. A lecherous headmaster/father, a bossy daughter with many dogs, a long suffering mother and some colorful police provide chuckles and engagement.

[Lisa Brantly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Unusual ending that should be considered in the same league with Roger Ackroyd.