Too Many Cousins

by Douglas G. Browne

This excellent story of six cousins, who one by one go to their deaths in mysterious ways, predates the more popular List of Adrian Messenger by MacDonald by several years. Extremely well done. - The Mystery Lover's Companion, Art Bourgeau

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Douglas Gordon Browne

Reviews

[Julia Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book when I was on holiday with my Aunt, Uncle, five cousins and their spouses. I stared to read it on a lark and found myself really enjoying it. A murder mystery where the cousins are getting knocked off one by one. Sweet!! The parts of the book are divided into the following sections: Simple Arithmetic, Combinations and Permutations, Undistributed Factors and Result. This, of course, appealed to the nerd within. Needless to say, my cousins were a tad unsettled when they found out the plot...

[Jay Maxfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second review of a Douglas G. Browne novel. I have typed out the book taster below as there isn't one for this book's profile on Amazon. Having previously read What Beckoning Ghost I had come across the main sleuth - Public Prosecutor - Harvey Tuke and his boss Sir Bruton Kames as likeable and somewhat amusing characters - however in this novel it seems the author castes nearly all the characters as unlikeable (even most of the CID & Police officers) this treatment of the characters gave the novel a somewhat negative feel. The book is only 192 pages long, so it was very surprising that the story was so slow paced and somewhat repetitive with the information about the characters and much of it's humour is lost on modern day readers or was weak at the time of writing. The book originally appealed to me because the central theme is about the imminent inheritance of a large sum of money to be split equally to a group of descendants that suddenly start dying off from accidental deaths - I was thinking about the film Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) - however this story wasn't written with much enthusiasm and the main characters (suspects) where mainly dull and boring to read about. This is surprising as What Beckoning Ghosts - is written in a very interesting and readable fashion (except for the denouement). On a positive note the book does in part reveal the fact that WWII is ongoing and tries to make light hearted comments about how everyday life is affected by it. I also learned that during this time they had a double summer time (2 hours ahead of winter time) hence, very long light summer evenings. I would give this book 5 out of 10. This book could have been easily so much more than it was, but it seems the author couldn't get his head around his subject matter in an entertaining or exciting manner.
Book Taster taken from the rear cover of the book.
England, towards the close of the Second World War. Six cousins, descendants of the wealthy Victorian merchant Rutland Shearsby, are all healthy and in their prime, survivors of the worst war in history. Then one of them, an army captain in London, abruptly steps into the path of a speeding van and meets instant death. A few months later, his cousin, a writer, is found in a remote country lane, his head smashed against a stone wall (this is not true he was found drowned in an excessively flooded stream). And a few days afterward, another cousin, a rural schoolteacher, is discovered in her cottage, (accidentally self) poisoned to death. Of the six, now only three remain.
A bizarre confluence of accidents? Or has there been foul play? Parmiter an eccentric obituarist in possession of some disturbing facts about the deaths, attempts to persuade Harvey Tuke, the most venerated man in the public prosecutor's office, to look into this abrupt rise in one family's mortality rate. Tuke remains skeptical - until he runs into a fourth Shearby cousin, panic stricken and convinced that someone has been trying (tried) to kill her.
Thus begins one of the most extraordinary cases in modern British detective fiction. Caught in a mind-boggling maze, Tuke - a Mephistopheles look alike on the side of the law - unearths some curious facts about a very strange family; a bitter conflict over an unconventional legacy; a Victorian skeleton in the family closet; a short story entitled "Too Many Cousins" - inexplicably withdrawn from publication - that reportedly predicted the precipitous decline in the family population; and Uncle Martin, a black sheep who refuses to remain dead.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harvey Tuke, the assistant to the Public Prosecutor in London, is once again involved in a mystery when a club acquaintance draws his attention to the fact that three cousins of an extended family have died in the past couple of months, all in unusual, possibly accidental, circumstances. Shortly after, one of the surviving 3 cousins tells him of a narrow escape she's had, and Tuke begins to investigate this series of traffic accidents, drownings and accidental poisonings. He meets the surviving 3 cousins and their spouses or fiances, and delves deep into the family tree. This seems to take place in England not too long after WWII, so the records in France and Belgium are spotty. For those who enjoy puzzles, there is plenty to noodle over here : train schedules, and secluded lanes leading from one part of the deserted countryside to the other; mysterious strangers popping up and disappearing again. I enjoyed it, not the least because of the personality of Tuke's superior, the Public Prosecutor, whose bonhomie and scatterbrained comments hide a sharp intellect and sardonic spirit.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had not read Douglas Browne before, but I wasn't overly inspired by this book. The detective seemed kind of blah (I like my detectives to be more on the exaggerated side). There were also cultural references that I didn't understand.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Art Bourgeau notes: this excellent story (is about) six cousins, who one by one go to their deaths in mysterious ways.

[Tintaglia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scritto benissimo, ironico e divertente, pecca di troppi nomi, troppi personaggi, troppe strade di campagna che lo rendono confusionario.
Una gradevole scoperta comunque.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written; I very much enjoyed the writer's style. It's pacy, quite tricky! I did get bogged down several times by timetables and alibis, but I suppose those come with the territory.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six cousins who have survived the bombings of World War II England, suddenly suffer a spat of deaths amongst them. First, it was army Captain Sydney Dresser, who steps into a speeding van; a few months later, author Raymond Shearsby, apparently drowns after a fall into a stream; and most recently, schoolteacher Blanche Porteous, a victim of sodium nitrite that appeared in her salt shaker.

Harvey Tuke of the public prosecutor's office learns of the confluence of accidents from Parmiter, an eccentric obituarist. As Tuke is currently on holiday, he decides to do a little investigation to see if the three incidents are really accidents — or murder.

What a devious plot with almost as many twists and turns as cousins and other family members in this very good mystery created by Douglas G. Browne, a grandson of the Victorian illustrator Hablot K. Browne. Douglas was expected to follow in his grandfather's shoes but shortly before World War I, he started writing. He ended up writing short stories and a number of detective novels.

Today, few of his works remain in print unless you can find a copy of an older book, as is the copy of which I read and thoroughly enjoyed. I will be on the hunt for one of his other stories.

[Martina Sartor · Rating 4 out of 5]

La risoluzione dell'enigma mi è risultata un po' ostica, a causa di una certa confusione nel seguire spostamenti dei sospettati, orari di treni, viottoli vari (qua una bella mappa come nel più classico dei gialli ci sarebbe stata proprio bene). Alla fine però, rivedendo vari passaggi alla luce delle spiegazioni sul caso, gli indizi potevano essere trovati, salvo un indizio "di luogo" sul quale ho ancora il dubbio che sia stato messo a disposizione del lettore. Indizio peraltro decisivo per smontare un 'certo' alibi.
Questo quindi mi avrebbe portato ad assegnare 3 sole stelline al libro. Ma il colpo di genio finale dell'autore, una sorpresa a cui non avevo minimamente pensato, mi ha portato a rivalutarlo e ad assegnarli 4 stelle.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harvey Tuke meets a man at his club who tells him about three cousins who have accidentally died within six months of each other, all of them young and healthy. Then he's approached by his wife's assistant at the Free French Navy office, who feels that her life has been threatened--shortly before two of her cousins died. And there's an inheritance that will be split among the cousins, eventually. It's not a case for Tuke's Department of Public Prosecution, not yet, at any rate--much too vague. Tuke is interested, and gets the police interested, too. But he can't resist taking a hand in things himself.