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The Case Is Closed
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1953
About the author
Laura Conway
61 books10 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name
Dorothy Phoebe Ansle Keogh wrote under the pennames Hebe Elsna, Vicky Lancaster, Lyndon Snow, and Laura Conway.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name
Dorothy Phoebe Ansle Keogh wrote under the pennames Hebe Elsna, Vicky Lancaster, Lyndon Snow, and Laura Conway.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 21, 2020
Blurb: 'Pat Shelley was not a "blonde bombshell" - she had red hair! - but she was a bombshell all right. When Clare Forsyth learnt that her brother Simon was engaged to Pat she was certainly surprised, for Simon had never been interested in women. Surprise was superseded by something like horror when she heard from a neighbour, Dion Chateris, Q.C. that Pat was Margaret Patricia Shelly Lynch, a notorious young woman who had stood on trial for her life but a short while ago. Though she had been acquitted of murder, it was Dion's opinion that she was guilty - guilty as hell. Why did Dion hate the girl so much? What was the reason for the antagonism that burned so fiercely between these two? 'Dearest Enemy' does not deal with lukewarm emotions; it is a story of tumultuous and sweeping passions, told with vigour and yet understanding by the popular Lyndon Snow.'
I own that when I purchased 'Dearest Enemy' by Lyndon Snow (real name Dorothy Phoebe Ansle, an author who also wrote as Hebe Elsna, Vicky Lancaster and Laura Conway) it was largely for the fabulous retro cover depicting a British barrister glowering icily (if such a thing is possible) at a heroine attired in Dior's New Look who is clasping her hands in elegant anguish. That the novel actually transpired to be a pretty decent read was, frankly, unexpected icing on the proverbial cake!
The book opens with reclusive writer, Clare Forsyth, learning that her publishing partner and equally reserved brother, Simon is about to descend on the household with his new fiancee. Hurriedly preparing their family home,'The Port', for guests, Clare is unable to imagine what has made Simon act in such an atypically rash manner. When she meets his fiancee, the divine looking Pat Shelley, she begins to comprehend why Simon has gone 'head over heels' for the young woman.
However, forewarned is forearmed, and Clare has learnt from her neighbour, eminent QC, Dion Chateris, that 'Pat Shelley' is in fact the notorious 'Margaret Patricia Shelley Lynch' a young woman he prosecuted some months earlier for the alleged murder of her wealthy, elderly employer.
While Dion insists, despite her acquittal, that Pat is guilty, Clare wants to be scrupulously fair and wonders if her neighbour is embittered at losing the trial. As she gets to know Pat, Clare does sense that the young woman is putting on an act, in large part, to make people like her. She also realises that, while grateful for Simon's support, Pat is not at all in love with her brother.
For her part, during her stay at 'The Port' Pat finds herself reacquainted both with Dion, on who she swore to have revenge, as well as the family of the murdered woman - including the lady's film star son - who stood by her during the trial. At this point, as family dynamics begin swirling, the mystery sub-plot thickens: is Pat an innocent woman who has been unjustly accused, or an opportunistic murderess who beguiled a jury and even the victim's own family?
It took me until about two-thirds of 'Dearest Enemy' to work out whodunit, meaning the plot line isn't Agatha Christie worthy, but it's not a complete slouch of a story as far as mysteries go either. The heroine, pleasingly, is not a 'milk and whey' type - I suspect mostly they aren't in Dorothy Ansley's books. In-keeping, however, with the post-war period (the novel was published in 1953), the hero is very much of the dominant 'keep my woman for my eyes only' variety. If you can stomach that though - and it's pretty mild chauvinism compared to the sadistic hero's that Mills & Boon favoured two decades later - the novel is a decent read so far as old-fashioned romance/ mystery's go, and I'm rating it a three-and-half star vintage romance read.
I own that when I purchased 'Dearest Enemy' by Lyndon Snow (real name Dorothy Phoebe Ansle, an author who also wrote as Hebe Elsna, Vicky Lancaster and Laura Conway) it was largely for the fabulous retro cover depicting a British barrister glowering icily (if such a thing is possible) at a heroine attired in Dior's New Look who is clasping her hands in elegant anguish. That the novel actually transpired to be a pretty decent read was, frankly, unexpected icing on the proverbial cake!
The book opens with reclusive writer, Clare Forsyth, learning that her publishing partner and equally reserved brother, Simon is about to descend on the household with his new fiancee. Hurriedly preparing their family home,'The Port', for guests, Clare is unable to imagine what has made Simon act in such an atypically rash manner. When she meets his fiancee, the divine looking Pat Shelley, she begins to comprehend why Simon has gone 'head over heels' for the young woman.
However, forewarned is forearmed, and Clare has learnt from her neighbour, eminent QC, Dion Chateris, that 'Pat Shelley' is in fact the notorious 'Margaret Patricia Shelley Lynch' a young woman he prosecuted some months earlier for the alleged murder of her wealthy, elderly employer.
While Dion insists, despite her acquittal, that Pat is guilty, Clare wants to be scrupulously fair and wonders if her neighbour is embittered at losing the trial. As she gets to know Pat, Clare does sense that the young woman is putting on an act, in large part, to make people like her. She also realises that, while grateful for Simon's support, Pat is not at all in love with her brother.
For her part, during her stay at 'The Port' Pat finds herself reacquainted both with Dion, on who she swore to have revenge, as well as the family of the murdered woman - including the lady's film star son - who stood by her during the trial. At this point, as family dynamics begin swirling, the mystery sub-plot thickens: is Pat an innocent woman who has been unjustly accused, or an opportunistic murderess who beguiled a jury and even the victim's own family?
It took me until about two-thirds of 'Dearest Enemy' to work out whodunit, meaning the plot line isn't Agatha Christie worthy, but it's not a complete slouch of a story as far as mysteries go either. The heroine, pleasingly, is not a 'milk and whey' type - I suspect mostly they aren't in Dorothy Ansley's books. In-keeping, however, with the post-war period (the novel was published in 1953), the hero is very much of the dominant 'keep my woman for my eyes only' variety. If you can stomach that though - and it's pretty mild chauvinism compared to the sadistic hero's that Mills & Boon favoured two decades later - the novel is a decent read so far as old-fashioned romance/ mystery's go, and I'm rating it a three-and-half star vintage romance read.
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