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Robert Macdonald #24
Fell Murder
'...this crime is conditioned by the place. To understand the one you've got to study the other.'
The Garths had farmed their fertile acres for generations, and fine land it was with the towering hills of the Lake Country on the far horizon. Here hot-tempered Robert Garth, still hale and hearty at eighty-two, ruled Garthmere Hall with a rod of iron. Until, that is, old Garth was found dead—'dead as mutton'—in the trampled mud of the ancient outhouse.
Glowering clouds gather over the dramatic dales and fells as seasoned investigator Chief Inspector Macdonald arrives in the north country. Awaiting him are the reticent Garths and their guarded neighbors of the Lune Valley; and a battle of wits to unearth their murderous secrets.
First published in 1944, Fell Murder is a tightly-paced mystery with authentic depictions of its breathtaking locales and Second World War setting.
This edition also includes the rare E.C.R. Lorac short story The Live Wire.
The Garths had farmed their fertile acres for generations, and fine land it was with the towering hills of the Lake Country on the far horizon. Here hot-tempered Robert Garth, still hale and hearty at eighty-two, ruled Garthmere Hall with a rod of iron. Until, that is, old Garth was found dead—'dead as mutton'—in the trampled mud of the ancient outhouse.
Glowering clouds gather over the dramatic dales and fells as seasoned investigator Chief Inspector Macdonald arrives in the north country. Awaiting him are the reticent Garths and their guarded neighbors of the Lune Valley; and a battle of wits to unearth their murderous secrets.
First published in 1944, Fell Murder is a tightly-paced mystery with authentic depictions of its breathtaking locales and Second World War setting.
This edition also includes the rare E.C.R. Lorac short story The Live Wire.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1944
196 people are currently reading
571 people want to read
About the author
E.C.R. Lorac
74 books177 followersEdith Caroline Rivett (who wrote under the pseudonyms E.C.R. Lorac, Carol Carnac, Carol Rivett, and Mary le Bourne) was a British crime writer. She was born in Hendon, Middlesex (now London). She attended the South Hampstead High School, and the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.
She was a member of the Detection Club. She was a very prolific writer, having written forty-eight mysteries under her first pen name, and twenty-three under her second. She was an important author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
She was a member of the Detection Club. She was a very prolific writer, having written forty-eight mysteries under her first pen name, and twenty-three under her second. She was an important author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
November 6, 2019
My First Net Galley Review! So exciting! With the bonus that I have found a new-to-me Golden Age writer that I think I am going to really enjoy!
The introduction was by Martin Edwards. For me, seemed to be moving into spoiler territory. I stopped reading, but read afterwards and enjoyed his thoughtful comments.
Part of the charm of Golden Age mysteries is that the are often a snapshot in time, showing a vanished world - in this case a farming community in The Fells (just south of the Lake District) I was fascinated by the farming world and regulations in England during WW2. The whole landscape and its characters are so beautifully realised that I felt like I was walking the land with Inspector MacDonald. I did indeed admire his patience.
I have to knock a star off for the murder not being as interesting as the characters, but this is definitely an author that shouldn't have faded into obscurity.
Bonus:Short Story The Live Wire
Completely different in style this shows Lorac as a very confident writer. I found it amusing - but I have a warped sense of humour!
Thanks very much Poisoned Pen Publishers & Net Galley for this review copy and for being happy for me to share my opinions.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
The introduction was by Martin Edwards. For me, seemed to be moving into spoiler territory. I stopped reading, but read afterwards and enjoyed his thoughtful comments.
Part of the charm of Golden Age mysteries is that the are often a snapshot in time, showing a vanished world - in this case a farming community in The Fells (just south of the Lake District) I was fascinated by the farming world and regulations in England during WW2. The whole landscape and its characters are so beautifully realised that I felt like I was walking the land with Inspector MacDonald. I did indeed admire his patience.
I have to knock a star off for the murder not being as interesting as the characters, but this is definitely an author that shouldn't have faded into obscurity.
Bonus:Short Story The Live Wire
Completely different in style this shows Lorac as a very confident writer. I found it amusing - but I have a warped sense of humour!
Thanks very much Poisoned Pen Publishers & Net Galley for this review copy and for being happy for me to share my opinions.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
March 31, 2025
Fell Murder is a grim murder-mystery story penned by Lorac. I say "grim" only relating to the murder-mystery. The story isn't grim, far from it, for Lorac takes us to the beautiful setting in the Northwest England countryside of Lunsdale, situated in the beautiful Lake District. There, we meet a farming community who toil with the land as best as they could; their livelihoods are threatened due to the ongoing World War.
In this beautiful surrounding and the charming farming community, a murder is committed. The local police being weighed down by many duties, the investigation falls to Scotland Yard, and the Chief Inspector MacDonald makes his appearance.
This is a good murder mystery. Though the plot is not overly complicated, the writing is cleverly done to keep the suspense intact. The criminal wasn't too difficult to guess, nor was the motive. Lorac seem not so much to mind whether the readers would figure out the criminal and the motive, for she doesn't set baffling clues or red herrings to confuse the reader here. She puts into the story only those necessary to make the story interesting and engaging. Somehow, that contributes to the clarity and precision of her stories.
Again, it is Lorac's writing what captured me the most. It is so well done that the setting and the characters come to life under her amazing writing. We feel an instant connection to them, and our quest to discover the criminal becomes part of the community and not as an outsider. It is truly remarkable.
Though it had a slow start and the Chief Inspector marked his presence a bit late, I enjoyed it overall.
More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/
In this beautiful surrounding and the charming farming community, a murder is committed. The local police being weighed down by many duties, the investigation falls to Scotland Yard, and the Chief Inspector MacDonald makes his appearance.
This is a good murder mystery. Though the plot is not overly complicated, the writing is cleverly done to keep the suspense intact. The criminal wasn't too difficult to guess, nor was the motive. Lorac seem not so much to mind whether the readers would figure out the criminal and the motive, for she doesn't set baffling clues or red herrings to confuse the reader here. She puts into the story only those necessary to make the story interesting and engaging. Somehow, that contributes to the clarity and precision of her stories.
Again, it is Lorac's writing what captured me the most. It is so well done that the setting and the characters come to life under her amazing writing. We feel an instant connection to them, and our quest to discover the criminal becomes part of the community and not as an outsider. It is truly remarkable.
Though it had a slow start and the Chief Inspector marked his presence a bit late, I enjoyed it overall.
More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/
November 22, 2025
I have read several of Lorac's books and always enjoy them. They feature DI McDonald of Scotland Yard whose first name is never given, nor is his personal life mentioned. He is a smart investigator and moves steadily and slowly toward the crime's solution. But the book also moves rather slowly, as do all of Lorac's stories which might be off-putting to some readers...........however, not to me.
The tale is set in the farming land of the Fells where an important landowner is murdered with not a clue in sight. The victim is a very unpopular man which opens up the list of suspects to his family and his tenants. This is a very closed community and McDonald hits a stone wall when interviewing various possible suspects.
This is not one of my favorite of the series but is still a good read and you won't guess "who dunnit".
The tale is set in the farming land of the Fells where an important landowner is murdered with not a clue in sight. The victim is a very unpopular man which opens up the list of suspects to his family and his tenants. This is a very closed community and McDonald hits a stone wall when interviewing various possible suspects.
This is not one of my favorite of the series but is still a good read and you won't guess "who dunnit".
June 21, 2020
Normally, I dislike reading books out of order, so I was unsure whether to try, “Fell Murder,” published in 1944 and the 24th book in the Robert MacDonald series. However, not many of E.C. R. Lorac’s (pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett – incidentally, born in Hendon, fairly close to where I live) are in print. However, I am delighted that publishers are re-printing some Golden Age authors and I am sure that, having enjoyed this so much, that I will be trying more books by this author.
It is wartime and farming is full of regulations, but the farming community of Lunesdale, just South of the Lake District, are fairly untouched by events. Their job is to feed the country and the Garth family, headed by patriarch, the elderly Robert Garth, are one of the best known farming families in the area. Robert Garth lives with his daughter, Marion, son Charles, who has returned to England from the Far East, having lost everything, and younger son, Malcolm, who is more interested in poetry than the land. They are helped by a relative, Elizabeth Meldon, and, although Robert Garth sneers at women farming, it is clear that Marion and Elizabeth are much more help than either Charles or Malcolm.
Robert Garth had another son, his heir, Richard. He hasn’t seen him since 1919, when Richard married a local girl, he disapproved of and who left the country. Now Richard is back, tramping over the local area he has missed. Although he does not go to visit his family, he does see a local man, John Staples, and tells him he is on leave from his war work on the Atlantic convoys, and now widowed. When Robert Garth is found murdered, Richard’s whereabouts and rumours of his visit, spread quickly and it is up to MacDonald to discover whether he is the culprit, or not.
As a lover of Golden Age mysteries, there was much I enjoyed about this book. I liked the thoughtful, intelligent and sympathetic MacDonald. I liked the characters and the struggles of the Garth family, as well as the portrayal of the other locals. Very enjoyable, well written and definitely an author whose work I wish to explore further.
It is wartime and farming is full of regulations, but the farming community of Lunesdale, just South of the Lake District, are fairly untouched by events. Their job is to feed the country and the Garth family, headed by patriarch, the elderly Robert Garth, are one of the best known farming families in the area. Robert Garth lives with his daughter, Marion, son Charles, who has returned to England from the Far East, having lost everything, and younger son, Malcolm, who is more interested in poetry than the land. They are helped by a relative, Elizabeth Meldon, and, although Robert Garth sneers at women farming, it is clear that Marion and Elizabeth are much more help than either Charles or Malcolm.
Robert Garth had another son, his heir, Richard. He hasn’t seen him since 1919, when Richard married a local girl, he disapproved of and who left the country. Now Richard is back, tramping over the local area he has missed. Although he does not go to visit his family, he does see a local man, John Staples, and tells him he is on leave from his war work on the Atlantic convoys, and now widowed. When Robert Garth is found murdered, Richard’s whereabouts and rumours of his visit, spread quickly and it is up to MacDonald to discover whether he is the culprit, or not.
As a lover of Golden Age mysteries, there was much I enjoyed about this book. I liked the thoughtful, intelligent and sympathetic MacDonald. I liked the characters and the struggles of the Garth family, as well as the portrayal of the other locals. Very enjoyable, well written and definitely an author whose work I wish to explore further.
July 7, 2020
I am happy to have discovered (through the Reading the Detectives group) a new Golden Age mystery writer I can wholeheartedly endorse. E. C. R. Lorac is a writer who balances interesting characters, a sufficiently complex whodunit, and a likable detective with a strong sense of place and time.
The setting is rural Lancashire, near the Lake District, during World War II. Lorac starts at a leisurely pace, introducing us to the district; its principal family, the Garths; and their generational conflicts. There is the predictable crusty patriarch and his long-suffering children, as well as a Land Girl living at their house to help with the farming, the estate's bailiff, and some tenant farmers. When the patriarch winds up dead, the local police detective struggles to get much out of the closed-mouthed locals, and because of the importance of the case the CID is called in. Enter (a good halfway through) Inspector Macdonald, from London but of Scots origin. He seems to have an instinct for how best to approach the natives and gains much more cooperation than the local man, as well as earning respect for his shrewdness and courtesy. It is a pleasure to watch him go to work.
The perpetrator became clear to me before the end, but I enjoyed following Macdonald as he carefully built his case. There were not many female characters but I particularly liked them, their quiet strength and integrity and the respect they earned from their neighbors. The wartime details, from the more familiar blackouts and rationing to the more subtle nuances of resource regulation far from the theaters of conflict, were fascinating and well incorporated into the plot, as were many details of farming and herding that brought the scenes to life for me.
This is an overlooked gem and I am grateful it was brought to my attention. Will definitely read more by this author.
The setting is rural Lancashire, near the Lake District, during World War II. Lorac starts at a leisurely pace, introducing us to the district; its principal family, the Garths; and their generational conflicts. There is the predictable crusty patriarch and his long-suffering children, as well as a Land Girl living at their house to help with the farming, the estate's bailiff, and some tenant farmers. When the patriarch winds up dead, the local police detective struggles to get much out of the closed-mouthed locals, and because of the importance of the case the CID is called in. Enter (a good halfway through) Inspector Macdonald, from London but of Scots origin. He seems to have an instinct for how best to approach the natives and gains much more cooperation than the local man, as well as earning respect for his shrewdness and courtesy. It is a pleasure to watch him go to work.
The perpetrator became clear to me before the end, but I enjoyed following Macdonald as he carefully built his case. There were not many female characters but I particularly liked them, their quiet strength and integrity and the respect they earned from their neighbors. The wartime details, from the more familiar blackouts and rationing to the more subtle nuances of resource regulation far from the theaters of conflict, were fascinating and well incorporated into the plot, as were many details of farming and herding that brought the scenes to life for me.
This is an overlooked gem and I am grateful it was brought to my attention. Will definitely read more by this author.
June 17, 2024
Hmm, this may be 5 stars. I’m waffling. This is my second Lorac novel set in Lancashire in the Lune river valley amongst the hard-working farmers in the remote fell country. Lorac’s nature writing is exquisite and her description of the farmers and their style of communication and community is so thoughtfully depicted. WWII is in the background here and there are muted but fascinating details about farming changes during the war. I also noted how well the farmers ate compared to city dwellers. Plenty of eggs, cream, milk, butter, and honey on a farm! Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald comes in halfway through, and I missed him when he wasn’t there, though I loved the opening chapters where we get to know the Garth family and those who live at Garthmere Hall. Macdonald is so good with people; he’s a pleasure to follow as he talks with locals and literally gets the lay of the land. There are three other characters I particularly loved in this story, though I won’t share names because there are lots of potential suspects. Macdonald returns to the area in Crook o’Lune, which is set after the war. I read that one first and it was fine but I probably would have started with this one if I had known.
September 21, 2019
The title of E.C.R. Lorac’s 23rd book in a series featuring Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald refers both to fells (hills in the dialect of Northern England) and fell, meaning “deadly, or destructive.” The novel proves as clever as the title.
After 25 years away, Richard Garth comes back to the fells of the Lake Country, but certainly not to be greeted as the returning prodigal son. The Garth son and heir left England behind when he quarreled with his father Robert, now 82, over the younger Garth’s choice of a wife. Richard Garth just wants to see his native region again — but certainly not his father nor any other member of his family. But when the stubborn, curmudgeonly old hothead Robert Garth is killed, MacDonald comes down from Scotland Yard to check out whether the murder is all in the family.
First released in 1944, Fell Murder begins a bit slowly; it isn’t until the old man’s dead, that the novel really takes off. Yet, after that, the novel makes up for it with suspense keeps a reader glued to the pages. The novel’s set in the Lune Valley of England’s Lancashire, where Lorac went to live with her sister, and readers can see her devotion to the land and to gracefully blending the old and the new.
In the interest of complete disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, British Library and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much for rereleasing this delightful series; I’ve devoured each one!
After 25 years away, Richard Garth comes back to the fells of the Lake Country, but certainly not to be greeted as the returning prodigal son. The Garth son and heir left England behind when he quarreled with his father Robert, now 82, over the younger Garth’s choice of a wife. Richard Garth just wants to see his native region again — but certainly not his father nor any other member of his family. But when the stubborn, curmudgeonly old hothead Robert Garth is killed, MacDonald comes down from Scotland Yard to check out whether the murder is all in the family.
First released in 1944, Fell Murder begins a bit slowly; it isn’t until the old man’s dead, that the novel really takes off. Yet, after that, the novel makes up for it with suspense keeps a reader glued to the pages. The novel’s set in the Lune Valley of England’s Lancashire, where Lorac went to live with her sister, and readers can see her devotion to the land and to gracefully blending the old and the new.
In the interest of complete disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, British Library and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much for rereleasing this delightful series; I’ve devoured each one!
October 26, 2019
Fell Murder was originally published in 1944 and has now been included in the growing number of British Library Crime Classics mystery novels. Once again there is a most informative introduction by Martin Edwards which proved beneficial to me. E. C. R. Lorac took a little deviation from the standard plotting of a mystery novel to educate her readers in the truths of daily life for farmers in isolated portions of the English countryside, this time in Lancashire. This resulted in a detailed telling of what day-to-day life was actually like for tiny communities during the war years. Lorac was a great admirer of the Lancashire countryside and farming life so the first half of this book is devoted to what might be considered by some readers as unimportant detail. Don't be fooled though, because those tiny details are what add up to the crime and the solution to that crime.
Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Macdonald does not make an appearance in this story until midway through the book, but once he is on the scene he begins immediately to gather the tiny, seemingly unimportant facts which eventually lead to the guilty party. Lorac gives her characters life and depth and the descriptions of the farming environment is lovingly portrayed. Readers who don't like quite so much background included in a story might become impatient with the slow movement of the plot, but I found it charming and necessary to help explain what had happened to lead up to the death of Robert Garth. Once again a wholly satisfying novel by Edith Caroline Rivett.
Also included with this book is the short story "Live Wire" published in 1939. This one features a small time criminal who does exactly what people have always been advising him to do - he uses his brains. Crime is just full of surprises.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an e-galley of this novel.
Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Macdonald does not make an appearance in this story until midway through the book, but once he is on the scene he begins immediately to gather the tiny, seemingly unimportant facts which eventually lead to the guilty party. Lorac gives her characters life and depth and the descriptions of the farming environment is lovingly portrayed. Readers who don't like quite so much background included in a story might become impatient with the slow movement of the plot, but I found it charming and necessary to help explain what had happened to lead up to the death of Robert Garth. Once again a wholly satisfying novel by Edith Caroline Rivett.
Also included with this book is the short story "Live Wire" published in 1939. This one features a small time criminal who does exactly what people have always been advising him to do - he uses his brains. Crime is just full of surprises.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an e-galley of this novel.
January 4, 2020
Rural but not an idyll...
Old Robert Garth rules his family with a rod of iron and, although he’s a fair landlord, he stands no nonsense from the tenant farmers on his land. A man who, in his eighties, still can put in a long day’s physical work, he has no time for those he sees as weaklings. So when he’s found murdered, there are plenty of people who might have done the foul deed, each with differing motives. But when it’s discovered that his eldest and long-estranged son, Richard, has been seen around the district, he naturally becomes the prime suspect. It’s up to Inspector MacDonald, called in from Scotland Yard to help the overstretched local police, to find Richard, and to decide whether he, or some other person, is the guilty party...
One of ECR Lorac’s greatest strengths is the way she makes her settings central to her stories, whether in the alleys of London or, as in this case, in the farming community of the Lune Valley, a place she apparently knew well. Her descriptions of the landscape are wonderful, showing the rugged beauty of the dales and fells, the unpredictable weather and the way the land has been shaped and formed by the generations who have farmed it. She is clear-eyed about the hard labour involved in farming but shows her characters as having a strong bond to their land and a love of their way of life.
Set towards the end of the Second World War, she also gives us intriguing glimpses of how war affected farming, partly by removing so many men from the labour force and bringing more women on to the land, and partly through government pressure to adopt more intensified farming methods, such as ploughing up traditional pasture land to allow for more planting of vegetable crops to feed a hungry populace no longer able to import food as easily as before the war. She shows too the additional tasks that have fallen on the police to oversee the new war-time regulations – black-out rules, rationing of goods and petrol, licensing and control of all kinds of things that used to be left up to suppliers and consumers – all leaving them under pressure when required to investigate the normal criminal activities that continue regardless of war.
The local Superintendent is a townie with little understanding of the ways of the farmers and a kind of disdain for them, and so he hits a brick wall in getting them to talk openly to him. But Inspector MacDonald is a different breed – he may be a London policeman now, but he’s a Scot by birth and has lived in rural communities before. He understands the land and secretly rather wishes he could take up farming himself. This all helps him to find ways to break down the rural resistance to outsiders and to grasp at motives that a townsman may not think of. It’s not long before he has a good idea of what happened to old Garth – now all he has to do is prove it.
Another excellent entry in the series – of the ones I’ve read so far, I find the books written around the time of WW2 seem to show her at the peak of her considerable talent in terms of plotting and, while I have enjoyed all of her settings, especially wartime London in Murder by Matchlight, the countryside ones always impress me with their affectionate but entirely unromanticised portrayals of rural communities. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
As a little bonus, there’s an extra short story at the end of the volume, Live Wire. It’s only a few pages long – a tale of a criminal attempting to steal gold bullion from a train – but it’s very well done, darkly funny and highly entertaining, with a deliciously twisted ending. I usually forget to mention that there’s quite often a short story tucked in at the end of the BL releases, I assume when the page count of the novel is slightly shorter than the norm. It’s a bit like finding there’s still one chocolate left in the box when you think you’ve already eaten them all...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Old Robert Garth rules his family with a rod of iron and, although he’s a fair landlord, he stands no nonsense from the tenant farmers on his land. A man who, in his eighties, still can put in a long day’s physical work, he has no time for those he sees as weaklings. So when he’s found murdered, there are plenty of people who might have done the foul deed, each with differing motives. But when it’s discovered that his eldest and long-estranged son, Richard, has been seen around the district, he naturally becomes the prime suspect. It’s up to Inspector MacDonald, called in from Scotland Yard to help the overstretched local police, to find Richard, and to decide whether he, or some other person, is the guilty party...
One of ECR Lorac’s greatest strengths is the way she makes her settings central to her stories, whether in the alleys of London or, as in this case, in the farming community of the Lune Valley, a place she apparently knew well. Her descriptions of the landscape are wonderful, showing the rugged beauty of the dales and fells, the unpredictable weather and the way the land has been shaped and formed by the generations who have farmed it. She is clear-eyed about the hard labour involved in farming but shows her characters as having a strong bond to their land and a love of their way of life.
Set towards the end of the Second World War, she also gives us intriguing glimpses of how war affected farming, partly by removing so many men from the labour force and bringing more women on to the land, and partly through government pressure to adopt more intensified farming methods, such as ploughing up traditional pasture land to allow for more planting of vegetable crops to feed a hungry populace no longer able to import food as easily as before the war. She shows too the additional tasks that have fallen on the police to oversee the new war-time regulations – black-out rules, rationing of goods and petrol, licensing and control of all kinds of things that used to be left up to suppliers and consumers – all leaving them under pressure when required to investigate the normal criminal activities that continue regardless of war.
The local Superintendent is a townie with little understanding of the ways of the farmers and a kind of disdain for them, and so he hits a brick wall in getting them to talk openly to him. But Inspector MacDonald is a different breed – he may be a London policeman now, but he’s a Scot by birth and has lived in rural communities before. He understands the land and secretly rather wishes he could take up farming himself. This all helps him to find ways to break down the rural resistance to outsiders and to grasp at motives that a townsman may not think of. It’s not long before he has a good idea of what happened to old Garth – now all he has to do is prove it.
Another excellent entry in the series – of the ones I’ve read so far, I find the books written around the time of WW2 seem to show her at the peak of her considerable talent in terms of plotting and, while I have enjoyed all of her settings, especially wartime London in Murder by Matchlight, the countryside ones always impress me with their affectionate but entirely unromanticised portrayals of rural communities. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
As a little bonus, there’s an extra short story at the end of the volume, Live Wire. It’s only a few pages long – a tale of a criminal attempting to steal gold bullion from a train – but it’s very well done, darkly funny and highly entertaining, with a deliciously twisted ending. I usually forget to mention that there’s quite often a short story tucked in at the end of the BL releases, I assume when the page count of the novel is slightly shorter than the norm. It’s a bit like finding there’s still one chocolate left in the box when you think you’ve already eaten them all...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
June 1, 2020
Clever mystery that suffers somewhat from a very slow start. Our Scotland Yard Inspector MacDonald doesn't make his appearance until halfway through the book!
Standard plot of elder patriarch murdered, with a somewhat limited list of suspects. There are the family members, all of whom seem to have both motive and shaky alibi. Then there are the neighboring farmers, at least one of whom was on the outs with the deceased.
Lots of interesting tidbits worked in about wartime regulations imposed on the agricultural community--involving numerous inspections and reams of paperwork.
I am glad that this was not the first book by this author that I had read--I'm not sure I would have read any others, which would have been my loss.
Standard plot of elder patriarch murdered, with a somewhat limited list of suspects. There are the family members, all of whom seem to have both motive and shaky alibi. Then there are the neighboring farmers, at least one of whom was on the outs with the deceased.
Lots of interesting tidbits worked in about wartime regulations imposed on the agricultural community--involving numerous inspections and reams of paperwork.
I am glad that this was not the first book by this author that I had read--I'm not sure I would have read any others, which would have been my loss.
July 23, 2020
A wonderfully written mystery! Incredible discriptions of the Countryside, the nature and the hard work that is farming.
I loved the family at odds element of the story it kept me turning pages and wanting to know more about them (above and beyond the murder part)
A really, really good read that kept me hooked!
I loved the family at odds element of the story it kept me turning pages and wanting to know more about them (above and beyond the murder part)
A really, really good read that kept me hooked!
November 5, 2019
1944-45ish Lancashire. The author spends a lot of time describing the life of a farmer in those days as well as the lovely countryside. It seemed work was hard and fell to the aged, women, young boys and infirmed. But they did toil away in a place of peace and beauty. But there is a murder to wreck the idyllic life.
It's a slow plot which moves faster once the laconic Scot Inspector MacDonald arrives and sets out to solve a crime where there are few clues, everyone seems quite nice and the victim while not well liked was well respected.
I have not read any other books in this series (this was number 24 of 46) but I would think there were better crime novels but maybe not a better period piece.
It's a slow plot which moves faster once the laconic Scot Inspector MacDonald arrives and sets out to solve a crime where there are few clues, everyone seems quite nice and the victim while not well liked was well respected.
I have not read any other books in this series (this was number 24 of 46) but I would think there were better crime novels but maybe not a better period piece.
July 2, 2020
I really enjoy this author-this is her fourth book I’ve read, two set in London (Murder by Matchlight, Bats in the Belfry: A London Mystery), and another set in rural England, like this one, during WWII, with the blackouts and agricultural restrictions (Fire in the Thatch: A Devon Mystery).
Two things I have found consistently enjoyable in her mysteries are her interesting, humble, smart and very able detective, Chief Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard, and her ability to create a fascinating sense of place.
Whether the creepy, crumbling ruin of the Belfry, or blacked out, bomb-scarred London, or the beautiful, timeless countrysides of Devon or Lancashire, I felt drawn into a place and time. Macdonald is so enjoyable to read about because he’s smart and humble enough to appreciate the people and places he’s called upon to investigate, and he’s decent and respectful enough to find out what makes the locals live as they do, and what might prompt them to kill.
Here, in rural Lancashire, he knows the farmers work hard, love the land, but aren’t chatty with strangers; unlike the impatient local detective, who thinks farmers are dumb, Macdonald knows they keep their own counsel. It took time and subtlety to get them to talk,
Like her detective, Lorac does an excellent job setting the stage in this one, showing the hardships of farming. Cranky, hot-tempered 82-year-old Robert Garth was the patriarch of the Garth family, which had farmed the land and lived in the cavernous Garthmere Hall for generations. He was hard but fair and respected, but found shot in an outbuilding on his land. There are several viable suspects between his long-suffering family and neighbors, but no witnesses and not many clues. Macdonald doesn’t appear until about halfway through, and he’s got his work cut out for him. I enjoyed this one, and hope for more reissues of Lorac’s Golden Age mysteries from British Library Crime Classics.
Two things I have found consistently enjoyable in her mysteries are her interesting, humble, smart and very able detective, Chief Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard, and her ability to create a fascinating sense of place.
Whether the creepy, crumbling ruin of the Belfry, or blacked out, bomb-scarred London, or the beautiful, timeless countrysides of Devon or Lancashire, I felt drawn into a place and time. Macdonald is so enjoyable to read about because he’s smart and humble enough to appreciate the people and places he’s called upon to investigate, and he’s decent and respectful enough to find out what makes the locals live as they do, and what might prompt them to kill.
Here, in rural Lancashire, he knows the farmers work hard, love the land, but aren’t chatty with strangers; unlike the impatient local detective, who thinks farmers are dumb, Macdonald knows they keep their own counsel. It took time and subtlety to get them to talk,
There was always a preamble, perhaps considering the weather or the crops, in which the stage was set for discussion. Haste was but wasted time; it simply did not work.
Like her detective, Lorac does an excellent job setting the stage in this one, showing the hardships of farming. Cranky, hot-tempered 82-year-old Robert Garth was the patriarch of the Garth family, which had farmed the land and lived in the cavernous Garthmere Hall for generations. He was hard but fair and respected, but found shot in an outbuilding on his land. There are several viable suspects between his long-suffering family and neighbors, but no witnesses and not many clues. Macdonald doesn’t appear until about halfway through, and he’s got his work cut out for him. I enjoyed this one, and hope for more reissues of Lorac’s Golden Age mysteries from British Library Crime Classics.
May 2, 2022
Chief Inspector Macdonald is a Scot himself, but he finds familiarity in the fell country of Lancashire, where a wealthy landowner has been killed. Old Mr. Garth was hard but fair, and as many hated him as admired him. He thwarted his hard-working daughter Marion and scorned sons Charles, a refugee from Malaya, and intelligent but physically weak Malcolm. His eldest son Richard, disowned many years earlier, is back in the area to visit the fells once more, but scorns all contact with his family. No one could accuse me of being addicted to high-action mysteries, but the descriptions of scenery and farm life did rather make the plot drag, despite the beauty of the writing. And why doesn't Macdonald do anything about the various women he finds attractive, after the case is over at least?
November 11, 2020
This is a country house murder mystery whodunnit, first published in 1944, that has enjoyed a recent reissue, and stands-out for a few reasons..
It takes place in the Lune Valley towards the end of the Second World War on the fells of what is now the Yorkshire Dales with their views across Morecambe Bay to the southern Lake District (close to me), and concerns the farming community. Its female characters are strong, farm women who are work better on the land with their cattle than the men do. It deals also with mental health, though the language used by Lorac is outdated.
E. C. R. Lorac was a pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett (1894-1958) who was a prolific writer of crime fiction from the 1930s to the 1950s; this is actually Inspector MacDonald's 28th outing, though the first I have read.
The first quarter of the book describes the land and farmlife, murder-less, but its popularity and reissue is due to it being different. Otherwise, its plot is standard fayre; I was far less concerned with the Inspector's investigations than I was with Lorac's portrayl of life during wartime, and farming characters coming under scrutiny from city folk.
There's a foreword from Martin Edwards, from whose Goodreads notes I came across the book. He's something of a guru these days in British crime, and well worth following - though, I would much have preferred reading this as an afterword..(but I guess that was the publisher's decision).
It takes place in the Lune Valley towards the end of the Second World War on the fells of what is now the Yorkshire Dales with their views across Morecambe Bay to the southern Lake District (close to me), and concerns the farming community. Its female characters are strong, farm women who are work better on the land with their cattle than the men do. It deals also with mental health, though the language used by Lorac is outdated.
E. C. R. Lorac was a pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett (1894-1958) who was a prolific writer of crime fiction from the 1930s to the 1950s; this is actually Inspector MacDonald's 28th outing, though the first I have read.
The first quarter of the book describes the land and farmlife, murder-less, but its popularity and reissue is due to it being different. Otherwise, its plot is standard fayre; I was far less concerned with the Inspector's investigations than I was with Lorac's portrayl of life during wartime, and farming characters coming under scrutiny from city folk.
There's a foreword from Martin Edwards, from whose Goodreads notes I came across the book. He's something of a guru these days in British crime, and well worth following - though, I would much have preferred reading this as an afterword..(but I guess that was the publisher's decision).
October 19, 2019
This puzzle mystery takes place in September of 1943, among the lovely fells and dales of northern England. And because the book was published in 1944 when the war still felt endless, reading it felt like a tiny glimpse into a time capsule. We spend the book in the quiet countryside, far away from the terrors of the war, but oh-so-casual references to things like blackout curtains and food rations give us the sense that this way of living has become the new normal, part of the fabric of everyday life. In fact, the local police have to call in Scotland Yard to solve the murder case because they are far too busy dealing with “use of petrol, surveillance of aliens, registration of alien children arriving at the age of sixteen, black-out offences, licences for pig-killing, black-market offences…”
Enter Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald. I love this guy! He is genuinely kind and respectful and patient, and these qualities make him an amazing detective because people feel comfortable with him and end up telling him far more than they would normally share. I really enjoyed his company.
The mystery was good and although I didn’t solve the case on my own, the author did “play fair” and provide plenty of clues so that, with a little more thought, I could have figured it out. I think it’s a very enjoyable whodunit.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a digital advance review copy. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Enter Chief Inspector Robert MacDonald. I love this guy! He is genuinely kind and respectful and patient, and these qualities make him an amazing detective because people feel comfortable with him and end up telling him far more than they would normally share. I really enjoyed his company.
The mystery was good and although I didn’t solve the case on my own, the author did “play fair” and provide plenty of clues so that, with a little more thought, I could have figured it out. I think it’s a very enjoyable whodunit.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a digital advance review copy. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
October 20, 2022
I love this author and have now read seven of her books, mostly the ones set in London - this is the first rural one and it's my favourite so far. A good mystery, a great detective and wonderful descriptions of the countryside that made me want to be there!
January 15, 2021
Over the past few years, the British Library have been reissuing some of E. C. R. Lorac’s vintage mysteries as part of their marvellous Crime Classics series. Lorac was the main pen-name adopted by Edith Caroline Rivett, who produced more than 60 novels between the 1930s and 1950s. Many of them featured the perceptive detective Chief Inspector Macdonald of the CID, including the two I’m reviewing here.
Fell Murder (1944)
The setting for this charming, unhurried mystery is the Lancashire countryside in the midst of World War Two, where the elderly Robert Garth is the head of one of the leading farming families in the district. Robert – a stubborn, hot-headed man by nature – is rather set in his ways, eschewing progressive developments in favour of more traditional farming methods. The old man’s obstinacy is a source of frustration for his daughter Marion, an industrious, hard-working woman who is keen to ensure that the estate remains profitable.
Also living at the farm are Robert’s second son, Charles, recently returned to England from Malaya, having lost pretty much everything; and a younger son, Malcolm, who is considered to be something of a weakling, more interested in poetry than working the land. The household is completed by Elizabeth Meldon, a switched-on Land Girl who helps with the farming activities.
To read the rest of my review, which also includes thoughts on Checkmate to Murder (1944), please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
Fell Murder (1944)
The setting for this charming, unhurried mystery is the Lancashire countryside in the midst of World War Two, where the elderly Robert Garth is the head of one of the leading farming families in the district. Robert – a stubborn, hot-headed man by nature – is rather set in his ways, eschewing progressive developments in favour of more traditional farming methods. The old man’s obstinacy is a source of frustration for his daughter Marion, an industrious, hard-working woman who is keen to ensure that the estate remains profitable.
Also living at the farm are Robert’s second son, Charles, recently returned to England from Malaya, having lost pretty much everything; and a younger son, Malcolm, who is considered to be something of a weakling, more interested in poetry than working the land. The household is completed by Elizabeth Meldon, a switched-on Land Girl who helps with the farming activities.
To read the rest of my review, which also includes thoughts on Checkmate to Murder (1944), please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
January 8, 2020
This book felt like a breath of fresh air. I know that this is an extremely odd way to begin the review of a book that is at its core a murder mystery. The descriptions of the people, the land (as the preface very obligingly points out) and the interactions between these two main focuses. It was a surprisingly quick read, at least for me.
We are introduced to a hard-working family, the primary landowners in the area. Even before we meet the Patriarch, we meet the prodigal son who has come back just to feast his eyes on the land that would technically pass on to him. He says some very profound things like the use of the word 'owning' that land and it sets the tone for the rest of the book. The murder occurs well into the narrative almost as an afterthought, and we are given a view into two different types of police enquiries and what each method brings forth. We have the leisure to get a feel for every character and meander through the tale. This does not mean that the story itself consisted of lying about or slow anything. There was back-breaking work described in impressive detail to keep the farms going. Since we all have to eat and farming is losing the land it needs all over the world, these kinds of stories might actually inspire people who have the capacity or the chance to work with land directly.
This edition also had a short story that was very brief but mildly entertaining. This is not for those who want a graphic mystery with a lot of things happening but for all other types of mystery readers, this will be a treat.
One of my favourite dialogues
"You remind me of my dentists a bit" (in speaking of the Chief Inspector)she answered unexpectedly, "He's always very polite but he pulls my tooth out just the same"
I received an ARC of the reprint thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but this review is entirely based on my own reading experience and my love of the beauty of outdoors.
We are introduced to a hard-working family, the primary landowners in the area. Even before we meet the Patriarch, we meet the prodigal son who has come back just to feast his eyes on the land that would technically pass on to him. He says some very profound things like the use of the word 'owning' that land and it sets the tone for the rest of the book. The murder occurs well into the narrative almost as an afterthought, and we are given a view into two different types of police enquiries and what each method brings forth. We have the leisure to get a feel for every character and meander through the tale. This does not mean that the story itself consisted of lying about or slow anything. There was back-breaking work described in impressive detail to keep the farms going. Since we all have to eat and farming is losing the land it needs all over the world, these kinds of stories might actually inspire people who have the capacity or the chance to work with land directly.
This edition also had a short story that was very brief but mildly entertaining. This is not for those who want a graphic mystery with a lot of things happening but for all other types of mystery readers, this will be a treat.
One of my favourite dialogues
"You remind me of my dentists a bit" (in speaking of the Chief Inspector)she answered unexpectedly, "He's always very polite but he pulls my tooth out just the same"
I received an ARC of the reprint thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but this review is entirely based on my own reading experience and my love of the beauty of outdoors.
April 12, 2020
Another British Library Crime Classic! Lorac’s work, as republished in this series, has been solidly satisfying for me, drawing sensitive portraits of people and places that make you care about the solution of the murder. It’s not a mere puzzle, as it can be in other crime fiction of much the same period. Fell Murder is solidly set in a particular landscape, which Lorac clearly loved and described in beautiful detail, so you can almost smell the hay and the damp earth and — yes — the cow sheds. It’s idyllic, even romanticised, and the characters are made sympathetic through their love of the land and their whole-hearted hard work. Even the crotchety old head of the family is dignified by his hard work and his fairness, despite his ruthlessness.
I found this a little slower than Lorac’s other work; I think because I could see who the killer must be far too soon, and thus didn’t appreciated the beating around the bush. In the final chapters of the book, I rather disliked Macdonald’s little gambit about Charles and Malcolm; what a needless risk, with more evidence due to turn up!
It wasn’t bad, and it definitely had its high points, but it didn’t totally work for me.
I found this a little slower than Lorac’s other work; I think because I could see who the killer must be far too soon, and thus didn’t appreciated the beating around the bush. In the final chapters of the book, I rather disliked Macdonald’s little gambit about Charles and Malcolm; what a needless risk, with more evidence due to turn up!
It wasn’t bad, and it definitely had its high points, but it didn’t totally work for me.
October 24, 2020
2 1/2 stars. Interesting to see the depiction of World War II in the English countryside which is far different than in other books about the war I have read. Lorac does show a great love of this area of England in her story.
I didn't feel that the story had many clues that the reader could use to deduce who it was. There was something that should have occurred to me but part of the clue was never mentioned. I guessed who it was before the end but that was mostly because some of the others were too obvious so it couldn't be them.
I didn't feel that the story had many clues that the reader could use to deduce who it was. There was something that should have occurred to me but part of the clue was never mentioned. I guessed who it was before the end but that was mostly because some of the others were too obvious so it couldn't be them.
January 19, 2022
From the Poisoned Pen Press series of British Library Crime Classics comes this rural 1944 mystery set near Morecambe Bay, just south of the Lake District in England. E.C.R. Lorac was one of the pseudonyms of Edith Caroline Rivett, and Fell Murder is one of the many volumes in the Inspector MacDonald series. The story is deeply embedded in a farming community and reads as if Thomas Hardy had decided to try his hand at the mystery genre. It's also a classic Golden Age mystery, following the rules in giving the reader sufficient clues while generously doling out the red herrings. The casual references to the restrictions and requirements of the Second World War gives it an additional layer of interest as contemporary history.
June 20, 2024
The writing is so beautiful. I especially enjoyed that we got to meet the family, the characters, way before the murder. I had guessed the killer, but then like any good murder mystery it made me wonder and suspect someone else. I love how the book wrapped up and Inspector McDonald is quickly becoming one of my favorite Inspectors. Lorac is also quickly becoming a favorite murder mystery author, this is my third book by her!
Read
April 29, 2022This "British Library Crime Classic"--originally published in 1944--is a fine little cosy mystery. The start was a tad clunky for me, but soon enough I was fully engaged with the characters and plot. Inspector MacDonald is a very appealing sleuth, the setting was exactly my sort of sublime, and I very much appreciated the presence of TWO strong and sympathetic female characters. That said, I also cringed over the characterization of a young "mental defective" who numbered among the suspects. All in all, however, it's a very good "whodunnit" with an interesting lineup of suspects.
I'm so glad Poisoned Pen Press (Sourcebooks) is putting out these gorgeous editions of Golden Age mysteries, many (most?) of them written by women. Unfortunately they don't seem to have Lorac's first book featuring Inspector MacDonald. In fact, I can't seem to find it anywhere.
I'm so glad Poisoned Pen Press (Sourcebooks) is putting out these gorgeous editions of Golden Age mysteries, many (most?) of them written by women. Unfortunately they don't seem to have Lorac's first book featuring Inspector MacDonald. In fact, I can't seem to find it anywhere.
February 15, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyable, only MacDonald didn't appear until I was a third in the book and I much preferred the reading after his entrance.
January 6, 2020
I received a free electronic copy of this historical British police procedural from Netgalley, E.C.R. Lorac, and Poisoned Pen Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition and this review reflects my personal, honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend this work to friends and family. Fell Murder is an exquisite miniature of life in small-town Britain just after the war.
Fell Murder was first published in 1944 by Collins Crime Club, we have a perfect spotlight on life in the hills of Lancaster following WWII - life and livelihood isolated by distance and lifestyle. The protagonists are well rounded, their personalities fully formed, and the mystery all-encompassing. I have encountered Lorac before, but this novel has me firmly in her thrall. Fell Murder was the first book featuring Bobby Macdonald. I will have to dig out my other Macdonald who-done-its and try to fill in the blanks. Though a perfect stand-alone, this is a book to get you addicted to the genre.
pub date 1944, Collins Crime Club
re-pub Jan 6, 2020
rec Sept 22, 2010
Poisoned Pen Press
Reviewed on December 25, 2019, on Goodreads, and Netgalley. On January 5, 2020, reviewed on AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, BookBub, Kobo, and GooglePlay.
Fell Murder was first published in 1944 by Collins Crime Club, we have a perfect spotlight on life in the hills of Lancaster following WWII - life and livelihood isolated by distance and lifestyle. The protagonists are well rounded, their personalities fully formed, and the mystery all-encompassing. I have encountered Lorac before, but this novel has me firmly in her thrall. Fell Murder was the first book featuring Bobby Macdonald. I will have to dig out my other Macdonald who-done-its and try to fill in the blanks. Though a perfect stand-alone, this is a book to get you addicted to the genre.
pub date 1944, Collins Crime Club
re-pub Jan 6, 2020
rec Sept 22, 2010
Poisoned Pen Press
Reviewed on December 25, 2019, on Goodreads, and Netgalley. On January 5, 2020, reviewed on AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, BookBub, Kobo, and GooglePlay.
January 2, 2020
Prodigal son and heir Richard returns to his hometown in rural 1944 England in the Fell Murder.
Richard’s argumentative father Robert had forced him from the family land when he married a local farmer’s daughter. Richard wants to tramp across the land of his childhood but has no intention of speaking to his family ever again. But when his old, but still cantankerous, father is found dead, he is the number one suspect.
Bucolic rural England is the best part of this slow-moving whodunit. You can almost smell the wet earth and cow dung while you are reading the Fell Murder. Robert has enemies everywhere—both within and outside his family—making the mystery a challenge to solve for armchair detectives. The slow pace, while increasing the atmosphere, made this book only a so-so read for me. 3 stars.
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
Richard’s argumentative father Robert had forced him from the family land when he married a local farmer’s daughter. Richard wants to tramp across the land of his childhood but has no intention of speaking to his family ever again. But when his old, but still cantankerous, father is found dead, he is the number one suspect.
Bucolic rural England is the best part of this slow-moving whodunit. You can almost smell the wet earth and cow dung while you are reading the Fell Murder. Robert has enemies everywhere—both within and outside his family—making the mystery a challenge to solve for armchair detectives. The slow pace, while increasing the atmosphere, made this book only a so-so read for me. 3 stars.
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
March 18, 2020
A murder mystery in the "classic" style, which resonates much deeper than the relatively simple plot might suggest, because of sensitive handling of time and place.
Full disclosure: for over 25 very happy years of my life, I lived in the Lune Valley, the setting of Fell Murder. I lived in a village which is probably less than five miles from the "scene of the crime," in a house on a hillside which, if you stood on tiptoe, and leaned over a bit, might have had a view of some of the fields and lanes mentioned. So, I approached the novel with no little trepidation: it can be a dodgy exercise, reading a novel about a place you love, and think you know well. It's a fine line between getting it very wrong, so it feels like the author only did the most cursory research, and getting it too right, so it feels like a Wikipedia article, thinly disguised as a novel. No pressure, then ...
I am delighted to report that the late Edith Caroline Rivett, writing as E.C.R. Lorac, achieved "Goldilocks" status, and got it just right. She obviously knew the hillsides and flood plain of the Lune Valley, and the ways of its farmers, very well, but she wears her knowledge lightly, and works it into absolutely essential scene- and character-setting. In the end, you understand why you have been told something -- it's all very interesting, but it's also all very necessary to constructing the story of the murder of landowner and farmer Robert Garth, and its solution.
I'm not going to argue that this is a "lost masterpiece." This is a novel where, I think, the sum is greater than the parts. Lorac captures a place beautifully, writing almost poetically about the beauty of those hillsides, and that river, and the wonderful vistas you can see from the high points surrounding them. She captures a time, and difficult circumstances so well -- you come away with a real sense of the challenges and fears of ordinary British farming folk as they entered the sixth year of the war against Hitler, and what they had to do to contribute to the victory we know, but they could only hope for. And awareness that their response was, for the most part, to ignore their fears, and get on with rising to the challenges. Admirable ... and humbling.
And yet, Lorac seems to be saying, however admirable it all seems, evil and selfishness can still worm their way in, and it takes someone who understand these people and their circumstances to identify the murderer, and prevent a terrible injustice being done.
This will probably seem very old fashioned, by modern standards, in style, plotting and characterization. But it's as a period piece that I consider it a minor treasure. And I learned that the second growth of grass after the hay has been mown is called "fog grass." Lived there 25 years, and I never knew that ...
Full disclosure: for over 25 very happy years of my life, I lived in the Lune Valley, the setting of Fell Murder. I lived in a village which is probably less than five miles from the "scene of the crime," in a house on a hillside which, if you stood on tiptoe, and leaned over a bit, might have had a view of some of the fields and lanes mentioned. So, I approached the novel with no little trepidation: it can be a dodgy exercise, reading a novel about a place you love, and think you know well. It's a fine line between getting it very wrong, so it feels like the author only did the most cursory research, and getting it too right, so it feels like a Wikipedia article, thinly disguised as a novel. No pressure, then ...
I am delighted to report that the late Edith Caroline Rivett, writing as E.C.R. Lorac, achieved "Goldilocks" status, and got it just right. She obviously knew the hillsides and flood plain of the Lune Valley, and the ways of its farmers, very well, but she wears her knowledge lightly, and works it into absolutely essential scene- and character-setting. In the end, you understand why you have been told something -- it's all very interesting, but it's also all very necessary to constructing the story of the murder of landowner and farmer Robert Garth, and its solution.
I'm not going to argue that this is a "lost masterpiece." This is a novel where, I think, the sum is greater than the parts. Lorac captures a place beautifully, writing almost poetically about the beauty of those hillsides, and that river, and the wonderful vistas you can see from the high points surrounding them. She captures a time, and difficult circumstances so well -- you come away with a real sense of the challenges and fears of ordinary British farming folk as they entered the sixth year of the war against Hitler, and what they had to do to contribute to the victory we know, but they could only hope for. And awareness that their response was, for the most part, to ignore their fears, and get on with rising to the challenges. Admirable ... and humbling.
And yet, Lorac seems to be saying, however admirable it all seems, evil and selfishness can still worm their way in, and it takes someone who understand these people and their circumstances to identify the murderer, and prevent a terrible injustice being done.
This will probably seem very old fashioned, by modern standards, in style, plotting and characterization. But it's as a period piece that I consider it a minor treasure. And I learned that the second growth of grass after the hay has been mown is called "fog grass." Lived there 25 years, and I never knew that ...
September 26, 2019
In Fell Murder, Lorac does a great job setting the scene. Before the murder even happens, we know the family and their quarrels, the neighboring farmers and the landscape well. For some, the prolonged introduction may make the book seem to start off slow, but I like getting to know the eventual suspects and seeing how they interacted with the victim when he was alive.
Garth was a respected, rather than loved, elderly and wealthy landowner. Even though he was tough and mean, he was a hard-worker and dealt with people fairly for the most part. Nevertheless, there are plenty of suspects among the family and neighbors. MacDonald, our series detective, is called in from Scotland Yard because the local man is too busy and not used to dealing with murders, and it’s for the best. The local man is a townie and treats the farmers as if they’re stupid. MacDonald is gentler and realizes their slowness in speech and action has nothing to do with intelligence. The locals think about what to say, will not jump to accuse anyone. They’re stubborn and distrustful of outsiders, but they’re hard-working and honest and MacDonald treats them with respect.
The mystery was well-done. The clues were there, but I only saw them in hindsight. It wouldn’t have been hard to guess who the killer was though.
This is the third in the series I’ve read—they’re of course being reprinted out of order—and probably my favorite so far. The landscape and characters do outshine the mystery, but sometimes that’s just fine.
Garth was a respected, rather than loved, elderly and wealthy landowner. Even though he was tough and mean, he was a hard-worker and dealt with people fairly for the most part. Nevertheless, there are plenty of suspects among the family and neighbors. MacDonald, our series detective, is called in from Scotland Yard because the local man is too busy and not used to dealing with murders, and it’s for the best. The local man is a townie and treats the farmers as if they’re stupid. MacDonald is gentler and realizes their slowness in speech and action has nothing to do with intelligence. The locals think about what to say, will not jump to accuse anyone. They’re stubborn and distrustful of outsiders, but they’re hard-working and honest and MacDonald treats them with respect.
The mystery was well-done. The clues were there, but I only saw them in hindsight. It wouldn’t have been hard to guess who the killer was though.
This is the third in the series I’ve read—they’re of course being reprinted out of order—and probably my favorite so far. The landscape and characters do outshine the mystery, but sometimes that’s just fine.
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