When writer Mark Endicott, a former prisoner of war in the Far East, moves to the Dorset village of God's Blessing and buys the small, almost derelict Corpse Path Cottage, it occurs to him that it would make the ideal setting for a murder. And before long, one of the village's residents, Laura Grey, is mysteriously shot dead nearby. Mark's life begins to unravel before he is able to help the police solve the mystery of Laura Grey's death, uncovering in the process a tale of intrigue, bigamy and blackmail, and bringing into the open many secrets of the residents of God's Blessing, including Mark himself.
Margaret Alice Scutt was born in 1905 in Weymouth, Dorset, where her father was Schoolmaster at St. John’s. His career was successful and the family moved several times within Dorset to his final headship in Lytchett Matravers. Margaret’s mother, Minnie, also taught and was the local postmistress. Margaret, too, became a teacher and taught in many Dorset schools, mainly in the Poole area, retiring in 1966 as Deputy Head at Sylvan School, Poole.
The family grew up when entertainment was largely local and community generated. The Scutt family performed extensively in amateur dramatics and variety shows and were well reported in Dorset newspapers. Corpse Path Cottage, as well as being an intriguing crime novel, catches the essence and humour of a post-war Dorset village before the advent of television and the internet changed social mores forever.
Throughout her life, Margaret wrote in many formats including for family members and for school and community events such as short stories, playlets and verse. Two historical novels were published in 1947 and 1949; I Do But Follow and And Some There Be respectively. She continued to write in her spare time and left several complete manuscripts.
Margaret cared for her widowed mother from 1957 to 1963 whilst continuing to work full-time. After retirement in 1966, she remained active and devoted to family and local church. She died suddenly in 1988 in Poole. In a later era Margaret’s many talents might have led her to a much higher profile life. She was a very much loved aunt to the children of her brother and sister and the five cousins feel strongly that all her work merits preservation and further publication.
Corpse Path Cottage was submitted to Robert Hale, then an imprint of the Crowood Press who accepted and first published it in hardback in 2018. Now under the banner of Joffe Books, Corpse Path Cottage is published on Kindle and paperback on demand from Amazon.
My aunt wrote CPC after the publication of two novels in the late 40's. It and several others remained unpublished until we, my sisters and cousins realised their quality. We hope that all her work will be preserved through publicationand CPC is the first. It is available in hardback, kindle and paperback through Amazon. CPC is an intriguing murder mystery that also captures Dorset Village life after WW2 but before modern technology changed community life completely. Well constructed it combines drama with gentle humour as it describes the lives and intrigues of the village's residents.
Just finished reading this. I usually steer clear of 'cozy' mysteries as they tend to be implausible, frothy and feature one of the following: a B&B, a cake shop, or some elderly lady who shows the local 'plod' how to do his job.
This looked very different and I DO enjoy good historical mysteries so I downloaded it, started reading last night and finished it this morning.
What a great book! The writing is beautifully detailed without being tedious or purple. Characters are brought to life on the page and some scenes- the village fete for example were simply exquisite.
As she spoke, a gust of hot wind agitated the bushes bordering the lawn, sending a raffish collection of paper bags and ice cream cartons leaping and bounding across the patch where a few self-conscious couples revolved to the strains of a violin (Miss Margetson) and a piano (Dinah). Although barely eight o'clock, it was growing ominously dark, and despite the wind which had so suddenly arisen, the heat was still oppressive.
and this: Colonel Stroud came in glistening like a fondant from his walk in the heat.
It wasn't until I read one of the comments about this book that I realised that it was written in the 40's and had only recently been published for the first time. Not only is it a darned good murder mystery (thought the murder doesn't happen until quite a long way into the book) but it's also a detailed look at life in a small village post-war.
There is no - usually utterly predictable - 'gripping twist' to the story, just a thoroughly decent, well-structured murder-mystery that was completely plausible. I loved it!
Why can't modern writers produce stories like this?
This was a pleasant surprise. It popped up as a Goodreads recommendation based on something else I read recently (Father Brown's mysteries I think) and frankly those suggestions usually let me down but this was a light and breezy read and it's shocking to me that it was written in the late '40s, the dialogue felt very current to me. I was continually reminded not of other books (although there are many literary references in it) as I read this but of a band; when Pavement stunned everyone with Slanted and Enchanted back in the '90s there was a lot of surmise over just how good they were as musicians as the whole sound was very loose and sometimes sloppy. Of course that's just the sound they were going for but I found myself wondering frequently whether the author of this book was doing the same thing in a literary way. It works but it also feels so much like a caricature of cozy mystery writing that I had to ponder it. In the end I don't care. It was a good light read after a more difficult book and fit the bill perfectly for what I was looking for at the moment.
A stranger arrives in the village causing much speculation. Set in rural Dorset during post World War 2, I loved the old fashioned telling of this murder mystery, the characters, and the many twists and turns which kept me hooked from beginning to end . Highly recommended for fans of rural murder mysteries.
This was my quick, light read while I struggle thru Donna Tartt. It’s an English mystery in the Agatha Christie vein. The characters made me laugh. It was a good diversion.
There are 2 cozies in the "English Village Mysteries" series set in villages in Dorset, England in the 1960s. Order read will not matter as each title is a stand-alone with different characters.
"A glossary of English usage for US readers" is provided at the end of the cozy and is discoverable if needed from the "Table of Contents."
Corpse Path Cottage is set in a village called God’s Blessing in Dorset. The first chapter is annoying as it is written in the sounds of the local dialect. I would not have purchased the book if I’d just downloaded the sample.
The book is different because the first half of the book is spent in setting the scene. In fact, even though I was enjoying it, I checked to see if it was a actually a murder mystery. I thought maybe I’d purchased the wrong book.
I really enjoyed the book. It has many interesting characters who are easily imagined in a small village. There are interesting twists and turns in the overall story as well as the murder investigation.
I was very disappointed to find the author Margaret Scutt hasn’t written any other books. I hope she writes another soon.
I found this book difficult to get into mainly due to the dialect used by some characters I didn't find the interpretation easy. I very nearly have up on it but continued and it grew in me. The different lines of the story kept me changing my mind on the outcome, even before the murder.
slow starting, but….I almost gave up on this book twice because I had difficulty following the author’s writing style and tempo. But, I stuck with it out of pure curiosity, and am very glad I did. I love the dog, James….but, my favorite character is Superintendent White who shows up after the murder. There are evil doers doing evil deeds, scandal, gossip, snarky old bats (both male and female), and the obligatory murder. I was completely surprised by the unveiling of the murderer….never suspected the guilty party.
Corpse Path Cottage revolves around the arrival of a stranger, Mark Endicott, in the small Dorset village of God’s Blessing. First impressions are always difficult to live down, and, as Mark begins to interact with the village’s residents, he both intrigues and offends them in equal measure.
‘This man had broken into their conversation, had contradicted them, had filled their minds with raging curiosity.’
Corpse Path Cottage was written in the 1950s and is set in the same period of British post-war recovery and fatigue. A soldier returned from fighting in the Far East, Mark has moved to God’s Blessing to escape his ghosts, to live a secluded life in Corpse Path Cottage, and to write. As he steps off the bus, the unmistakable joy of Dorset village life shines through in carefully crafted prose.
‘God’s Blessing …did not display its attractions to the first casual glance. Three very ugly cottages and a small general shop were in sight … Before him he saw with pleasure a village green – a rough triangle of grass on which an enormous sow and a number of piglets were rooting happily.’
Despite Mark’s best intentions to spend his time alone, life soon breaks in, bringing with it painful memories of past sorrows. The tension increases as poison pen letters begin to circulate, the villagers’ secrets and lies are revealed, and a dead body is found in a field near Mark’s cottage. The story kept me guessing until the very end - not only about the identity of the murderer, but of many others in the village who are also hiding who they really are. This made the revelations at the book’s conclusion truly satisfying, as well as gently humorous in the best of ways.
The quality of the writing struck me time and again while reading this book.
‘Amy Faraday opened the door of the white house, and its emptiness came coldly to greet her. Mother has gone, the house said; no mother to hear your silly little bits and pieces, to take, with laughter, the trials and errors of the day. Not Mother and Amy, a partnership happy and complete any more. Just Amy. Amy, foolish, lonely and afraid.’
Every character, setting and scene in Corpse Path Cottage is created with love and care by an observant and thoughtful writer with a deep understanding of - and sympathy for - the complexities and foibles of ‘ordinary’ people, and of lives lived largely in one place. There is a rare understanding at work here, a knowledge that circumstances and life’s pain sometimes make people do things that they would otherwise never do. No-one is inherently evil, just human.
The author Margaret Scutt was born in Weymouth, Dorset, in 1905 and spent her life living in the beautiful county in which she was born. Margaret was the accomplished author of two historical novels published in the 1940s, but her crime novels failed to find a publisher during her life time. She wrote novels, short stories and plays while working for 42 years as a teacher and caring for her parents in their old age. She retired from teaching in 1966 and died in 1988.
The original manuscript of this novel was given to me to read by Margaret’s nephew, Tom Hammon, in 2017. The carefully typed pages were near flawless, and the story - fresh, lively, intriguing and full of humour – seemed to me a perfect example of the genre we now call ‘cosy crime’. Written in the 1950s - an era it captures perfectly - Corpse Path Cottage was accepted on its first submission by Robert Hale Books (an imprint of The Crowood Press) and published in 2018, more than six decades after it was written.
As a book which lies close to my heart, it has made me very happy to see Corpse Path Cottage being enjoyed and appreciated by so many readers since its relaunch by Joffe Books in spring 2020.
Discounted | Quality writing, just a few too many distasteful unhappy people for my taste | Not quite as good as the other, but this one is an actual murder mystery, while the other--despite having those words on the cover--involves no killing. My favorite thing about the other was the peaceful atmosphere, which would be inappropriate to the plot of this book, so it's fine. There really doesn't seem to be a single resident of the village who isn't either awful, miserable, or both, and while there's not a lot of room for happiness in a murder mystery, it just gets to be too much sometimes. That said, while the murderer was not a surprise, I think it was well plotted and characters are pretty fleshed out for a non-series book.
I truly liked this story. The writing is excellent, the descriptions and atmosphere great and the mystery, ah! the mystery is fantastic!
The characters are all interesting, a motley selection of your typical small-town personages with their good and bad attributes; nobody is truly evil, they are just people living as best as they can in an exhaust post-war England. I think they are the best part of the story ;)
The poison pen letters are just the trigger for issues already brewing but, when the murder happens, of course is the new arrival who becomes the prime suspect :P
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I just saw this author has another book in this series, so I'll try to get it ASAP.
Mark Endicott moves to the country for peace and quiet to continue writing. He makes several foolish statements on the bus to his new home just to annoy the other passengers, a pair of gossipy hens. He meets his next door neighbor, the village spinster. A mouse like woman that he silently calls “Rabbit ” because she startles easily and is always ready to hop away with any provocation. However, when a beautiful though evil woman, is murdered very near his home, he becomes the number one suspect. And “Rabbit" becomes his number one supporter. An excellent story that keeps my attention throughout the book. And the ending was perfect.
10 stars!!!! It took me a minute to get used to the way everyone talked, and t started getting very interesting. I haven't read any books from this author before, and I would like to see where Endicott and Miss Faraday go from the end of the book!!!! There were so many suspects and different motives and emotionally charged people. I thought at one point I had it figured out, but then it did a 180 on me and had to figure another way. I really enjoyed this book. I hope others will also.
When I picked up this book I was just in the mood of some cozy hunky-dory in some village somewhere. After the few initial chapters, I was fast losing interest and was almost on the verge of dnf/tata/byebye. But then thanks to the so many wonderful Goodreads review, came to know this was written post WWII and of course it has a different flavor to it. I could then picture the village, its life, the many exquisitely drawn characters, the various houses, pathways, the copse house itself. More than the mystery, I enjoyed the setting. Good read
Not always absorbing but I'm sure the family of the author appreciate the book being available. The Superintendent was a delight, the vicar a joy and the key characters grew on me, as did the unfolding plot. I did guess the outcome and the guilty party. The style of writing takes some adjusting to but many of the details could have been current which overall probably puts it in the category of "interesting" on various levels. Give it a go!
This little gem could well be considered literary fiction based on the development of complex characters, the descriptions and the unfolding of the plot. True, there was no murder until about half way through the book, but, not unlike Agatha Christie, the author gives the reader a challenge in trying to determine exactly who it is who will meet their untoward end, what the motive may be and, of course who the perpetrator might me. Surprises throughout, including a sweet touch of romance.
I have to admit I wasn't sure I wanted to finish this book. It was somewhat very confusing at the beginning. I found myself interested because the characters were so interesting. A major drawback was the author, as many others, overuse the Thesaurus! You don't have to use a million dollar word to make a perfectly straightforward statement! The story did become very interesting with several twists.
This was a delightful story that was well thought out and a great read. It has been a long time since I have needed to get a dictionary out whilst reading as English is my first language! It's always good to know that you're never too old to encounter new words though 😃 Reading in some other native dialect was also great fun, I was relieved that I remembered my own gran sounding similar even though she was Yorkshire native. I can't wait to read more by this author.
I love how the author tricks the reader into a whodunnit situation. Of all the suspects, this is the first book I've read that I couldn't fathom out 'whodunnit' until near the end. I loved the characters. They felt so real. Looking forward to reading more books from this author.
A cast of interesting characters set in a small English village where everyone knows each others business when a violent murder disturbs the peace. A new writer who just moved to the village is the prime suspect. The story is well written and kept me reading to the last page.
I like cozy mysteries but this is not than that. It's charming, funny and absorbing. The characters are unexpected and by the end familiar and dear as old friends and neighbors band equally as aggravating at times. It kept me guessing till the end!
Please write sequels with the super and Mark and Amy!
Margaret Scott writes an artful tale. The setting, the patterns of speaking, the manner of the village people and the Sherlock-ishness of the inspector all play parts to this twisty mystery of a murder case. Truly a pleasurable read.
A cosy mystery set in a small English village, with an author (or two) hiding away and writing, but getting involved in a lot of scandal due to a local woman who used to be an actress getting up to trouble and a bunch of anonymous letters raking up scandal.
I enjoyed this very much and would read more by this author.
Well written, with slightly eccentric but believable characters. The murder, which I occurred about halfway through, was secondary to the main drama, and easily guessed at quite early on after the deed itself. The writing is good, and the period (post-war) made itself felt. A good weekend read, and a nice change.
What a terrific cozy village mystery! Characters are great, with lots of eccentric villagers, gossip is the primary recreation, and no one is who they seem. Time is immediately after World War II so physical setting reflects that. It is a superb reading adventure.
A stand-alone mystery with believable characters, post-war ambience and authentic country accents lovingly reproduced. One by one my choices for the killer fell away, and the answer was a surprise, but fair--looking back, there were clues. Satisfying.
A perfect light read for lockdown, exactly as billed. My only comment is that it took a while to work out when it was set - and I think Miss Faraday’s electric kettle is an anachronism.
Perfectly captures the insular nature and narrow attitudes of small village life. Engaging characters and an original twist to the plot. Will look forward to reading more by this author.