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Horatio Green
The Moonflower Murder
English mystery
271 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
2 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Beverley Nichols
102 books149 followersJohn Beverley Nichols (born September 9, 1898 in Bower Ashton, Bristol, died September 15, 1983 in Kingston, London), was an English writer, playwright, actor, novelist and composer. He went to school at Marlborough College, and went to Balliol College, Oxford University, and was President of the Oxford Union and editor of Isis.
Between his first novel, Prelude, published in 1920, and Twilight in 1982, he wrote more than 60 books and plays on topics such as travel, politics, religion, cats, novels, mysteries, and children's stories, authoring six novels, five detective mysteries, four children's stories, six plays, and no fewer than six autobiographies.
Nichols is perhaps best remembered as a writer for Woman's Own and for his gardening books, the first of which Down the Garden Path, was illustrated — as were many of his books — by Rex Whistler. This bestseller — which has had 32 editions and has been in print almost continuously since 1932 — was the first of his trilogy about Allways, his Tudor thatched cottage in Glatton, Cambridgeshire. A later trilogy written between 1951 and 1956 documents his travails renovating Merry Hall (Meadowstream), a Georgian manor house in Agates Lane, Ashtead, Surrey, where Nichols lived from 1946 to 1956. These books often feature his gifted but laconic gardener "Oldfield". Nichols's final trilogy is referred to as "The Sudbrook Trilogy" (1963–1969) and concerns his late 18th-century attached cottage at Ham, (near Richmond), Surrey.
Nichols was a prolific author who wrote on a wide range of topics. He ghostwrote Dame Nellie Melba’s "autobiography" Memories and Melodies (1925), and in 1966 he wrote A Case of Human Bondage about the marriage and divorce of William Somerset Maugham and Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo, which was highly critical of Maugham. Father Figure, which appeared in 1972 and in which he described how he had tried to murder his alcoholic and abusive father, caused a great uproar and several people asked for his prosecution. His autobiographies usually feature Arthur R. Gaskin who was Nichols’ manservant from 1924 until Gaskin's death from cirrhosis in 1966. Nichols made one appearance on film - in 1931 he appeared in Glamour, directed by Seymour Hicks and Harry Hughes, playing the part of the Hon. Richard Wells.
Nichols' long-term partner was Cyril Butcher. He died in 1983 from complications after a fall.
Between his first novel, Prelude, published in 1920, and Twilight in 1982, he wrote more than 60 books and plays on topics such as travel, politics, religion, cats, novels, mysteries, and children's stories, authoring six novels, five detective mysteries, four children's stories, six plays, and no fewer than six autobiographies.
Nichols is perhaps best remembered as a writer for Woman's Own and for his gardening books, the first of which Down the Garden Path, was illustrated — as were many of his books — by Rex Whistler. This bestseller — which has had 32 editions and has been in print almost continuously since 1932 — was the first of his trilogy about Allways, his Tudor thatched cottage in Glatton, Cambridgeshire. A later trilogy written between 1951 and 1956 documents his travails renovating Merry Hall (Meadowstream), a Georgian manor house in Agates Lane, Ashtead, Surrey, where Nichols lived from 1946 to 1956. These books often feature his gifted but laconic gardener "Oldfield". Nichols's final trilogy is referred to as "The Sudbrook Trilogy" (1963–1969) and concerns his late 18th-century attached cottage at Ham, (near Richmond), Surrey.
Nichols was a prolific author who wrote on a wide range of topics. He ghostwrote Dame Nellie Melba’s "autobiography" Memories and Melodies (1925), and in 1966 he wrote A Case of Human Bondage about the marriage and divorce of William Somerset Maugham and Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo, which was highly critical of Maugham. Father Figure, which appeared in 1972 and in which he described how he had tried to murder his alcoholic and abusive father, caused a great uproar and several people asked for his prosecution. His autobiographies usually feature Arthur R. Gaskin who was Nichols’ manservant from 1924 until Gaskin's death from cirrhosis in 1966. Nichols made one appearance on film - in 1931 he appeared in Glamour, directed by Seymour Hicks and Harry Hughes, playing the part of the Hon. Richard Wells.
Nichols' long-term partner was Cyril Butcher. He died in 1983 from complications after a fall.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 10, 2009
like a 3.5
To be very blunt, I'd never heard either of this book or this author before, and I found it through a website called www.detective-fiction.com when researching which locked room mysteries to read. After reading this one, I'm probably going to try to track down other mysteries featuring the main character of Horatio Green. Mr. Green is like an amateur sleuth who has a gift for smells. This is the second book in the series.
The basic premise of this novel is that Green has been invited to witness a rare event: the opening and blossoming of a very rare moonflower, found by one Hilary Scole in Uruguay. Scole's expedition to bring back the moonflower was financed by a Mrs. Faversham, a very undelightful woman who does mean things to people for her own entertainment. Green is told upon his arrival that it would be two more days before the opening of the flower, and while he's waiting, Mrs. Faversham is killed. While a friend of his from Scotland Yard (Waller) is in the area, they team up to solve the crime. With a houseful of suspects who had motives to kill, this isn't going to be easy. That's it in a really compact nutshell, but I can't say anything, really, about the plot or I'll wreck it for anyone who may wish to read this one.
Horatio Green is a very sensitive sleuth, so if you're looking for a lot of hardcore detective action you won't find it here. Nichols' writing is very old style...a bit meandering here and there, but let us not forget that this book was written in 1955. Modern readers may be a bit taken aback by his use of racially-charged language, but again, if you try to keep it in perspective timewise, you can overlook it.
Overall, it was a decent read, nothing too exciting but still a good mystery. You really won't realize why this book is in the genre of "impossible crime" until the end, so be patient. I would recommend it to serious mystery readers who mix in the older novels along with the newer, but it may be a bit too much for those who want the quick crime fix.
To be very blunt, I'd never heard either of this book or this author before, and I found it through a website called www.detective-fiction.com when researching which locked room mysteries to read. After reading this one, I'm probably going to try to track down other mysteries featuring the main character of Horatio Green. Mr. Green is like an amateur sleuth who has a gift for smells. This is the second book in the series.
The basic premise of this novel is that Green has been invited to witness a rare event: the opening and blossoming of a very rare moonflower, found by one Hilary Scole in Uruguay. Scole's expedition to bring back the moonflower was financed by a Mrs. Faversham, a very undelightful woman who does mean things to people for her own entertainment. Green is told upon his arrival that it would be two more days before the opening of the flower, and while he's waiting, Mrs. Faversham is killed. While a friend of his from Scotland Yard (Waller) is in the area, they team up to solve the crime. With a houseful of suspects who had motives to kill, this isn't going to be easy. That's it in a really compact nutshell, but I can't say anything, really, about the plot or I'll wreck it for anyone who may wish to read this one.
Horatio Green is a very sensitive sleuth, so if you're looking for a lot of hardcore detective action you won't find it here. Nichols' writing is very old style...a bit meandering here and there, but let us not forget that this book was written in 1955. Modern readers may be a bit taken aback by his use of racially-charged language, but again, if you try to keep it in perspective timewise, you can overlook it.
Overall, it was a decent read, nothing too exciting but still a good mystery. You really won't realize why this book is in the genre of "impossible crime" until the end, so be patient. I would recommend it to serious mystery readers who mix in the older novels along with the newer, but it may be a bit too much for those who want the quick crime fix.
July 19, 2018
Nichols really doesn’t do mysteries well – he’s certainly no Christie, a contemporary of his - and yet I enjoy reading his detective fiction. Every time Horatio Green appears, I see David Suchet in my mind’s eye. This novel starts well with the scene set and the unpleasant matriarch clearly about to play the victim. There is a complex back story of blackmail and bigamy which motivates the murder and several red herrings (an escaped convict, a dead pet, a jewel theft) but how all this was investigated is not revealed logically or concisely. The denouement is far too long and cumbersome, as so many different crimes need to be resolved. Again, Nichols doesn’t play fair by showing his detective gathering clues in apparently random fashion, clues which he does not then share with the reader. This is designed to create suspense and yet I felt it was clear who the murderer must be, and the only mystery was the why and the how. The characters behave consistently, except for the blackmailer who thinks herself untouchable and it is to be hoped that she is finally arrested. Some details in the novel were jarring to a modern reader, though I don’t think they were meant unkindly, and knowledge of police procedure would have established the true cause of death much sooner. But you don’t read cosy detective fiction for real life detail, and the novel as entertainment worked within the artificial framework of the genre.
May 24, 2010
Written in 1955, The Moonflower is a classic mystery of that era. Which is not one of my favorites. But, since I'm beginning to discover Beverley Nichols and am looking forward to reading his gardening books with much anticipation, I'm happy to have read this charming little murder. The author's graceful writing make even a not-so-favorite genre pleasurable.
March 2, 2021
Found this book somewhat lacking and disappointing. Not as engaging as some of his other books.
March 21, 2024
I liked this even more then previous one. Very clever how an editor turned detective and managed to get justice driver an invent victim.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews