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Tod im Garten
In 1925, Diana Pollexfen was found innocent of killing her husband, but the accusation shadowed the rest of her life. Sixty years later, Diana's grandniece resolves to determine just who did kill George Pollexfen in that sunlit garden between the wars.
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First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Elizabeth Ironside
10 books17 followersElizabeth Ironside is the pseudonym of Lady Catherine Manning, wife of the British Ambassador to the U.S. Her first novel won Britain’s John Creasey Award for Best First Mystery of 1985, and Death in the Garden was nominated for Britain’s CWA Gold Dagger for Best Mystery of 1995.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 164 reviews
October 4, 2021
Two Hundred Forty Pages of Obviousness!
The book begins with the arrest of Diana Pollexfen for the murder of her husband.
Fortunately, she is acquitted and disappears from the face of the Earth.
Nearly seventy years later her great niece inherits her diaries and stumbles upon her secret.
Now, she and relative decides to solve the mystery of the murder of George Pollexfen.
Two hundred forty five pages later, the murder mystery is finally solved by finding a theory that was obvious.
Too many pages of speculation to find an ending seen coming a mile away.
The book begins with the arrest of Diana Pollexfen for the murder of her husband.
Fortunately, she is acquitted and disappears from the face of the Earth.
Nearly seventy years later her great niece inherits her diaries and stumbles upon her secret.
Now, she and relative decides to solve the mystery of the murder of George Pollexfen.
Two hundred forty five pages later, the murder mystery is finally solved by finding a theory that was obvious.
Too many pages of speculation to find an ending seen coming a mile away.
December 15, 2014
This is a very British story both in the tangled web of the past history of "the Great Aunt" and in the modern tales of the current domestic lives of Helena and her various cousins, lover, her work and relative distance from others. Everything is quite proper---except when it oh so definitely isn't.
The story exists in two times, the early 1920s, just after the war when the wounds are still very fresh, and the beginning of the current new millennium. In the first, the setting is a gathering spent over a weekend at an English country home, the home of an MP. The guests are largely friends of his wife who is celebrating her birthday. They are variously artists, writers, scholars...different sorts than their host. Ultimately, there is a murder.
Flashing forward to the near present, Helena, adopted as an early teen by The Great Aunt, learns, on that loved woman's death, of that party and of that death so many years ago, and resolves to find whatever truth she can. That is the essence of Death in the Garden. This is not a cloak and dagger mystery--more of a cerebral, thought inducing read, and a treat for Anglophiles.
I plan to seek out more of Ironside to read.
The story exists in two times, the early 1920s, just after the war when the wounds are still very fresh, and the beginning of the current new millennium. In the first, the setting is a gathering spent over a weekend at an English country home, the home of an MP. The guests are largely friends of his wife who is celebrating her birthday. They are variously artists, writers, scholars...different sorts than their host. Ultimately, there is a murder.
Flashing forward to the near present, Helena, adopted as an early teen by The Great Aunt, learns, on that loved woman's death, of that party and of that death so many years ago, and resolves to find whatever truth she can. That is the essence of Death in the Garden. This is not a cloak and dagger mystery--more of a cerebral, thought inducing read, and a treat for Anglophiles.
I plan to seek out more of Ironside to read.
February 9, 2018
I braved the cold, hopped the train downtown yesterday and captured some great books. This is a beautifully written and artfully constructed story. There are layers to be unwrapped in the reading and while the characters are not always endearing they were painted with master strokes.
It was another reminder of how quickly people of the first few decades of the 1900's matured, behaving very differently from today's 20-30 year old population. They lived through the first World War and this had defining impact on their behavior.
This author was one I had never heard of until reading a goodreads review.
It was another reminder of how quickly people of the first few decades of the 1900's matured, behaving very differently from today's 20-30 year old population. They lived through the first World War and this had defining impact on their behavior.
This author was one I had never heard of until reading a goodreads review.
May 20, 2025
4-1/2 Stars
I have had this book sitting on my shelves for well over a decade and finally decided to pick it up and was completely sucked in by the compelling mystery and have hardly put it down for the past 2 days.
A dual timeline set in the 1920’s and 1990’s in England we seek to discover whether a young wife is guilty or innocent of having murdered her husband. I found the story more propulsive than I expected and except for some unnecessarily pretentious use of language, I thought this was one of the best executed mysteries I have read in awhile.
I will say this one won’t be for everyone and quite a few of the characters are borderline unlikable, including our main character in the modern day storyline. But if you are a fan of well-constructed mysteries with a complicated (but solvable) plot, I recommend this one.
I have had this book sitting on my shelves for well over a decade and finally decided to pick it up and was completely sucked in by the compelling mystery and have hardly put it down for the past 2 days.
A dual timeline set in the 1920’s and 1990’s in England we seek to discover whether a young wife is guilty or innocent of having murdered her husband. I found the story more propulsive than I expected and except for some unnecessarily pretentious use of language, I thought this was one of the best executed mysteries I have read in awhile.
I will say this one won’t be for everyone and quite a few of the characters are borderline unlikable, including our main character in the modern day storyline. But if you are a fan of well-constructed mysteries with a complicated (but solvable) plot, I recommend this one.
November 6, 2018
"Death in the Garden" - written by Elizabeth Ironside and first published in 1995, this edition in 2005 by Felony & Mayhem. "You are in England after all. We do things for duty and for respectability and because other people do them, not for pleasure." This post-WWI novel was a slow starter, but eventually unfolded into a solid, but not especially exciting murder mystery. George Pollexfen (is that even a real surname?) is found dead of poison and the crucial ingredients are conveniently found in his wife's photography studio. This manor mystery focuses at first on the socialites staying for the weekend and present that night ("What secret lives went on behind the accepted fictions of their existences?), but soon jumps forward to a young lady whose beloved great-aunt (amusingly referred to as "the great-aunt" by her relatives) has just died. She discovers the great-aunt is connected to this 60-year old murder and takes it upon herself to solve it. This is where the book picks up and settles into a pleasant, typical English mystery. The author is Lady Catherine Manning, wife of the British Ambassador to the U.S. (2003-2007) and her other four novels look interesting also.
January 31, 2018
One of the most absorbing novels I've read in a very long time. A few years after the end of World War I, George Pollexfen died by poisoning in his own country garden, and his wife stood trial for his murder. She was acquitted, and the mystery was never solved. Now (i.e., the 1990s) her great-niece and principal heir tries to work out, from extant records, who could have killed George all those years ago.
If it's instant gratification you're after, this isn't the detective novel for you. In fact, despite the presence at its core of a mysterious death and the attempt to deduce what really happened, I'm reluctant to call it a detective novel at all. It reminded me more of books like Ian McEwan's Atonement and A.S. Byatt's Possession, although I'm tempted to say that it's better written than either.
I read this as a rather battered secondhand paperback, but am inclined now to invest in a hardback copy for the shelf.
If it's instant gratification you're after, this isn't the detective novel for you. In fact, despite the presence at its core of a mysterious death and the attempt to deduce what really happened, I'm reluctant to call it a detective novel at all. It reminded me more of books like Ian McEwan's Atonement and A.S. Byatt's Possession, although I'm tempted to say that it's better written than either.
I read this as a rather battered secondhand paperback, but am inclined now to invest in a hardback copy for the shelf.
March 6, 2010
I loved this book! It's a bit slow to read, it really requires your attention, but there is so much going on it is very rewarding. All at once it is a traditional English country-house mystery, a glimpse of the modern years during and just following WWI, and a look at changing women and women's roles in this century. It's a complete portrait of an event that took place in 1925, seen in its historical context and through the eyes of the second generation to follow. Each piece of the puzzle unfolds as each character is illuminated through journals, letters, reminiscences, and recorded history - so authoritatively that it is easy to forget you are reading a novel, and not participating in the search. Very often a story told through multiple generations feels unbalanced - one generation suffers while the other's history is told. This book, for me, strikes just the right balance between past and present. Whether or not you are a mystery reader, if you have any interest in the time period I would definitely recommend this.
April 5, 2008
A wonderful British mystery novel with a surprising twist at the end. And yet it is so much more.
It is a murder mystery with a little bit of history and just a hint of the supernatural. Underlying it all is an exploration of the intricacies of human relationships over the course of a life time and between intersecting generations. Did you ever take the time to wonder what your mother, grandmother, great aunt was like before she was cast in the role of mother, grandmother, great aunt?
It is a murder mystery with a little bit of history and just a hint of the supernatural. Underlying it all is an exploration of the intricacies of human relationships over the course of a life time and between intersecting generations. Did you ever take the time to wonder what your mother, grandmother, great aunt was like before she was cast in the role of mother, grandmother, great aunt?
August 18, 2025
A beautifully written murder mystery about Helene, who tries to unravel if her great-aunt actually murdered her first husband sixty years ago. After receiving her great-Aunt Fox’s estate as her inheritance, Helene discovers great-Aunt Fox’s marriage to her great-Uncle was not her first. Still embroiled in scandal after a jury finds her innocent of murdering her first husband, great-Aunt Fox reinvented herself, and now, Helene makes it her mission to rediscover that past life.
While I did predict the ending of this mystery, I still found it satisfying, and I wasn’t rolling my eyes at the obviousness. I would rather guess the culprit than illogical “twists” hide them like the last two mysteries I’ve endured. The characters in this novel were fascinating: not only were they uniquely and realistically flawed but they also felt alive despite a fairly large cast. I mainly adore Ironside’s writing though. Several sentences struck me as beautifully insightful, and despite my intense desire to devour this mystery, I often paused to contemplate her concise depictions of humanity. I was worried this random thrift store grab would be another anticlimactic bust, but I am a thoroughly delighted instead
While I did predict the ending of this mystery, I still found it satisfying, and I wasn’t rolling my eyes at the obviousness. I would rather guess the culprit than illogical “twists” hide them like the last two mysteries I’ve endured. The characters in this novel were fascinating: not only were they uniquely and realistically flawed but they also felt alive despite a fairly large cast. I mainly adore Ironside’s writing though. Several sentences struck me as beautifully insightful, and despite my intense desire to devour this mystery, I often paused to contemplate her concise depictions of humanity. I was worried this random thrift store grab would be another anticlimactic bust, but I am a thoroughly delighted instead
April 27, 2021
Death in the Garden was an unexpected pleasure! I found it in a Little Library Box at the side of the road. I had never heard of the author, but was up for a good mystery. I wasn't disappointed. Elizabeth Ironside, by the way, is the pen name of the wife of the British Ambassador to the U.S. at the time of the publication of this book. Her name is Lady Catherine Manning.
We find out right away that one Diana Pollexfen was acquitted of the murder of her husband in 1925. Sixty seven years later, her beloved grand niece Helena Fox, whom she helped to raise, finds out by chance of this acquittal, an event she had heard nothing about. Deeply unsettled that her aunt may have in fact committed the murder, she and her two cousins and their wives set out to try and find out just what happened at Diana's 30th birthday party weekend all those years ago.
I couldn't put this book down. It is stylishly written, with a smart cast of characters whom we first meet as guests at the ill fated birthday party. The family research goes on by looking through ancient papers, old and forgotten books mentioning or written by some of the attendees, flashes of insight based upon observation of relevant human behavior, and one delightful interview with a very old lady. Layers of the past are pulled away one at a time, deepening the mystery on the way to the goal of solving the puzzle.
I loved the setting of this book on a lovely old estate as well as in London, and I loved the collection of unconventional early 2oth century artists and scholars who Diana counted as friends. The artist, the writers, the mathematician, the soldier, all trying to handle the normal obligations of life while following their muse. As the family research goes on, we learn more and more about these characters, their dramatic relationships to each other, and their fates in later years. Issues of feminism, mental illness, and PTSD in early 20th century Europe run through the story. The writing is intelligent and nuanced, and makes you think. No books by this author are available at any of my local libraries, so I guess I will be on my own hunt for more elsewhere. I so enjoyed this absorbing mystery!
We find out right away that one Diana Pollexfen was acquitted of the murder of her husband in 1925. Sixty seven years later, her beloved grand niece Helena Fox, whom she helped to raise, finds out by chance of this acquittal, an event she had heard nothing about. Deeply unsettled that her aunt may have in fact committed the murder, she and her two cousins and their wives set out to try and find out just what happened at Diana's 30th birthday party weekend all those years ago.
I couldn't put this book down. It is stylishly written, with a smart cast of characters whom we first meet as guests at the ill fated birthday party. The family research goes on by looking through ancient papers, old and forgotten books mentioning or written by some of the attendees, flashes of insight based upon observation of relevant human behavior, and one delightful interview with a very old lady. Layers of the past are pulled away one at a time, deepening the mystery on the way to the goal of solving the puzzle.
I loved the setting of this book on a lovely old estate as well as in London, and I loved the collection of unconventional early 2oth century artists and scholars who Diana counted as friends. The artist, the writers, the mathematician, the soldier, all trying to handle the normal obligations of life while following their muse. As the family research goes on, we learn more and more about these characters, their dramatic relationships to each other, and their fates in later years. Issues of feminism, mental illness, and PTSD in early 20th century Europe run through the story. The writing is intelligent and nuanced, and makes you think. No books by this author are available at any of my local libraries, so I guess I will be on my own hunt for more elsewhere. I so enjoyed this absorbing mystery!
August 4, 2024
Got this book for 25 cents at a strawberry festival in Monkton, Vermont. Very British, very sophisticated. Nice escapism of being a rich British person in the twentieth century. I cared much more about the mystery than narrator’s personal life. A little too fancy for my taste at times
April 17, 2021
Sophisticated drawing room Agatha Christie kind of mystery in which a 1920s murder connects to a modern-day mystery.
September 18, 2020
Mystery set in two time periods with excellent prose. The story slowly unfolds as connections between the characters are revealed. Don't look for too much plot in this, just enjoy the writing.
May 5, 2025
Slow but a good puzzle.
August 30, 2020
Very enjoyable and slowly unfolding mystery set across two time periods. The writing is very stylish and the author is very perceptive in writing from different characters' perspectives. I look forward to more by this author.
March 6, 2011
Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside is unlike any mystery novel I've read. It's a mystery. It's a historical novel. It's a lesson in research (both of the time period and by characters within the novel). It's a fine character study. It is a lesson in betrayals and secrets and what men and women will do to hide them. It's an example of how little people who think they are close really know about one another. And, above all, it's brilliantly written--employing flashbacks, diary entries, letters and straight up narration to tell an absolutely captivating story. The Denver Post is quoted on the front cover: "A wondrously textured, multilayered detective novel in the grand tradition, with a strikingly unusual plot." I would have to agree.
The novel shifts between the 1920s and and the 1990s. In 1925 the beautiful Diana Pollexfen, former bohemian photographer and now more convential wife to an MP, is celebrating her 30th birthday. She invites some of her oldest and closest friends to a party at their country estate, but the celebrations end with the tragic death of her husband, George. He has been poisoned by a cocktail that contains more photographic chemicals than alcohol.
The book opens with this line: Today at half-past two in the afternoon I was acquitted of the murder of my husband. Not since Rebecca has an opening sentence grabbed my attention and stayed in my imagination. Opening with this statement from Diana's diary, the first section of the book gives the background of the birthday party guests and describes the events leading up to George's death. The rest of the book takes us sixty years into the future. Diana's great-niece Helena is also turning 30 and finds herself spending her birthday at her great-aunt's house--making arrangements for Diana's funeral. In the course of going through her great-aunts papers and diaries she finds the diary with that first line. Helena decides that she needs to know if her great-aunt really was innocent or just had a good defense lawyer before she is willing to take possession of the home and her inheritance from her aunt.
The rest of the book finds Helena and her cousins looking for living witnesses, reading through the diaries, discovering letters and even a short story--all in the effort to try and solve the mystery that was left open with Diana's acquittal. Ironside neatly dovetails events in Helena's life with the 60-year-old mystery and uses the modern events to help Helena discover the truth. She also learns that the truth may have a terrible cost.
I was absolutely hooked on this book from the first line. The mystery has an interesting twist--one that has been employed before, but it is so well done that I didn't mind. Near-perfect in period detail, characterization, use of clues and wrap-up. It is definitely a book that I will want to read again--if only for the beautiful writing. Four and a half stars.
The novel shifts between the 1920s and and the 1990s. In 1925 the beautiful Diana Pollexfen, former bohemian photographer and now more convential wife to an MP, is celebrating her 30th birthday. She invites some of her oldest and closest friends to a party at their country estate, but the celebrations end with the tragic death of her husband, George. He has been poisoned by a cocktail that contains more photographic chemicals than alcohol.
The book opens with this line: Today at half-past two in the afternoon I was acquitted of the murder of my husband. Not since Rebecca has an opening sentence grabbed my attention and stayed in my imagination. Opening with this statement from Diana's diary, the first section of the book gives the background of the birthday party guests and describes the events leading up to George's death. The rest of the book takes us sixty years into the future. Diana's great-niece Helena is also turning 30 and finds herself spending her birthday at her great-aunt's house--making arrangements for Diana's funeral. In the course of going through her great-aunts papers and diaries she finds the diary with that first line. Helena decides that she needs to know if her great-aunt really was innocent or just had a good defense lawyer before she is willing to take possession of the home and her inheritance from her aunt.
The rest of the book finds Helena and her cousins looking for living witnesses, reading through the diaries, discovering letters and even a short story--all in the effort to try and solve the mystery that was left open with Diana's acquittal. Ironside neatly dovetails events in Helena's life with the 60-year-old mystery and uses the modern events to help Helena discover the truth. She also learns that the truth may have a terrible cost.
I was absolutely hooked on this book from the first line. The mystery has an interesting twist--one that has been employed before, but it is so well done that I didn't mind. Near-perfect in period detail, characterization, use of clues and wrap-up. It is definitely a book that I will want to read again--if only for the beautiful writing. Four and a half stars.
February 20, 2018
This book was given to me for my birthday by one of my sisters . She could not have chosen a better book.
Classic, intelligent crime/mystery. Stylish in setting (English countryside manor in June), characters (1925 sensibilities), writing (completely fluid, simplicity of words, language that delights the ears: "Felix Plews today brought to meet me the barrister whom he has engaged".), storyline (who killed George, the host at his wife's (Diana) weekend birthday gathering?)
An infusion of the present day (1995) has Helena, the grand-niece of Diana having to deal with her Aunt's death, the estate, and the past. Neither Helena nor her two cousins and their wives know anything about Diana (who married their uncle so many years ago). They discover she was married, that she was tried for George's murder, that she changed her name twice, that she had a son who was killed in WWII and who was a well known studio photographer up until 1930.
Ironside skillfully weaves an intriguing story a la Christie (evocative of the murder in the country type narrative and whodunnit) and Dorothy L. Sayers we move from the past to present and back as Helena and her cousin Marta embark on finding out just who did kill George, wanting Diana (who took Helena under her wing when her parents died) to be innocent, by sifting through old journals, papers and finding one living guest of that gathering in 1925, Edith, who Helena meets.
WWI hangs heavy in the beginning of this story, each character has been affected in some way, "the extraordinary horror of that period cast a benediction on those who had survived it. Her compassion embraced the wounded, the unemployed, the unemployable, the disaffected, the mad, all the jetsam of the war, who seven years afterwards were unwanted reminders of what everyone was doing their best to forget." It is this war that may have got George killed. One of those present at Diana's weekend gathering did it. Ironside explores each character's motive/s through Helena's discoveries.
I marked several passages that spoke to me, this being one, "If I had ever given you advice, Ananda, the one thing I would have said is: don't speak. Understand; say nothing. Words are weapons; they wound; they can never be taken back and, even when they heal, they leave a scar. Understanding evolves silently." This is from one of the guests, now aged and just before her death.
In the present, we have Helena who's 'extracted the sandwiches from their triangular coffin and lifted a corner of the flaccid bread to see what extraordinary combination of ingredients Sophie had chosen for her...'
Ironside has a fine ear for the nuances of the past and the vibe of the new century and has married them into a delicious mystery read. I'll read more of her work in the months ahead.
Classic, intelligent crime/mystery. Stylish in setting (English countryside manor in June), characters (1925 sensibilities), writing (completely fluid, simplicity of words, language that delights the ears: "Felix Plews today brought to meet me the barrister whom he has engaged".), storyline (who killed George, the host at his wife's (Diana) weekend birthday gathering?)
An infusion of the present day (1995) has Helena, the grand-niece of Diana having to deal with her Aunt's death, the estate, and the past. Neither Helena nor her two cousins and their wives know anything about Diana (who married their uncle so many years ago). They discover she was married, that she was tried for George's murder, that she changed her name twice, that she had a son who was killed in WWII and who was a well known studio photographer up until 1930.
Ironside skillfully weaves an intriguing story a la Christie (evocative of the murder in the country type narrative and whodunnit) and Dorothy L. Sayers we move from the past to present and back as Helena and her cousin Marta embark on finding out just who did kill George, wanting Diana (who took Helena under her wing when her parents died) to be innocent, by sifting through old journals, papers and finding one living guest of that gathering in 1925, Edith, who Helena meets.
WWI hangs heavy in the beginning of this story, each character has been affected in some way, "the extraordinary horror of that period cast a benediction on those who had survived it. Her compassion embraced the wounded, the unemployed, the unemployable, the disaffected, the mad, all the jetsam of the war, who seven years afterwards were unwanted reminders of what everyone was doing their best to forget." It is this war that may have got George killed. One of those present at Diana's weekend gathering did it. Ironside explores each character's motive/s through Helena's discoveries.
I marked several passages that spoke to me, this being one, "If I had ever given you advice, Ananda, the one thing I would have said is: don't speak. Understand; say nothing. Words are weapons; they wound; they can never be taken back and, even when they heal, they leave a scar. Understanding evolves silently." This is from one of the guests, now aged and just before her death.
In the present, we have Helena who's 'extracted the sandwiches from their triangular coffin and lifted a corner of the flaccid bread to see what extraordinary combination of ingredients Sophie had chosen for her...'
Ironside has a fine ear for the nuances of the past and the vibe of the new century and has married them into a delicious mystery read. I'll read more of her work in the months ahead.
September 9, 2020
The reviews by others are very enlightening. Not sure that i will have anything new to say, other than i wish i had as good a linguistic education that Mrs. Ironside has. While i never had to stop to look up a word, i would jolt out of the story to note yet another new to me. And the first time i have seen 'elide' used in a mystery. The vocabulary, sets the tone of this an upper class novel exploration of the British class system. On display are the worthless and feckless rich, their long-suffering poor but secretly despising servants, the honorable communist, the worthwhile Jewish immigrant, the less than comely but educated spinster, etc. all portrayed against the leavening events of time and war. The discovery of their true selves was an engaging journey for the reader, and gave a balance to the more modern detective novel performed by the younger generation in the book. Although i deduced the solution early on, i was still enspelled by the people, their interconnections and characters (in the english sense). Enjoyed thoroughly. I will be looking for her other novels. (This fit in beautifully with my binge watch of ENDEAVOR seasons 1 and 2 done at the same time.)
November 6, 2008
I enjoyed the way Ironside presents the reader with multiple points of view, through interviews of characters, journal entries, letters, and even a description of a short story written by one of the suspects. She doesn't do it with absolute strictness--an interview with a character isn't merely transcribed, we are also aware of what the character is thinking but does not say--but these shortcuts prevent what might otherwise be tedious reading.
Having the facts presented so neatly meant that I had correctly guessed the murderer early in the book, but not without a couple of false starts. Because this book asks not only, "Who done it?" but "Why?", trying to understand the motivations of the various characters was as interesting as trying to spot the murderer.
Having the facts presented so neatly meant that I had correctly guessed the murderer early in the book, but not without a couple of false starts. Because this book asks not only, "Who done it?" but "Why?", trying to understand the motivations of the various characters was as interesting as trying to spot the murderer.
September 2, 2008
"In 1925 beautiful, bohemian Diana Pollexfen was celebrating her 30th birthday with a party at a country estate, but the celebrations soured when her husband died, poisoned by a cocktail that had been liberally laced with some of Diana's photographic chemicals. Sixty years later, Diana's grand-niece, Helena, is also turning 30, but with rather less fanfare. An overworked attorney in London, Helena's primary social outlet is an obsessive love affair. By way of distraction, Helena starts looking through her great-aunt's papers and soon develops another obsession: Determining just who did kill George Pollexfen in that lovely, sunlit garden between the wars." From Amazon
January 7, 2009
An absorbing English country-house mystery. It reminded a bit of Josephine Tey’s Daughter of Time in that there is a main modern-day character who is delving into an unsolved murder from the past. I don’t think it was as good, though. There were some odd things about it, including some odd “skips” in time or sequence—a character sits down to eat and in the next sentence (same paragraph) she’s reading old diaries. At first one thinks she’s reading the old diaries while she’s eating, but then you realize she must have moved to the library.
August 16, 2008
The author was channeling Virginia Woolf as she unfolded this tale of death, friendship, war, justice and self-deception. Although she channeled the solution to the sixty-seven-year-old mystery about 2/3s of the way through, the parallels between Diana's life and that of her great niece were nicely drawn and the ending was realistic even if a little deflating. I enjoyed this "murder mystery" more than most of the fiction I have read this year.
July 7, 2008
The niece looks to find out why her Aunt never told her about her previous life where she was accused of murder. Finding out the many layers of her Aunt's life, she sets out to find the real murder and manages to do this even though it is almost 60 years later.
There is interesting switches between the past and present in the story, but it does not take away from the flow.
There is interesting switches between the past and present in the story, but it does not take away from the flow.
May 27, 2018
This book was just okay for me. I was intrigued by the story and enjoyed the writing style, but I cared more about the characters in the past than the present. I didn't find the research into the murder by the present-day characters to be plausible. Perhaps I would have if I cared about them more.
Overall an easy read, but not quite for me.
Overall an easy read, but not quite for me.
January 7, 2009
An English country house mystery of sorts in which the murder is investigated years later by the great-niece of the alleged murderer (who was acquitted). Interesting cast of characters particularly from the time of the murder. The ending was a little pat but overall well handled. 3 1/2-4 stars.
January 24, 2009
This kept me reading, a great then and now book with believable characters. The "now" characters are trying to understand all the posthumous things they find out about "great aunt", and of course the reader is treated to first hand accounts of great aunt's life 65 years before.
January 31, 2016
I read this based on a friend's, Carrie Haner, recommendation. In her review, she called it satisfying. I concur! Satisfying is the perfect word for this mystery.
December 5, 2017
This book reads beautifully and kept me hooked almost until the end. Like Stoppard's play "Indian Ink", it uses the conceit of a younger woman trying to reconstruct the past of a mysterious ancestor. Like "Lemaitre's "Au revoir là haut", it highlights the horrific toll of the first world war, including on those people who were not visibly wounded in it. On her thirtieth birthday in June 1925, an Australian-born photographer, Diana, is seen taking a lot of abuse from her boorish politician husband George. When he is found poisoned the following day, she is immediately assumed to be the perpetrator. The novel starts with a dramatic extract from her diary where she expresses her surprise at having been found not guilty by the jury. Decades later, her grand-niece by marriage Helena, who is herself having a secret affair with a married politician, decides to investigate the case anew. Having inherited the property where the murder occurred, Helena has some compunction in accepting the legacy if Diana was, in fact, guilty after all. Various members of her family help her reconstruct Diana's complicated life and the events of the fateful weekend. Ironside handles all this material really well, and I felt all the more cheated when, as is so often the case in murder mysteries, the whole thing falls flat on its face. Both too much and too little is made of the fact that George fabricated his war record and got himself decorated for an act of bravery he didn't perform. Why Diana's friend Jono, who had found out this extremely damaging piece of information and confronted George about it, didn't use it to exculpate Diana, is anybody's guess. It's a rotten shame that a novel which proceeds so well ends up delivering so little, at least for a reader like me who is stuck on coherence of plot.
October 1, 2025
In 1925, Diana stood trial for the murder of her husband. Sixty years later, her great-niece Helene inherits Diana’s home and learns the story of her past. Helene decides that she cannot morally accept the inheritance unless she can prove to herself that her great aunt was innocent.
I loved the section set in 1925 with its eloquent writing and well-formed characters. It felt very realistic to the time with the various social dynamics and the lingering effects of the Great War. While I appreciated being able to see the characters’ bittersweet futures, I struggled through the 1985 parts. I didn’t care for Helene as a character, and I got a little bored with the various “evidence” that they examined. I think the book could have been shortened in this section while still giving adequate information to unravel the mystery.
I am excited to try more books by Elizabeth Ironside, especially if they are set entirely in one time period.
I loved the section set in 1925 with its eloquent writing and well-formed characters. It felt very realistic to the time with the various social dynamics and the lingering effects of the Great War. While I appreciated being able to see the characters’ bittersweet futures, I struggled through the 1985 parts. I didn’t care for Helene as a character, and I got a little bored with the various “evidence” that they examined. I think the book could have been shortened in this section while still giving adequate information to unravel the mystery.
I am excited to try more books by Elizabeth Ironside, especially if they are set entirely in one time period.
January 3, 2019
An historical murder mystery at a birthday party in 1925 England with exotic characters: Diana the fashion photographer, George her MP husband, Pia the painter, Arcadi her Russian emigre poet husband, Jono the physicist, Gaetan the French man and Edith the academic, is revealed when now Great-Aunt Diana dies. Helena, her unsuspecting great-niece and heir is conflicted about inheriting this house and wealth when she thinks her great-aunt may be the murderer. Diana had been acquitted but the mystery was never solved. Helena, her cousins and friend Marta attempt to unravel the mystery so the decision can be made.
This charming, intricate mystery with ghosts of WWI and Helena's current day messy personal life, kept me up late reading as I had to know the answer almost as much as Helena.
This charming, intricate mystery with ghosts of WWI and Helena's current day messy personal life, kept me up late reading as I had to know the answer almost as much as Helena.
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