Mrs. Malory and the Silent Killer

Mrs. Malory Mysteries #15

by Hazel Holt

The village of Taviscombe is sent reeling when the popular Sidney Middleton dies in a tragic accident. However, it soon becomes apparent that his death was a most deliberate act. How could someone so likable have enemies-especially one driven to kill? Mrs. Malory is dead-set on finding out.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Cozy Mystery, British Literature, Fiction

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 10, 2004

About the author

Hazel Holt is a British novelist. She studied at King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham, England, and then Newnham College, Cambridge. She went on to work at the International African Institute in London, where she became acquainted with the novelist Barbara Pym, whose biography she later wrote. She also finished one of Pym's novels after Pym died.

Holt wrote her first novel in her sixties, and is a leading crime novelist. She is best known for her "Sheila Malory" series. Her son is the novelist Tom Holt.

Reviews

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

MRS. MALORY AND THE SILENT KILLER (English Cozy) – Good
Hazel Holt – 15th in series
The village of Taviscombe is sent reeling when popular and respected Sidney Middleton has a tragic accident, particularly when it becomes apparent his death was a deliberate act. Mrs. Malory soon uncovers that his seemingly respectable man had dark--even deadly--secrets.
***Cozies are not my preferred genre, but I read this, as it was one of our Mystery Group’s selections. While the pace and the abundance of daily-live detail is something to which I am not accustomed, I found the plot to be quite good and definitely appreciated the idea of people not being as they seem. Mrs. Malory is not cloying or a busybody. For cozy fans, I recommend it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sheila Malory and her friends are grieved when an elderly man dies. But when Sheila learns that murder is suspected, she's more confused than anything--who would want to kill someone widely regarded as one of the nicest men in the county? As Sheila learns more, however, she becomes aware that it's all too easy to misjudge someone's character. And if that's true, how can she tell which of her friends may be capable of murder?

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always enjoy finding another female British mystery writer. And this author's sleuth is a Miss Marple type character. So, the book is a real cozy, with a great portrait of generally quiet village life.

[Julie]

another book of everyday middle-aged life in an english village - which i find very restful and entertaining. and there happens to be a mystery on the side.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hazel Holt has created quite an inquisitive village woman with Sheila Malory. Really, if people thought Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, just wait until they read a couple of the books featuring this educated older woman who seems to know, gossip and visit everyone in her community. Honestly, just how does she remember them all while also conducting her academic studies?

Needless, that hasn't stopped me from reading and enjoying this delightful cozy mystery series. She might know everyone in sight but the character comes across as immensely human as well as humane, especially in this tale where she is saddened by the death of an elderly gentleman known to her since her childhood.

Sidney Middleton is known as a kind, mild-mannered gentleman when he is discovered dead in the kitchen of Lamb's Cottage, the home he and his late wife retired to. Everyone assumes that he suffered a heart attack. But the post-mortem says otherwise. Still, an accident, right?

Perhaps not and if it is murder, who would want to murder him?

Turns out there are others who would, including his own son. And before you know it, Mrs. Malory is talking and visiting, gathering disparate threads that despite their confidentiality, she's sharing with her family, her best friend, and her friend's son-in-law, whose a police officer.

In some books, that would be the telling point when Mrs. Malory herself turns up dead, but as per usual, instead, she comes up with the telling point, vital clue, etc., that points to the true criminal.

Light, breezy, well-written. This is an entertaining series that offers a refreshing break from those tales that seem just too close to true crime. And well worth spending an afternoon among the citizens of this charming village.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sidney Middleton is a popular figure in Taviscombe, always polite and friendly, happy to contribute to charities when asked. But when he dies suddenly and it becomes apparent that his death was a murder, Sheila Malory begins to learn about another Sidney Middleton, a wicked man whom quite a few people had good cause to want dead…. I was a little worried at the beginning of “Mrs. Malory and the Silent Killer,” the 15th in the series, because the victim didn’t seem to fit the usual pattern of these books - that the murdered person kind of, sort of, deserved it. But my mind was soon put at rest in that regard, and I could just enjoy the book’s depictions of English village life, filled with the small concerns of chimney sweeping, preparing cakes for jumble sales and the curiosity brought to bear when a new couple comes to town. Although set in the early 2000s, this story could have been told in almost any era, showing that small-town life doesn’t change all that much, and nor do people. Recommended!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The entire village of Taviscombe is sent reeling when Sidney Middleton, a popular and respected pillar of the community, has a tragic accident. However, it soon becomes apparent that his death was a most deliberate act. How could someone so likable have any enemies -- especially one driven to kill? Mrs. Malory is dead set on finding out. But what she uncovers about Middleton could shock a lightning bolt. the seemingly respectable man had dark -- even deadly -- secrets. And suddenly she's looking at everyone through suspicion-tinted glasses ..."
~~back cover

A nice little example of the truism that people sometimes (most of the time?) aren't at all what they seem. Sidney Middleton had learned how to create a marvelous false front, and he used that talent to his advantage the entire time he lived in Taviscombe. But the truth will out, and it finally did -- starting with the contents of his will, which left a cottage in another village to a woman nobody knew.

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life in the tiny village of Taviscomb is all about helping your neighbors and church jumble sales. … Mrs Sheila Malory is well involved with both. When a respected member of the community is killed, the investigation uncovers the fact that he had been a very unsavory character before settling in London. … Who knew him then and hated him enough for murder? Mrs. Malory, a 50ish lady with an inquiring mind helps to find the answer.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was slow and repetitive and somewhat depressing.
Age comes to us all.
As the leading characters are all facing their mortality and the unknown that comes with aging and health related illness and the need for possible care it was sad.
When one knows they cannot depend on family help and after giving so much to their children feel as if they are a "burden" when it is their turn to be helped it is beyond tragic. It is ugly and depressing.

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs. Malory is an old friend so the mystery can be simple and even predictable. This particular one was more about the history of the victim and those connected to him. It also touched on the idea that we sometimes don't really know people like we think we do. Good fodder for any novel, even a cozy mystery.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book, but have no real inclination to read more "Sheila Malory" murder mysteries. I didn't find the murder very engaging - the victim was barely in the book before he was killed, and he was only in the book obliquelly.

Precis: This book has the plot of a traditional murder mystery - person found dead, sleuth investigates, killer is identified, with a bit of tension, then sleuth explains how they did it.

Sheila (the sleuth) didn't seem to have much to say about the victim, despite apparently knowing him all her life. Mind you, as her "investigatioins" grew, and more was discovered about the victim, I grew more unbelieving. I could not accept that a man lived in a village where everyone seems to know each other (good Lord, they all bump into each other almost daily!) for years, yet they were all totally misled about this man. I could swallow most of it, but not the idea that neighbours and long time friends wouldn't know that something was amiss.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one that is particularly good. About the face of people we see and the real person known only to those really close to them. An old man dies who is respected and liked by everyone in town. After the death facts come out about his past deeds and behaviors that make Mrs Malory and all those that knew him wonder how they could have been so wrong about him. The death brings much good to many people and Mrs Malory hopes that the killer will not be one of the obvious Suspects. I guessed who the culprit was early on but couldn't figure out his motive. All written in this series are very good.

[bex · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more accurate rating would be 2.5 for failure in living up to the genre.

The book has some thought provoking elements, but a few things make it rather fail as a cozy mystery, but telling would spoil the read.

The main character does very little actual investigating. She stumbles over the clue that proves it is murder and doesn't even know it. She does a little gossiping to gather information, but not much and there are few suspects. The final solution is again discovered by pure chance and it's someone she never suspected. The reader also never had the clues available to solve it, so it isn't even that we could have known it but she refused to accept the truth. blah.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 15th book in the Sheila Mallory series by Hazel Holt.

I love revisiting the lovely little English village of Taviscombe and especially dropping in on Sheila and all her friends, family and neighbors. This mystery was very good and actually a little sad because the citizens of this lovely little village find out after the death of a beloved neighbor that he was not as beloved as they all thought and actually quite wicked.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love these. Like perfect potato chips, you just want the next. This one highlights how some humans can fool "most of the people all of the time" with life-long charismatic charm and good fellow met humor. Yet in reality are terrible swine to others' outcomes. Dialog is far more elevated than plot, as in all good Mrs. Malory escapades.

[Virginia Walter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sidney Middleton was a popular and respected member of the Taviscombe community. After his suspicious death, however, Mrs. Malory learns that his civil demeanor covered up decades of bad behavior; and there is no lack of people with motives to kill him.

[Chris Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

too Miss Marple!

[Mary Newcomb]

Simon seems like a perfectly nice man, until he dies and the stories come tumbling out. Mrs Malory is reluctantly drawn into finding out how he died.

[Sandy Weir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another soothing Mrs. Malory treasure. One of my favorites and I am learning that the resolutions to these mysteries often are surprisingly unconventional!

[Mary Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great light mystery set in modern day small village in England.

[Andy Plonka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've mostly outgrown cozy mysteries, but this series still holds some appeal, maybe because it is British or perhaps because it has some point to it rather than being sort of humorous.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

L

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

ingenious method, goodh character study

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sheila Malory is concerned about the way an old friend of her parents is apparently being forced to go into a home by his son. When Sidney Middleton is found dead by his cleaner Sheila wonders whether than there is more to his death than meets the eye. Everyone who knew Sidney seems to have thought he was a really nice person but Sheila starts to uncover facts about him which shock her to the core and which add to her suspicions about his death.

I thought this book was really interesting. Even though it falls into the cosy sub-genre of crime writing and it written in a low-key un-sensational style it still includes some of the worst aspects of human nature. I thought the characters were well drawn and believable and the motivations realistic. I had worked out who the murderer was but not why the murder was committed so the book kept me reading.

This book is part of an enjoyable series of mysteries which are firmly based in everyday life and the sometimes claustrophobic atmosphere of a small town community.

[Barbara A.]

Very drifty ... half the book wasn't important to the story. When the murderer was identified, I was like, "Who's that character?"
Still, I'd try another one for a bedtime read. Since falling asleep wouldn't matter.

[Peggi Warner-Lalonde]

A comfortable cozy.