Cinderella Goes to the Morgue

DuVivien & Birdseye #6

by Nancy Spain, Sandi Toksvig (Introduction)

'Her detective novels are hilarious - less about detecting than delighting, with absurd farce and a wonderful turn of phrase . . . Nancy Spain was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal' Sandi Toksvig

When Prince Charming is murdered and the principal dancer hits the bottle, amateur sleuths Miriam Birdseye and Natasha Nevkorina come to the rescue. Sacrificing their Christmas plans for the sake of art and detecting, they join the pantomime. As ex-thespians, they know the show must go on - though the cast shrinks with each rehearsal. Can the indomitable detective duo discover the murderer before the final curtain falls?

Fast paced and festive, this comic crime classic from Nancy Spain will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Thriller

342 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Nancy Spain was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1917, the great-niece of the legendary Mrs Beeton.

She began her career as a journalist and occasional actor in radio plays. After the Second World War she published a very successful memoir of her time working as a driver and in the press office of the WRNS. She later wrote columns for the Daily Express and She magazine, made many radio and television appearances, and published a series of detective novels.

She and her partner Joan Werner Laurie were killed in a plane crash in 1964.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was absurd, erratic, understated, and over-the-top all at once. This was my first Nancy Spain novel and the experience was like walking into a room with polkadot walls, a lime green carpet, and a novelty clock announcing the time via duck quacks.

While the book started off on a quiet street a few weeks before Christmas, the atmosphere quickly devolves into a colorful chaos, and as events escalate towards their crescendo on Christmas day the story only grows more disorienting. It was the sort of book one would need to read a few times to pick up on and fully understand everything that is going on.

Halfway through I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this book, but after reaching the end I think I would be quite happy to give another of Spain's stories a try.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the previous Nancy Spain book, once I'd got my head round her mad characters and the unusual way they talked. This was just as bonkers, with a view into a lost world of rationing still in force and people still having servants. Nastiest of all, where a woman is expected to give up her own goals to decorate a house and be a wife and mother only. Our heroines do their thing with panache and there are hints that a saccharine ending may not be what the future is bringing.

[Scott Givens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very British—lots of stuff going on that you barely understand, zany humor, and on this case many references to the theatre.

It’s good but not great. Plot-wise not inspiring until literally the last page—at which point, you have to re-think the last part of the book.

What I missed, however, was some of the process of detection. Yes, that’s an American passion, but even Holmes and Poirot spent time telling you how they came to their conclusions. This is meant to be off the cuff (it’s a pre-cozy cozy mystery) but seems like there should be more of a detection plot.

I’ve got two others by her on the shelf and will at least try one more.

[Gayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

An entertaining story set around the cast of the Cinderella panto. All of the characters turned out to be either exes, married to one another in secret or children of. I enjoyed the plot and the twists BUT I did not enjoy the writing as it felt too rushed and lazy. I often had to reread sentences to make sense of it.

[Alison C · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ex-revue star Miriam Birdseye and her friend, Russian dancer Natasha DuVivian nee Nevkorina, are drawn into a local Christmas panto when the lead Prince Charming falls to her death through a trapdoor in the stage floor; but there seems to be no end to the people who wanted her dead, and hers is only the first in a string of deaths related to the theater - can Miriam and Natasha solve the crime before any more people die?.... I’ve been enjoying Elly Griffiths’ Magic Men series, initially set in the music-hall world of 1950s England, so when she cited this book as an influence, I was pleased to find it still in print (in e-book form anyway). This is a comic mystery, if you will, full of absurd characters and wholly hilarious lines; and, having been written in 1950 or so, there’s a lot of information about that particular time and place, up to and including ration books of coupons for everything from foodstuffs to clothing and the black market in those books. I believe this is the fifth in a series featuring Miriam and Natasha, and hope to be able to find the earlier books as they are very entertaining characters! Ms. Spain being a gay woman at a time when such people were barely considered possible, there are sly quips about lesbianism, for example, a girls’ school called Radcliff Hall (the name of a very famous gay woman writer of that time, with a slight spelling change, whose book The Well of Loneliness is a classic of its kind, albeit a very very depressing one), and the English pantomime tradition of having men play female characters and vice versa is milked for all it’s worth; very funny, and definitely recommended!

[Simon S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

These Nancy Spain books are a hoot, quite robust whodunnits populated by eccentric misfits, and written with such energy and wit.

I feel they are worth 4 stars for entertainment value alone, but perhaps that would be a 3 if you expect more than that from the books you read.

Her heroines, Miriam Birdseye, a flamboyant actor, and ballet dancer Natasha Nevkorina, who get involved in murders, and stir up evidence with their fatal charms, are great creations.

Lest we forget, Spain was a lesbian who set her novel Poison for Teacher in a girl’s school called Radcliff Hall…

This one is set in Newchester, a very thinly disguised Newcastle, and involves sinister goings on in the Theatre Royal where impresario and comedian Hampton Court and the juvenile song and dance troupe known as the Tottenham Tots (including Dawn O’Day and Dreme Child, known to their fellow Tots as Ginger and Nobby) are staging a fraught pantomime.

Seek her out if think you might have a taste for Agatha Christie crime fiction rewritten by a hectic, and troubled, E. F. Benson.

[Emma Berridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny with an element of romance, family drama and of course murder and mayhem. Lovely and light and you're given all the clues, now that might sound dumb, but I have read other mysteries in the past where the detective will randomly produce some piece of evidence that they decided not to share with the class. This is not like that, you get all the clues and it's fun trying to work out whodunnit. I failed but I hope you will succeed.

[Verity W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t love this as much as I loved the previous one, but then I’ve read a lot more boarding school stories than I have stories about regional pantomimes! It’s still a lot of fun though - more about the people and the absurdity than the actual mystery but when a book is funny that’s not a problem!

[Blasr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful romp to be savoured

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Pantomime in itself!

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An over-the-top theatrical murder mystery. Silly, but with some funny moments.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would say actually 3.5 stars. But Goodreads doesn’t do half stars. So, first time reading Nancy Spain. And while there is a murder mystery in this story, there are all sorts of character stories as well. And the mystery aspect forces some of their past out in the open; and when it does, connections and motives for them to have committed the crime is revealed bit by bit. Also I know that this story is taking place in the midst of a pantomime at Christmas so I anticipated a glut of characters to manage. If you are afraid this, know that the characters you need to really follow are pointed out often, and soon they are the ones you follow the most.

The characters are really interesting, and it’s not an easy mystery to figure out but Natasha (the more detecting oriented character) and Sargent Robinson provide a lot of clues for you to detect along. Natasha notices something and that is the tip off. It’s fun to try and figure out yourself. Both Miriam and Natasha are what I would say are the more balanced characters as well as Sargent Robinson. Everyone else in the story is TheAtrical, even those not acting.

There is a great deal of humorous events. I think this would be a really fun movie. I have another book by Spain that I will also be reading. So while I wouldn’t say this mystery knocked my socks off, it was simply an enjoyable and quirky read.

[Sophie Constable · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about two women who join a local pantomime after the Prince Charming is murdered and the principal dancer hits the bottle in order to get to the bottom of things and possibly solve the murder. This is not your typical mystery novel and I do think a lot of people could hate it because of that. There is very little actual detecting done by the main characters and it feels like pure chance that the mystery actually gets solved. However, I really enjoyed this book. I really liked the author's writing style and the humour throughout this book. The characters are often very over the top but some of them do have some real moments of humanity. There are also some good plot twists and reveals in this story. This book was published in the early 1950s so modern readers should be aware that there is an incident of blackface and some anti-semitic remarks throughout the novel. Overall, I personally really enjoyed this book and I will be reading more by this author though I don't think I would recommend this book to a wider audience.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1950 sort-of detective novel (the mystery is almost beside the point) is set during a Christmas pantomime of the goofiest sort.

I had heard that Nancy Spain was a fun author (Sandy Toksvig wrote the affectionate introduction), and it definitely has many snort- and guffaw-worthy moments. But it's also written in a hectic style that changes tone with almost every paragraph, so sometimes it was a bit tiring and hard to follow. This is the 6th in the series, and I haven't read the earlier entries, so that may account for some of my bafflement.

Still, it's fluffy fun and reasonably enjoyable.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a complete roller coaster of a read. A completely surreal tale. I found the theatrical pantomime setting fun and I did wonder if any of Ms. Spain's detective stories had been dramatised. I would certainly recommend any one to read it. In some ways it's firmly of its time being published in 1950. In other ways it's bonkers humour is a forerunner of Kenneth Horne, Tony Hancock and The Goons. I have absolutely no idea who dunnit or why they did it but I'm not sure that matters. It's one serious drawback is that it's too long. Some judicious editing would have improved it immeasurably. There's a jolly introduction by Sandi Toksvig which is not to be missed.

[Brigette Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have returned one of her books without reading it. I’ve read two of her books now and they both left me annoyed and irritated. Her writing style is as chaotic as hell with too many characters to keep track of, with none of the characters being nice but rather horrible and nasty. Nancy Spain comes across as someone who really hated children; in both books I read of hers even the parents of the children in her books hated their children. Very depressing read and will definitely not be reading anything of hers again.

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nancy Spain here creates a ghastly world full of ghastly characters. The plot and any actual detecting get hopelessly lost in over the top writing in which Spain’s disgust at people who commit the awful crime of being vulgar predominates. Why Virago champion her as worthy of rediscovery I do not understand. If I hadn’t been reading this to pass the time on public transport I would have thrown the book away long before the end.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whodunit in 1950s setting UK in the middle of pantomime theatrical rehearsals and all its antics.

I dont know whether to like this book or not. The writing is a bit odd i often got lost.
The ending is quite satisfactory.


“All human beings are very, very distressing i find. All this scrabbling to make a living and trying to build cities and running up wars. Oh , it’s dreadfully sad”

[Nika Jelaska · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF
It isn’t so much that I found it bad, I just didn’t find it very engaging? There are many jokes, occasionally good ones. It felt to me like writing jokes (and gags?) wast the primary driver here - the plot or character development came secondary. And that just isn’t to my taste.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite frankly, I was disappointed in this book. The recommendation and introduction by Sandy Toksvig led me to believe that I would enjoy it a lot more than I did. I didn't find it as funny as she did, and the ending was inconclusive. Sorry.

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not quite sure why Virago are re-publishing these. I can’t see any merit in them at all.

[Philip Meeks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truly awful in every way

[Ann Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this book. The storyline was chaotic, the characters were unrelatable and generally unpleasant, and the atmosphere was just not as funny as expected.

[elise rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Annmarie Hogg · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy read, 3.5 was ok 👍 👌

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book, however, I did not feel it was quite the story the blurb made it out to be. The characters had diverse personalities but there wasn’t much description into what they looked like so it was hard to imagine them. Overall, the plot was fantastic.

[Magda Revetllat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un grupo teatral se ve envuelto en un lamentable crimen y de nuevo las dos protagonistas creadas por esta autora se constituyen como piezas decisivas en la investigación... para desesperación del comisario.

Divertida y glamurosa.