The Primrose Pursuit

Francis Oughterard Mystery #6

by Suzette A. Hill

Primrose Oughterard, an eccentric artist living in East Sussex, has recently taken custody of her dead brother s cat and dog. Following his heroic death rescuing another parishioner from impalement on a gargoyle, his sister feels duty-bound to take responsibility for the two animals. The arrangement results in a number of questionable entanglements including the usual mishaps of murder, foiled intentions, concealment of evidence - plus a peculiar maneuver on the cliff at Beachy Head."

Genres: Crime, Mystery

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Suzette A. Hill was born in Eastbourne, Sussex, in 1941. She is a graduate of Nottingham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Universities. Hill taught English literature all her professional life. At age sixty-four and retired, she tried her hand at a short story - just to see what writing fiction felt like, and to her surprise a quintet of humorous novels (Reverend Francis Oughterard series) was the result.

Reviews

[Elizabeth]

Haven’t been able to get a library copy so giving up.

[Jane Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haha - great little book! This carries on the story from the first five books of the Francis Oughterard series and is narrated by Primrose - Francis's sister and Maurice the cat and Bouncer the dog again. All great characters - think Maurice is my favourite and the story romps along gleefully with much humour and lovely language - just an easy, jolly read. You can understand that Suzette Hill was a teacher, but her books are great fun and she could carry on the series if she wanted I guess.

[Ross Mountney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A funny little whodunnit right for when you want a gentle read with nostalgia!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed Maurice & Bouncer, I had got a bit bored with Francis Oughterard, and the switch to his sister Primrose was refreshing. Best read by those with a sense of humour!

[Adeptus Fringilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lighthearted crime story with a good narrative and moments of humour. The choice of words is at times a bit over the top and it's not quite clear that the story is in the 1950's. But it's been a very enjoyable read, I liked in particular that the cat and the dog were given a voice and played a part in solving the mistery.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNFed at 100 pages in.

[Undomiel Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'd it around 70 pages in.
Prior to reading, there was no indication that this was the 6th book in a series, and therefore my judgement may be partially biased. However, as a series of individual crimes, linked only by the detective and his two pets (despite the detective from previous works not featuring in this novel), I feel my comments are still justified. The writing style really did not mesh with me, and whilst I looked forward to the narration by the cat and dog, all 3 perspectives were far too similar, only distinct by their behaviour, and not their voice. All three were cringe-worthly over the top, and far too excessive for a serious murder plot to be taken, well; seriously! Overall, a big no for me.

[Karen wadey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun little book. It's set in my hometown of Lewes but doesn't give much of it's history away, just brings to the fore some of the surrounding countryside.
I love that we get the views from the cat and dog on the ongoing story. As an animal lover I can only imagine what my pets would make of the events in this book.

[Bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bouncer and Maurice have found a home with Francis Oughterard's sister Primrose. Luckily for readers, the hijinks resume. This series continues to charm even the most reticent readers of talking pet fiction.

[Deanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read with Primrose surprisingly still being alive at the end of the book despite her bull in the China shop approach to detecting.
Love the superior Maurice and Bouncer the brain of the pair.

[Susan Parry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much a 'cozy crime' book, well written but I'm not a fan of pets taking part in investigations! Not really my sort of book but was a Christmas present for the reason that it is set in East Sussex, an area I know well.

[Sara Eames · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started as a good read, but was let down by the ending. It is not so much a "whodunnit", but more of a"whydunnit" or a "howdunnit". The characters were, on the whole, well-written and the plot moved at a steady pace. I shall probably read more in this series.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Alch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maurice and Bouncer are awesome!

[Louise Marwick]

loved it!, funny and quaint, easy to read and very enjoyable. It was novel to see the perspective of Bouncer (the dog) and Maurice (the cat), looking forward to reading more by Suzette Hill.