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Watson Sisters #1
Убийство в метрото
Сравнявана с едни от най-добрите британски автори на криминални романи от 30-те години на миналия век като Агата Кристи и Дороти Сейърс, Мейвис Дориъл Хей си спечелва много суперлативи, макар че написва едва три романа в жанра. Още първият от тях, „Убийство в метрото“, обаче подсказва потенциала й да забърква неустоима криминална интрига с колоритни герои.
Действието в този класически детективски роман се развива в близост до Северната линия на лондонското метро. Когато госпожица Понгълтън е открита мъртва на стълбите на метростанция „Белсайз Парк“, останалите пансионери в обитавания от нея хотел „Фрамптън“ не са обзети от мъка при новината за смъртта на досадната възрастна дама. Но всички те имат своите теории за самоличността на убиеца, макар че от полицията прибързано задържат потенциалния извършител.
Заради тежкия си характер и постоянното желание да променя завещанието си, госпожица Понгълтън не липсва особено на никого, но пък точно затова заподозрените за убийството й са прекалено много. Обитателите на хотела все пак решават да се заемат с разгадаването на мистерията. Няколко от тях, включително и териерът Тапи, изпълняват важна роля в последвалите събития. Междувременно разследващите полицаи се опитват да се справят с всевъзможните открити улики и фалшиви следи, както и да проверят различни алибита на замесените и облагодетелстваните от смъртта на госпожица Понгълтън. А съквартирантите във „Фрамптън“ упорито се стараят да им отнемат задълженията и ги заливат с разнородна информация и предположения, които в крайна сметка водят до драматичен арест.
Действието в този класически детективски роман се развива в близост до Северната линия на лондонското метро. Когато госпожица Понгълтън е открита мъртва на стълбите на метростанция „Белсайз Парк“, останалите пансионери в обитавания от нея хотел „Фрамптън“ не са обзети от мъка при новината за смъртта на досадната възрастна дама. Но всички те имат своите теории за самоличността на убиеца, макар че от полицията прибързано задържат потенциалния извършител.
Заради тежкия си характер и постоянното желание да променя завещанието си, госпожица Понгълтън не липсва особено на никого, но пък точно затова заподозрените за убийството й са прекалено много. Обитателите на хотела все пак решават да се заемат с разгадаването на мистерията. Няколко от тях, включително и териерът Тапи, изпълняват важна роля в последвалите събития. Междувременно разследващите полицаи се опитват да се справят с всевъзможните открити улики и фалшиви следи, както и да проверят различни алибита на замесените и облагодетелстваните от смъртта на госпожица Понгълтън. А съквартирантите във „Фрамптън“ упорито се стараят да им отнемат задълженията и ги заливат с разнородна информация и предположения, които в крайна сметка водят до драматичен арест.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1934
116 people are currently reading
1414 people want to read
About the author
Mavis Doriel Hay
14 books53 followersMavis Doriel Hay (1894-1979), who in early life lived in north London, was a novelist, who fleetingly lit up the golden age of British crime fiction. She attended St Hilda's, Oxford, around about the same time as Dorothy L Sayers was at Somerville.
She published only three detective novels, 'Murder Underground' (1934), 'Death on the Cherwell' (1935) and 'The Santa Klaus Murder' (1936). All three titles were well received on publication.
She was also an expert on rural handicraft and wrote several books on the subject including 'Rural Industries of England and Wales' with co-author Helen Elizabeth Fitzrandolph.
In 1929, she married her co-author's brother Archibald Menzies Fitzrandolph, a member of a wealthy and influential family of loyalist Canadians.
Archibald joined the RAF but was killed in a flying accident in 1943, one of a number of tragedies that struck Mavis. One of her brothers was killed aged 19 when his ship was sunk during the Battle of Jutland in 1916, her youngest sibling was killed when his Tiger Moth crashed in a Malayan jungle in 1939 and in 1940 a third brother lost his life working on the notorious Thailand-Burma railway after being captured by the Japanese.
When she set aside her mystery novels, Mavis took up a role as a researcher for the Rural Industries Bureau, which was established to encourage craft industries in deprived areas.
She was said to be so well-connected that she was able to arrange exhibitions in the homes of the aristocracy, connections to which had probably come about from one of Archibald's cousins marrying Sir John Dashwood and the fact that the cousin then became a lady-in-waiting at the court of King George V.
Her final book, 'Quilting' was published in 1972, just seven years before her death, which occurred in the village of Box in Gloucestershire.
Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2015
She published only three detective novels, 'Murder Underground' (1934), 'Death on the Cherwell' (1935) and 'The Santa Klaus Murder' (1936). All three titles were well received on publication.
She was also an expert on rural handicraft and wrote several books on the subject including 'Rural Industries of England and Wales' with co-author Helen Elizabeth Fitzrandolph.
In 1929, she married her co-author's brother Archibald Menzies Fitzrandolph, a member of a wealthy and influential family of loyalist Canadians.
Archibald joined the RAF but was killed in a flying accident in 1943, one of a number of tragedies that struck Mavis. One of her brothers was killed aged 19 when his ship was sunk during the Battle of Jutland in 1916, her youngest sibling was killed when his Tiger Moth crashed in a Malayan jungle in 1939 and in 1940 a third brother lost his life working on the notorious Thailand-Burma railway after being captured by the Japanese.
When she set aside her mystery novels, Mavis took up a role as a researcher for the Rural Industries Bureau, which was established to encourage craft industries in deprived areas.
She was said to be so well-connected that she was able to arrange exhibitions in the homes of the aristocracy, connections to which had probably come about from one of Archibald's cousins marrying Sir John Dashwood and the fact that the cousin then became a lady-in-waiting at the court of King George V.
Her final book, 'Quilting' was published in 1972, just seven years before her death, which occurred in the village of Box in Gloucestershire.
Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 315 reviews
March 31, 2018
Published in 1934, this mystery was re-published, after being out of print for many years. Mavis Doriel Hay only wrote three mysteries, but was popular in her time, and British Library Crime Classics are to be applauded for bringing long out of print novels, and authors, back to our attention.
The novel is set around the Frampton Private Hotel – a boarding house in North London (indeed, most of this novel is set around the area where I live, which only added to my interest). The wonderfully names Miss Euphemia Pongleton is heading for a dentist appointment, but is found murdered on the stairs of Belsize Park tube station; strangled by the lead of her dog, Tuppy. Obviously, things have changed a little since this book was written, as the body is not discovered for some time and the police actually look for prints on the hand rail of the stairs, suggesting it is both little used and also cleaned!
Miss Pongleton is not much mourned by her fellow boarders, but they are intrigued by the mystery of her death – not least as Bob Thurlow, the young man of maid Nellie, is implicated in the crime. Also, Miss Pongleton was well known for writing and re-writing her will, although her money was supposedly destined for her nephew Basil. When annoyed, though, it was re-directed to her niece, Beryl, and it is generally supposed that she changed her will shortly before her murder. Even worse, Basil is a young man whose alibi is decidedly suspicious and this concerns Betty Watson, who also lives at the Frampton and who is keen on him.
This is a fun and interesting mystery. You do wonder why Betty cares so much for Basil, whose every utterance seems to dig a deeper hole for himself and throw more and more suspicion upon his actions. However, although the members of the boarding house do not actually get together to work out who committed the crime, they almost all become involved in somehow trying to solve the case. The police, meanwhile, have their jobs cut out trying to unravel all the various clues, alibis and false trails that come their way – bemoaning the constant stream of information pouring forth from the various inhabitants of the Frampton, that they need to investigate. An enjoyable read for anyone who loves classic, Golden Age, mysteries.
The novel is set around the Frampton Private Hotel – a boarding house in North London (indeed, most of this novel is set around the area where I live, which only added to my interest). The wonderfully names Miss Euphemia Pongleton is heading for a dentist appointment, but is found murdered on the stairs of Belsize Park tube station; strangled by the lead of her dog, Tuppy. Obviously, things have changed a little since this book was written, as the body is not discovered for some time and the police actually look for prints on the hand rail of the stairs, suggesting it is both little used and also cleaned!
Miss Pongleton is not much mourned by her fellow boarders, but they are intrigued by the mystery of her death – not least as Bob Thurlow, the young man of maid Nellie, is implicated in the crime. Also, Miss Pongleton was well known for writing and re-writing her will, although her money was supposedly destined for her nephew Basil. When annoyed, though, it was re-directed to her niece, Beryl, and it is generally supposed that she changed her will shortly before her murder. Even worse, Basil is a young man whose alibi is decidedly suspicious and this concerns Betty Watson, who also lives at the Frampton and who is keen on him.
This is a fun and interesting mystery. You do wonder why Betty cares so much for Basil, whose every utterance seems to dig a deeper hole for himself and throw more and more suspicion upon his actions. However, although the members of the boarding house do not actually get together to work out who committed the crime, they almost all become involved in somehow trying to solve the case. The police, meanwhile, have their jobs cut out trying to unravel all the various clues, alibis and false trails that come their way – bemoaning the constant stream of information pouring forth from the various inhabitants of the Frampton, that they need to investigate. An enjoyable read for anyone who loves classic, Golden Age, mysteries.
November 5, 2015
Like John Bude, J. Jefferson Farjeon, and Patricia Wentworth, Mavis Doriel Hay has undeservedly faded into obscurity since her heyday in the Golden Age of detective fiction. A contemporary of Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Josephine Tey, and Dame Agatha Christie, Hay’s novel Murder Underground was praised by no less than Sayers herself, who went on to call one of the novel’s characters and main suspect — the irresponsible, prevaricating dilettante writer Basil Pongleton — “one of the most feckless, exasperating and lifelike literary men that ever confused a trail.”
That said, Murder Underground is no The Murder of Roger Ackroyd — more like Christie’s so-so The Big Four. Still, I enjoyed reading it, although the feckless Basil and other over-the-top characters make so many ridiculous decisions that the novel becomes more of a slapstick comedy than a Golden Age cozy.
In Murder Underground, first released in 1934, the irascible but wealthy spinster Euphemia Pongleton meets her end in a Tube station, strangled by her own dog’s leash. The leash had been stolen from where it usually hung at the entrance to the boarding house where she lived, and suspicion at first falls on a laborer with a slight criminal history. Miss Pongleton’s fellow guests at the boarding house (pompously named the Frampton Private Hotel) theorize about who “done her in,” at first as a lark, but later they plunge into a serious — and ultimately successful — investigation, besting poor police Inspector Caird.
Hay had fun with satirizing the various English stereotypes, from fusty spinster to police plod to ghoulish young women to fastidious bachelor — perhaps too much fun. Even so, readers, even 80 years later, will still enjoy this quick-read, as long as they curb their expectations; therefore, I am still grateful that the British Library has republished the three detective novels Mavis Doriel Hay wrote.
That said, Murder Underground is no The Murder of Roger Ackroyd — more like Christie’s so-so The Big Four. Still, I enjoyed reading it, although the feckless Basil and other over-the-top characters make so many ridiculous decisions that the novel becomes more of a slapstick comedy than a Golden Age cozy.
In Murder Underground, first released in 1934, the irascible but wealthy spinster Euphemia Pongleton meets her end in a Tube station, strangled by her own dog’s leash. The leash had been stolen from where it usually hung at the entrance to the boarding house where she lived, and suspicion at first falls on a laborer with a slight criminal history. Miss Pongleton’s fellow guests at the boarding house (pompously named the Frampton Private Hotel) theorize about who “done her in,” at first as a lark, but later they plunge into a serious — and ultimately successful — investigation, besting poor police Inspector Caird.
Hay had fun with satirizing the various English stereotypes, from fusty spinster to police plod to ghoulish young women to fastidious bachelor — perhaps too much fun. Even so, readers, even 80 years later, will still enjoy this quick-read, as long as they curb their expectations; therefore, I am still grateful that the British Library has republished the three detective novels Mavis Doriel Hay wrote.
April 10, 2021
I finally made myself finish. I have both the book and the audiobook and still this was a slog. This is a definite miss for me.
I don't expect with so many in the collection that I'll love/enjoy them all. I'll continue with the British Library Crime Classics.
I don't expect with so many in the collection that I'll love/enjoy them all. I'll continue with the British Library Crime Classics.
July 20, 2020
Наистина харесах „Убийство в метрото“. Мейвис Дориъл Хей е написала един криминален роман, точно в духа на златната ера на жанра и този дух се усещаше от всяка една страница на книгата. Автократа успя да ме пренесе без проблем в атмосферата на 30-те години на миналия век. Докато четях книгата си представях облеклото на героите, сградите, в които се намират, всичко минаваше пред мен като на кино лента, а аз само се наслаждавах на историята.
Мейвис Дориъл Хей изключително успешно ме държеше в напрежение и до последно се чудех кой може да е убиецът в тази заплетена история. Всеки един от героите се държеше подозрително и самите те се оплитаха в лъжи, сякаш имаше таен заговор "Дайте да объркаме полицията за това кой е убил досадната госпожица Понгълтън". Особено Базил – това е персонаж, който буквално ме влудяваше със своето нелогично поведение и хем ми беше забавно да го гледам как се оплита, хем вътрешно крещях „Момче, стегни се!“. Всеки един персонаж е изграден брилянтно и оживява докато четеш книгата.
Точно като в роман на Агата Кристи и тук нямаме излишни кръвопролития и извънредна жестокост. Тук ни намира едно убийство, което детективът разследва, а всички замесени в историята ни помагат (или пречат) да подредим пъзела заедно.
Наистина е жалко, че Мейвис Дориъл Хей не е постигнала популярността, която може би е заслужавала. „Убийство в метрото“ ми въвреше леко, забавляваше ме и си имаше всички класически съставки за един наистина добър и задоволяващ криминален роман. Може би, ако е имала шанс да се развие, сега авторката щеше да е едно от най-известните имена в жанра.
За мен тази инициатива на Британската библиотека е много добра и се радвам, че от „Еднорог“ решиха да издават тази поредица на български език. Нямам търпение да видя какви още съкровища ще бъдат публикувани занапред.
Пълно ревю тук ===> http://bookadventureclub.blogspot.com...
Мейвис Дориъл Хей изключително успешно ме държеше в напрежение и до последно се чудех кой може да е убиецът в тази заплетена история. Всеки един от героите се държеше подозрително и самите те се оплитаха в лъжи, сякаш имаше таен заговор "Дайте да объркаме полицията за това кой е убил досадната госпожица Понгълтън". Особено Базил – това е персонаж, който буквално ме влудяваше със своето нелогично поведение и хем ми беше забавно да го гледам как се оплита, хем вътрешно крещях „Момче, стегни се!“. Всеки един персонаж е изграден брилянтно и оживява докато четеш книгата.
Точно като в роман на Агата Кристи и тук нямаме излишни кръвопролития и извънредна жестокост. Тук ни намира едно убийство, което детективът разследва, а всички замесени в историята ни помагат (или пречат) да подредим пъзела заедно.
Наистина е жалко, че Мейвис Дориъл Хей не е постигнала популярността, която може би е заслужавала. „Убийство в метрото“ ми въвреше леко, забавляваше ме и си имаше всички класически съставки за един наистина добър и задоволяващ криминален роман. Може би, ако е имала шанс да се развие, сега авторката щеше да е едно от най-известните имена в жанра.
За мен тази инициатива на Британската библиотека е много добра и се радвам, че от „Еднорог“ решиха да издават тази поредица на български език. Нямам търпение да видя какви още съкровища ще бъдат публикувани занапред.
Пълно ревю тук ===> http://bookadventureclub.blogspot.com...
June 16, 2017
Elderly Miss Pongleton is strangled with her own dog’s leash on the stairs of Belsize Park tube station...and her fellow residents of the Frampton Private Hotel are abuzz with speculation. So it begins.
I quite like the claustrophobic, class-conscious, petty bourgeois world of novels set in prewar boarding houses – The Slaves of Solitude being a prime example. But unfortunately Mavis Doriel Hay is no Patrick Hamilton, though it has to be said that the best parts of the novel are her descriptions of this suffocating world and its denizens who are “apt to appear in the foreground of one’s daily view unpleasantly larger than life but rather less than human.” There is, for example, “a middle-aged lady who liked to accentuate the gaunt strangeness of her appearance by unfashionable clothes” – all hand-crafted and redolent of sheep – and a gentleman “greyly respectable in melancholy solitude”.
But all too soon we get into the minutiae of amateur sleuthing, which does not seem to have been the author’s forte. We are given the thoughts of the innocent characters, which isn't a great idea since it substantially reduces the number of potential suspects. Even I, always slow on the uptake, rapidly identified the guilty party as being just about the only person left. And much of the book is taken up with the muddling antics of a buffoon – one Basil Pongleton, a tedious nephew – whose exploits cause mystery and suspicion amongst the police and other characters...but not the reader, since we are already privy to his antics. So where’s the mystery, Mavis? All that’s left are some scraps of period charm (fast driving in an Alvis, Basil seizing a humpty, problems with a bowler hat) and that’s pretty thin fare for a longish novel.
I quite like the claustrophobic, class-conscious, petty bourgeois world of novels set in prewar boarding houses – The Slaves of Solitude being a prime example. But unfortunately Mavis Doriel Hay is no Patrick Hamilton, though it has to be said that the best parts of the novel are her descriptions of this suffocating world and its denizens who are “apt to appear in the foreground of one’s daily view unpleasantly larger than life but rather less than human.” There is, for example, “a middle-aged lady who liked to accentuate the gaunt strangeness of her appearance by unfashionable clothes” – all hand-crafted and redolent of sheep – and a gentleman “greyly respectable in melancholy solitude”.
But all too soon we get into the minutiae of amateur sleuthing, which does not seem to have been the author’s forte. We are given the thoughts of the innocent characters, which isn't a great idea since it substantially reduces the number of potential suspects. Even I, always slow on the uptake, rapidly identified the guilty party as being just about the only person left. And much of the book is taken up with the muddling antics of a buffoon – one Basil Pongleton, a tedious nephew – whose exploits cause mystery and suspicion amongst the police and other characters...but not the reader, since we are already privy to his antics. So where’s the mystery, Mavis? All that’s left are some scraps of period charm (fast driving in an Alvis, Basil seizing a humpty, problems with a bowler hat) and that’s pretty thin fare for a longish novel.
April 1, 2020
Set in the early 1930s this mostly set in houses not as tile says 'The Underground' that that's only the Murder The biggest problem is that you never meet the victim she is dead when the story starts.
I did enjoy this and didn't guess who the murder was which why gets extra star. But does have it's problems as police have no real charritor or 'Bob' is arrested but never meet him. I found that very weird. I will try to read her other two murder books to see if they just same or not. The cover of the book stinks.
I did enjoy this and didn't guess who the murder was which why gets extra star. But does have it's problems as police have no real charritor or 'Bob' is arrested but never meet him. I found that very weird. I will try to read her other two murder books to see if they just same or not. The cover of the book stinks.
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January 1, 2019Reasonable murder mystery in which the inefficient amateur sleuths of a boarding house stumble on the solution while concealing clues from the police. Interesting period piece but not what I'd call a classic. Nice to see Belsize Park tube get its due recognition in fiction, though.
May 5, 2023
Типична ретро кримка, в която досадните моменти се редуваха с интересни. Госпожица Понгълтън е убита на стълбите на Лондонското метро напът към зъболекаря си. Тя е обитавала пансион, пълен с наематели, всеки от които би могъл да е заподозрян. Само че полицията мисли, че е виновен младежът, който е извеждал кучето на госпожицата на разходка. Срещаме се с всички обитатели на пансиона, включително и с племенниците на убитата госпожица. Всеки има някаква теория за убийството, всеки прикрива някакъв дребен детайл от полицията. Някои от тях така объркват конците от глупост, че се ядосвах на тях. В началото имаше едни протяжни разговори помежду им, които ми доскучаха. Интересно стана по-нататък, появиха се някои предположения, откриха се още тайни и случаят се разреши от една госпожа писателка от пансиона.
Макар и да си имаше своите интересни моменти, оказва се, че не съм голям почитател на тези стари криминални романи. Писателката е добра, историята е добре измислена, но мен не ме влекат такива сюжети.
Макар и да си имаше своите интересни моменти, оказва се, че не съм голям почитател на тези стари криминални романи. Писателката е добра, историята е добре измислена, но мен не ме влекат такива сюжети.
May 9, 2018
3.5*
I enjoyed the setting and characters in this Golden Age mystery. This isn't really a 'detective' story, even of the cozy variety, since none of the main characters do any real investigating and the police are mostly "off stage". Instead, the reader pieces together clues from the actions, statements and reactions of the various people involved. The author does at one point deliberately prevent the reader from information available to the characters but by that time I had already a firm suspicion.
I did like the way it all came together in the end & the brief glimpse into the police thinking that came right before that.
I enjoyed the setting and characters in this Golden Age mystery. This isn't really a 'detective' story, even of the cozy variety, since none of the main characters do any real investigating and the police are mostly "off stage". Instead, the reader pieces together clues from the actions, statements and reactions of the various people involved. The author does at one point deliberately prevent the reader from information available to the characters but by that time I had already a firm suspicion.
I did like the way it all came together in the end & the brief glimpse into the police thinking that came right before that.
November 18, 2019
DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE AND HER PEERS
This one has 1) A Railroad Station diagram and 2) A Diagram of Belsize Park Underground Station (with a deadly staircase!) and 3) A Family Tree and 4) A smart little dog! Oh, doesn't this sound great?
CAST - 1 star: I liked the dog, Tuppy. Can't remember anyone else.
ATMOSPHERE - 2 stars: I did like the 2 railroad station diagrams and the fact that there had been a time when railroads ruled, buses were everywhere, and oh, I'd give up my car in a heartbeat if all these trains and buses and porters (nice ones) were near me, today! But one needs neither diagram or the family tree, really.
PLOT - 1 star: Someone (can't remember who) is killed on an underground railroad station staircase. There is a will, pearls, a dog leash and pages and pages of "where was the leash...the pearls...the dog..." and in the end, none of this much mattered.
INVESTIGATION - 1 star: I had to read the first 3 chapters twice because of the stupendous mess the author creates, I suppose, to confuse the reader into thinking this is a good mystery....
RESOLUTION - 1 star: ...but the only mystery to me is why this was reissued in the first place.
SUMMARY - 1.2. I can only suppose this was reissued because no one owned the rights, no one cared, and the publishers realized maybe 1,000 libraries would buy a copy. Note to Mrs. Mavis Hay: I can appreciate your attempt to write a mystery much like Dame Agatha Christie's many successes. Many have tried, some authors have been published, and I'll bet for every Christie-ode published there are 100 sitting around in attics all over the world unpublished. For good reason. So, Mrs. Hay, congratulations, you did author a book, and that's no easy job!
This one has 1) A Railroad Station diagram and 2) A Diagram of Belsize Park Underground Station (with a deadly staircase!) and 3) A Family Tree and 4) A smart little dog! Oh, doesn't this sound great?
CAST - 1 star: I liked the dog, Tuppy. Can't remember anyone else.
ATMOSPHERE - 2 stars: I did like the 2 railroad station diagrams and the fact that there had been a time when railroads ruled, buses were everywhere, and oh, I'd give up my car in a heartbeat if all these trains and buses and porters (nice ones) were near me, today! But one needs neither diagram or the family tree, really.
PLOT - 1 star: Someone (can't remember who) is killed on an underground railroad station staircase. There is a will, pearls, a dog leash and pages and pages of "where was the leash...the pearls...the dog..." and in the end, none of this much mattered.
INVESTIGATION - 1 star: I had to read the first 3 chapters twice because of the stupendous mess the author creates, I suppose, to confuse the reader into thinking this is a good mystery....
RESOLUTION - 1 star: ...but the only mystery to me is why this was reissued in the first place.
SUMMARY - 1.2. I can only suppose this was reissued because no one owned the rights, no one cared, and the publishers realized maybe 1,000 libraries would buy a copy. Note to Mrs. Mavis Hay: I can appreciate your attempt to write a mystery much like Dame Agatha Christie's many successes. Many have tried, some authors have been published, and I'll bet for every Christie-ode published there are 100 sitting around in attics all over the world unpublished. For good reason. So, Mrs. Hay, congratulations, you did author a book, and that's no easy job!
November 9, 2016
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. Published by British Library Crime Classics and downloaded via NetGalley.
When Miss Pongleton is found murdered on the stairs of Belsize Park station, her fellow-boarders in the Frampton Hotel are not overwhelmed with grief at the death of a tiresome old woman. But they all have their theories about the identity of the murderer, and help to unravel the mystery of who killed the wealthy ‘Pongle’. Several of her fellow residents – even Tuppy the terrier – have a part to play in the events that lead to a dramatic arrest.
This classic mystery novel is set in and around the Northern Line of the London Underground. It is now republished for the first time since the 1930s. Includes an introduction by Stephen Booth, award-winning crime writer.
I would class this classic mystery as partly comedy farce and murder/mystery, and is very well plotted and written. Even though I guessed the culprit quite early on, it was a delight to watch all the pieces of clues knit together so seamlessly.
An enjoyable read for anyone who likes the classic mysteries.
If you like the review and would like to read reviews on other books I have made, visit my blog at www.finalchapterreadersgroup.wordpres... like, comment and follow.
When Miss Pongleton is found murdered on the stairs of Belsize Park station, her fellow-boarders in the Frampton Hotel are not overwhelmed with grief at the death of a tiresome old woman. But they all have their theories about the identity of the murderer, and help to unravel the mystery of who killed the wealthy ‘Pongle’. Several of her fellow residents – even Tuppy the terrier – have a part to play in the events that lead to a dramatic arrest.
This classic mystery novel is set in and around the Northern Line of the London Underground. It is now republished for the first time since the 1930s. Includes an introduction by Stephen Booth, award-winning crime writer.
I would class this classic mystery as partly comedy farce and murder/mystery, and is very well plotted and written. Even though I guessed the culprit quite early on, it was a delight to watch all the pieces of clues knit together so seamlessly.
An enjoyable read for anyone who likes the classic mysteries.
If you like the review and would like to read reviews on other books I have made, visit my blog at www.finalchapterreadersgroup.wordpres... like, comment and follow.
August 11, 2020
Здравейте четящи. Завърших "Убийство в метрото" на Мейвис Дориал Хей и мога да кажа, че много ми хареса.
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Изключително много благодаря на @izdatelstvo_ednorog за предоставеното копие. Съвсем скоро предстои видео на "Убийство в метрото" и Ревю на "Знакът на Каин". ❤
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Започвам от корицата. Харесва ми как внася чувство за стилна корица от преди повече години, в което й е чара. Романа е публикиван през 30 - те години на 20 век, което е много добре поднесено чрез корицата.
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Сюжетът е заплетен и толкова увлекателен още от първата страница. Преди да Ви разкажа за Историята, интересно е да спомена, че пролога е написан от друго лице. Това внася много интересен нюанс в историята, тъй като имаме кратка биография на Майвис Дориъл Хей и някои кратки догатки относно Историята, които ни карат още повече да искаме да прочетем книгата.
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Един ден, госпожица Понгълтън е намерена удушена, с каишката на своето куче Тапи, на стълбите на една метростанция. Проследяваме връзките между всички персонажи, като сякаш, никой от съжителите на госпожица Понгълтън, в пансиона "Фрамптън", не е особено заинтересуван от убийството. Заподозрени не липсват и ние, читателите, имаме честта да ракрием убиеца, докато четем, до самия край. Разкриването на убиеца беше интересно и въобще не очаквах да се окаже... Ще разберете сами
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Последно, но не на последно място да си поговорим за персонажите. Героите бяха изградени, сякаш да не им отделиш много време, дори и да не обърнеш много внимание на липсата на госпожица Понгълтън, тъй като беше описана, като неприятен пероснж. За мен точно това беше интересното, че персонажите бяха истински, а не пресилени. Имаше интриги, връзки, предателства, от всичко по малко, като може би Базил ми беше най - интересен, както и госпожа Даймър.
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Давам на книгата 4/5 звезди, тъй като на моменти някои разпити ми се преповтаряха в разследването на убиеца. Историята ме грабна и много Може хареса, като се има предвид, че досега не бях вкусвала от криминалния жанр. Най - любимо от цялата история ми бяха персожите и разкриването на убиеца, разбира се. ПРЕПОРЪЧВАМ книгата на всички и още веднъж благодаря на @izdatelstvo_ednorog За възможноста. 💜
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Изключително много благодаря на @izdatelstvo_ednorog за предоставеното копие. Съвсем скоро предстои видео на "Убийство в метрото" и Ревю на "Знакът на Каин". ❤
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Започвам от корицата. Харесва ми как внася чувство за стилна корица от преди повече години, в което й е чара. Романа е публикиван през 30 - те години на 20 век, което е много добре поднесено чрез корицата.
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Сюжетът е заплетен и толкова увлекателен още от първата страница. Преди да Ви разкажа за Историята, интересно е да спомена, че пролога е написан от друго лице. Това внася много интересен нюанс в историята, тъй като имаме кратка биография на Майвис Дориъл Хей и някои кратки догатки относно Историята, които ни карат още повече да искаме да прочетем книгата.
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Един ден, госпожица Понгълтън е намерена удушена, с каишката на своето куче Тапи, на стълбите на една метростанция. Проследяваме връзките между всички персонажи, като сякаш, никой от съжителите на госпожица Понгълтън, в пансиона "Фрамптън", не е особено заинтересуван от убийството. Заподозрени не липсват и ние, читателите, имаме честта да ракрием убиеца, докато четем, до самия край. Разкриването на убиеца беше интересно и въобще не очаквах да се окаже... Ще разберете сами
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Последно, но не на последно място да си поговорим за персонажите. Героите бяха изградени, сякаш да не им отделиш много време, дори и да не обърнеш много внимание на липсата на госпожица Понгълтън, тъй като беше описана, като неприятен пероснж. За мен точно това беше интересното, че персонажите бяха истински, а не пресилени. Имаше интриги, връзки, предателства, от всичко по малко, като може би Базил ми беше най - интересен, както и госпожа Даймър.
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Давам на книгата 4/5 звезди, тъй като на моменти някои разпити ми се преповтаряха в разследването на убиеца. Историята ме грабна и много Може хареса, като се има предвид, че досега не бях вкусвала от криминалния жанр. Най - любимо от цялата история ми бяха персожите и разкриването на убиеца, разбира се. ПРЕПОРЪЧВАМ книгата на всички и още веднъж благодаря на @izdatelstvo_ednorog За възможноста. 💜
Read
July 10, 2016The very barebones of plot can be found at my reading journal ; as always, feel free to click or just keep reading here.
Considering how very much I love these old books and British murder mysteries in general, overall this one was, like the dead woman, Miss Euphemia Pongleton, a bit tiresome. What I enjoyed about it was the focus on the boarders who shared a house with the dead woman, who have their own theories on what happened. The best scene takes place at the beginning of the story, when all are together in one room, waiting to be called individually to talk to the (somewhat invisible at this point) police Inspector. There we discover that while these people feel sorry that she met such a terrible end, they're also realistic, with one woman noting that
"It would be hypocritical to pretend that any one of us is overwhelmed at the removal of Miss Pongleton."
This conversation is very lively, with a novelist, Mrs. Daymer, applying her "expert" knowledge of the police, of investigations, and of the victim herself while "surveying the possibilities of the situation." The other boarders voice their own opinions or come up with logical questions that are discussed in turn, each one speculating on motive, means and opportunity. But when outside of the boarding house, someone decides to gum up the works to protect himself and starts covering up his own movements and telling a series of lies, the story quickly gets tedious, making the novel tough to get through. Talk talk talk, very little in the way of action until the book is nearly finished. I read several reader reviews where people had said that they got bored enough to flip to the end, but really, it's so incredibly easy to figure out that no one should have had to do that. For me the question was one of waiting it out to see how long it took before things are set right, and exactly how that was going to be accomplished.
While I won't sing the praises of this novel, I do still plan on reading her other two, so maybe (hopefully!) they'll be a bit better. However, as an example of the work of a previously-obscure woman mystery writer of the Golden Age, Murder Underground is very much worth reading.
December 11, 2016
This was a very British murder mystery. When one of the lodgers at Frampton House is found murdered at the tube station, any of them could be the culprit. Just who did it?
This was good, not overly complicated, but a solid typical mystery. I enjoyed it.
* I read an ARC of this book and have written an honest review *
This was good, not overly complicated, but a solid typical mystery. I enjoyed it.
* I read an ARC of this book and have written an honest review *
May 15, 2018
Miss Euphemia Pongleton is found dead, strangled with her own dog lead, on the stairs at Belsize Park underground station. She was a boarder at the Frampton, where her fellow residents are at first shocked and then curious. Over the next few days, the police try to untangle alibis, red herrings, misleading statements and misguided attempts to cover up for loved ones. Meanwhile, the boarders of the Frampton take their own steps to resolve the crime.
A lively and amusing Golden Age mystery. Although it's occasionally hard to believe that the police investigation would not have uncovered some of the key evidence, the likeable characters and their clumsy attempts to protect each other make any plot weaknesses more tolerable. The setting is interesting too - 1930s tube stations and the residential areas of North London. There is even a sweet little map of Belsize Park station.
Mavis Doriel Hay's work has been forgotten for many years, so I am glad this book has been reissued as part of the British Library Crime Classics editions, as she writes well and deserves to be read more widely.
A lively and amusing Golden Age mystery. Although it's occasionally hard to believe that the police investigation would not have uncovered some of the key evidence, the likeable characters and their clumsy attempts to protect each other make any plot weaknesses more tolerable. The setting is interesting too - 1930s tube stations and the residential areas of North London. There is even a sweet little map of Belsize Park station.
Mavis Doriel Hay's work has been forgotten for many years, so I am glad this book has been reissued as part of the British Library Crime Classics editions, as she writes well and deserves to be read more widely.
May 23, 2025
Много приятна кримка, написана в лек и увлекателен стил, идеална за лятно четиво.
Действието се развива в северен Лондон някъде през 20-30-те години. Една от обитателките на пансиона Фрамптън е намерена удушена с каишката на собственото ѝ куче на стълбите на метростанцията, а двамата ѝ племенници и всички други обитатели на въпросния пансион се замесват по един или друг начин в разкриването на случая.
Мейвис Хей очевидно е силно повлияна от стила на Агата Кристи и Дороти Сейърс, но вместо да изгражда образ на гениален разследващ, тя се е спряла на по-"калейдоскопен" подход - всеки от съквартирантите на убитата плюс двамата ѝ племенници и техните гаджета постепенно наслагват едно по едно парченца от пъзела, за да се разкрие цялостната картина на убийството и мотивите за него. Без да се впуска в особени дълбочини, авторката изгражда доста убедителна загадка с удовлетворяваща развръзка.
Действието се развива в северен Лондон някъде през 20-30-те години. Една от обитателките на пансиона Фрамптън е намерена удушена с каишката на собственото ѝ куче на стълбите на метростанцията, а двамата ѝ племенници и всички други обитатели на въпросния пансион се замесват по един или друг начин в разкриването на случая.
Мейвис Хей очевидно е силно повлияна от стила на Агата Кристи и Дороти Сейърс, но вместо да изгражда образ на гениален разследващ, тя се е спряла на по-"калейдоскопен" подход - всеки от съквартирантите на убитата плюс двамата ѝ племенници и техните гаджета постепенно наслагват едно по едно парченца от пъзела, за да се разкрие цялостната картина на убийството и мотивите за него. Без да се впуска в особени дълбочини, авторката изгражда доста убедителна загадка с удовлетворяваща развръзка.
August 12, 2024
I struggled with this book, but at 30% in I think I have a handle on it. It's not really a mystery, like Christie or Marsh would write, instead it's a period novel that contains a murder by an unknown person. The difference is the focus. The book opens with a dead woman, whom we've not met. The police investigate, though we don't see them do that, and they have a suspect we've never met. Instead, we're inhabiting the world of the dead woman's nephew, fellow lodgers, and various other folks who live on the fringes of her life. These people are curious about who really killed her, but no one is investigating, they're simply going around their own self-centered lives. (In the sense that we all are more interested in our lives and those we love than in someone we barely knew.)
The story is focused around Basil, the bumbling nephew, who may or may not inherit her money, however much that might be. Basil, for reasons of his own, hasn't been entirely forthcoming with the police about that morning. As he says early on, "If I had been a criminal I might have behaved much more cautiously." There are a lot of other people in this book, and honestly I'm not sure why some of them - especially Gerry and Beryl - were there. But it did become enjoyable watching them fumbling around with their silly secrets and miscommunications.
The writing is fine, like something written by PG Wodehouse's not-quite-as-funny cousin, or perhaps watching an old black and white B movie. Which can be quite fun, if you're in the right mood. I ended up having fun with this, and that makes it my favorite of her books.
The story is focused around Basil, the bumbling nephew, who may or may not inherit her money, however much that might be. Basil, for reasons of his own, hasn't been entirely forthcoming with the police about that morning. As he says early on, "If I had been a criminal I might have behaved much more cautiously." There are a lot of other people in this book, and honestly I'm not sure why some of them - especially Gerry and Beryl - were there. But it did become enjoyable watching them fumbling around with their silly secrets and miscommunications.
The writing is fine, like something written by PG Wodehouse's not-quite-as-funny cousin, or perhaps watching an old black and white B movie. Which can be quite fun, if you're in the right mood. I ended up having fun with this, and that makes it my favorite of her books.
December 16, 2017
Having read and enjoyed some of the other British Crime library offerings 'The lake district Murder' I've been picking off the rest largely as part of kindle unlimited.
I had high hopes for this as Dorothy L Sayers rated it highly apparently - I have no idea why - maybe it was in her religious phase and she was hoping it would turn people away from crime fiction and back to the bible!
It's dreadful; slow, turgid, containg cardboard characters with ridiculous names. These are snobbish, class bound, unpleasant and act as if murder is a game. I hadn't heard of the author and now I know why, i had hoped it was old-fashioned sexism but no it was common decency. Some authors are destined to be quickly forgotten and this one really should have remained so. Why anyone would want to reissue this book is entirely beyond me.
Read Dorothy L Sayers or Agatha Christie, skip this
I had high hopes for this as Dorothy L Sayers rated it highly apparently - I have no idea why - maybe it was in her religious phase and she was hoping it would turn people away from crime fiction and back to the bible!
It's dreadful; slow, turgid, containg cardboard characters with ridiculous names. These are snobbish, class bound, unpleasant and act as if murder is a game. I hadn't heard of the author and now I know why, i had hoped it was old-fashioned sexism but no it was common decency. Some authors are destined to be quickly forgotten and this one really should have remained so. Why anyone would want to reissue this book is entirely beyond me.
Read Dorothy L Sayers or Agatha Christie, skip this
Read
December 30, 2016The police investigations are almost completely sidelined in this story, as residents and friends of residents of a boarding house try to escape suspicion and solve the murder of a fellow resident.
Frankly, I think all the young women in this story would do well by ditching their respective young men, who caused them a great deal of stress and bother for not much reason at all.
Frankly, I think all the young women in this story would do well by ditching their respective young men, who caused them a great deal of stress and bother for not much reason at all.
July 5, 2021
Thoughts As I Read:
~Trying to figure out why Basil, Miss Pongleton's nephew, goes to Mr. Slocomb for advice. I mean, would you go ask advice from some gent who boards at the same boarding house as your aunt just because she supposedly mentioned his good sense? I wouldn't. I'd go to my own friends and associates.
~Motives are a bit slapdash. The most obvious one is Basil's--but since so far we're following Basil about, I assume his obvious motive isn't the real one. Looks like it will be a case of an innocent who looks decidedly fishy needing to do some amateur sleuthing to keep himself out of jail.
~Basil really is a blithering ass. In the style of a very stupid Wooster without a Jeeves to get him out of trouble.
~I can't say I've really taken to any of the characters. Basil would be okay if there were any sort of steadying influence in his life (like a Jeeves) and I would like things to turn out okay for him and his Betty. But honestly the way these characters go about making muddles, they get on one's nerves. I think perhaps I'm not in the right frame of mind for this type of nonsense at the moment.
~Have already spotted the real culprit. No idea of a motive yet--but (and this is a sign that the story is dragging) have peeked at the end (which I rarely do) and I am right. Now I just have to soldier on through all the daft goings on with Basil until we stumble upon X's motive (and so I can claim the book for a challenge, otherwise I think I'd throw in the towel on this one.).
~Almost at the half-way mark--lots of talk (chatter, chatter, chatter), very little action. Very little actual detection. Inspector who interviewed the residents of the boarding house (off-stage, so we haven't even met him properly yet) has disappeared entirely. Only police presence is the man with big boots who is shadowing Basil. I do like a detective novel to have detecting going on--whether by the official police or amateurs doing their best.
~Now everybody's getting involved in various antics--none of which are really investigating, mind you. Just hiding pearls and looking for wills and making up stories to replace other stories.
~Finally! We have an amateur rushing off to investigate something. Hurrah! Things are picking up. Still not exactly the finest detective novel I've come across, but inching closer to the okay mark.
I have to say that I much preferred Hay's holiday-themed mystery, The Santa Klaus Murder, and hope that Death on the Cherwell will be a return to standard (and a good academic mystery in the bargain). The entire first half of the book is exasperating. But it goes a fair way to redeeming itself in the last half. There we have plenty of running about and looking for clues. We have several members of the Frampton house digging up and providing clues that the police couldn't find. Of course, it's no surprise that they couldn't find the clues, since the police weren't really there for about two-thirds of the book. The ending is superb and a very nice take-off on a drawing room comedy with actors popping in and out all over the place. Final rating: ★★★
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
~Trying to figure out why Basil, Miss Pongleton's nephew, goes to Mr. Slocomb for advice. I mean, would you go ask advice from some gent who boards at the same boarding house as your aunt just because she supposedly mentioned his good sense? I wouldn't. I'd go to my own friends and associates.
~Motives are a bit slapdash. The most obvious one is Basil's--but since so far we're following Basil about, I assume his obvious motive isn't the real one. Looks like it will be a case of an innocent who looks decidedly fishy needing to do some amateur sleuthing to keep himself out of jail.
~Basil really is a blithering ass. In the style of a very stupid Wooster without a Jeeves to get him out of trouble.
~I can't say I've really taken to any of the characters. Basil would be okay if there were any sort of steadying influence in his life (like a Jeeves) and I would like things to turn out okay for him and his Betty. But honestly the way these characters go about making muddles, they get on one's nerves. I think perhaps I'm not in the right frame of mind for this type of nonsense at the moment.
~Have already spotted the real culprit. No idea of a motive yet--but (and this is a sign that the story is dragging) have peeked at the end (which I rarely do) and I am right. Now I just have to soldier on through all the daft goings on with Basil until we stumble upon X's motive (and so I can claim the book for a challenge, otherwise I think I'd throw in the towel on this one.).
~Almost at the half-way mark--lots of talk (chatter, chatter, chatter), very little action. Very little actual detection. Inspector who interviewed the residents of the boarding house (off-stage, so we haven't even met him properly yet) has disappeared entirely. Only police presence is the man with big boots who is shadowing Basil. I do like a detective novel to have detecting going on--whether by the official police or amateurs doing their best.
~Now everybody's getting involved in various antics--none of which are really investigating, mind you. Just hiding pearls and looking for wills and making up stories to replace other stories.
~Finally! We have an amateur rushing off to investigate something. Hurrah! Things are picking up. Still not exactly the finest detective novel I've come across, but inching closer to the okay mark.
I have to say that I much preferred Hay's holiday-themed mystery, The Santa Klaus Murder, and hope that Death on the Cherwell will be a return to standard (and a good academic mystery in the bargain). The entire first half of the book is exasperating. But it goes a fair way to redeeming itself in the last half. There we have plenty of running about and looking for clues. We have several members of the Frampton house digging up and providing clues that the police couldn't find. Of course, it's no surprise that they couldn't find the clues, since the police weren't really there for about two-thirds of the book. The ending is superb and a very nice take-off on a drawing room comedy with actors popping in and out all over the place. Final rating: ★★★
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2016
I’m not that interested in cosy crime; I prefer the seedy underbelly, the pyrrhic victory, the man or woman destroyed by his or her search for truth. But this re-issue from the publishing arm of the British Library isn’t set in a country house or a Somerset village, but in shabby hotel in Hampstead (this is 1934, NW1 is still bohemian rather than Billionaire’s Alley), featuring a host of Evelyn Waugh-esque characters: the snobbish proprietor, the sensible/ditzy young office workers, the caddish writer, the creepy older man who collects murder clippings in a scrapbook, the determined lady novelist (perhaps based on Hay herself) and the respectable businessman.
I guessed whodunnit at the end of the first chapter, but then again, this is the golden age of crime - not twisty, not dark, simple enough so that anyone can work it out and feel pleased with themselves at the denouement.
I guessed whodunnit at the end of the first chapter, but then again, this is the golden age of crime - not twisty, not dark, simple enough so that anyone can work it out and feel pleased with themselves at the denouement.
September 24, 2016
This is a classic British who done it; written by an author who wrote only a few mysteries. When one of the lodgers at Frampton house is discovered murdered in a tube station almost everyone is a suspect. Due to the victim's irascibility she could have unlimited enemies.
This is fun, compelling mystery and several of the characters share names with rolls on the 1970s British TV show Are You Being Served including Slocumb and Grange(r).
This is fun, compelling mystery and several of the characters share names with rolls on the 1970s British TV show Are You Being Served including Slocumb and Grange(r).
July 22, 2025
Miss Pongleton, a wealthy elderly lady living at the Frampton Hotel, is found murdered on the spiral staircase at Belsize Station on the London Underground. Although she is not mourned, not being especially likeable, her fellow residents are eager to get to the bottom of her murder, as are the police. Several of the residents pursue their own inquiries, while others involved actively attempt to cover their tracks and conceal embarrassing secrets from the police, thereby creating a tangle and confusing the police inquiry.
This is my third read in my golden age of detectives project, by Mavis Doriel Hay. I noticed a number of character types in this one, common to golden age mysteries – the well-meaning but rather hopeless young man (Basil), the very capable and competent young woman (Betty), and of course the bossy, unlikeable and wealthy spinster (Mrs. Pongleton). The novel includes a small map of the locations discussed, including the underground stations mentioned. The setting for the murder, the London Underground of the 1930s, was fascinating and I went down an internet rabbit hole doing a little online research about Belsize Station, which opened in 1907 and is now a heritage building.
This is an entertaining classic murder novel, although the constant attempts to misdirect the police lead to some convoluted stories which could be a little confusing. I liked it enough that I would follow up and read the other two novels written by the author at some point. I think I would give it 3.5 daggers out of 5.
This is my third read in my golden age of detectives project, by Mavis Doriel Hay. I noticed a number of character types in this one, common to golden age mysteries – the well-meaning but rather hopeless young man (Basil), the very capable and competent young woman (Betty), and of course the bossy, unlikeable and wealthy spinster (Mrs. Pongleton). The novel includes a small map of the locations discussed, including the underground stations mentioned. The setting for the murder, the London Underground of the 1930s, was fascinating and I went down an internet rabbit hole doing a little online research about Belsize Station, which opened in 1907 and is now a heritage building.
This is an entertaining classic murder novel, although the constant attempts to misdirect the police lead to some convoluted stories which could be a little confusing. I liked it enough that I would follow up and read the other two novels written by the author at some point. I think I would give it 3.5 daggers out of 5.
May 22, 2018
In 1934’s Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay, Miss Euphenia Pongleton goes to ride the London Underground to visit the dentist and, deciding to walk the 220 stairs down to the bottom, she gets strangled with her dog’s leash before she gets to the bottom. It’s a leash she keeps publicly at the hotel where she lives, so anyone could have taken it. Promptly, the police arrest Bob Thurlow, the suitor of Nellie, the maid of Miss Pongleton, when they find a brooch in an envelope in her bag. She had labeled the envelope that contains the brooch that she took it off her maid and suspected Bob Thurlow of having stolen it. So the police decide that Thurlow murdered Miss Pongleton just for the brooch and got too scared to look for the brooch once he killed the woman. Because the family likes Thurlow and not the highly unpleasant ���Aunt Phemia,” they try to help get to the truth to free Thurlow. However, they each have secrets that they are hiding from the police and from each other, obfuscating the truth from everyone and confusing the search for the truth from everyone.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
January 10, 2021
This might not be the *most* sophisticated of murder mysteries but it is a lot of fun and a great book to escape into. I found it intensely readable.
February 14, 2021
This was really entertaining! Nice to read a crime novel not from the point of view of the detective, but rather people who are partly suspects, partly trying to work out the solution themselves or trying to conceal something.
May 28, 2018
“Dozens of Hampstead people must have passed the door of the Frampton private hotel – as the boarding house where Miss Euphemia Pongleton lived was grandly called – on a certain Friday morning in March 1934, without noticing anything unusual. When they read their evening papers they must have cursed themselves for being so unobservant, but doubtless many of them made up for it by copious inventiveness and told their friends how they had sensed tragedy in the air or noticed an anxious look in Miss Pongleton’s eyes.”
A Friday morning in 1934 seemed just as usual, people hurrying off to their daily toil, when a bundle of clothes on the stairs at Belsize tube station, turns out to be the body of Miss Euphemia Pongleton. A long-term resident at the nearby Frampton Hotel, her fellow boarders are not noticeably overwhelmed with grief, but they are all fascinated by the murder of a woman they knew – though generally disliked. It seems that Miss Pongleton was a very tiresome old woman, miserly, despite her apparent wealth, she would walk to Belsize tube to save a penny on the fare.
The police very quickly settle on Bob Thurlow, boyfriend of Nellie who works at the Frampton, who they believe had reason to kill her. Nellie is inconsolable, telling everyone at the hotel that her Bob wouldn’t do such a thing – reminding them how good Bob was to Miss Pongleton, taking her little dog Tuppy for walks for her. However, things don’t look too promising for Bob, who was on duty at the station at the time of Miss Pongleton’s death, and over whom Miss Pongleton was holding information that she had threatened to go to the police about.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2018/...
A Friday morning in 1934 seemed just as usual, people hurrying off to their daily toil, when a bundle of clothes on the stairs at Belsize tube station, turns out to be the body of Miss Euphemia Pongleton. A long-term resident at the nearby Frampton Hotel, her fellow boarders are not noticeably overwhelmed with grief, but they are all fascinated by the murder of a woman they knew – though generally disliked. It seems that Miss Pongleton was a very tiresome old woman, miserly, despite her apparent wealth, she would walk to Belsize tube to save a penny on the fare.
The police very quickly settle on Bob Thurlow, boyfriend of Nellie who works at the Frampton, who they believe had reason to kill her. Nellie is inconsolable, telling everyone at the hotel that her Bob wouldn’t do such a thing – reminding them how good Bob was to Miss Pongleton, taking her little dog Tuppy for walks for her. However, things don’t look too promising for Bob, who was on duty at the station at the time of Miss Pongleton’s death, and over whom Miss Pongleton was holding information that she had threatened to go to the police about.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2018/...
September 9, 2021
There are some good reads in this series but this is not one of them. Like a bad knitter trying to make a cardigan to go with the pearls. That was a question left hanging. The characters were probably indicative of the period, middle classes making up stories as they go along and the upwardly mobile workers trying their best to be ingratiating to them. The plot fell at the first hurdle as there was only one likely character for the murderer and the motive became obvious when money came on the scene. Oh! and the usual policeman who was running round in circles and had little or no interrogative skills.
Perhaps we have just come to expect more from our crime novelists.
2 stars.
Perhaps we have just come to expect more from our crime novelists.
2 stars.
January 13, 2015
I really enjoyed this humorous romp set in mid 1930's London. This is one of a series of murder mysteries from this period by 'forgotten' authors which has been reissued by the British Library. I was going to do a review but then I read this one on the back of the book by Dorothy L Sayers.
'This detective novel is much more than interesting. The numerous characters are well differentiated, and include one of the most feckless, exasperating and lifelike literary men that ever confused a trail.'
Couldn't have put it better myself Dorothy!
'This detective novel is much more than interesting. The numerous characters are well differentiated, and include one of the most feckless, exasperating and lifelike literary men that ever confused a trail.'
Couldn't have put it better myself Dorothy!
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