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Edwardian Murder Mysteries #1
Snobbery With Violence
When a marriage proposal appears imminent for the beautiful -- if rebellious -- Lady Rose Summer, her father wants to know if her suitor's intentions are honorable. He calls on Captain Harry Cathcart, the impoverished younger son of a baron, to do some intelligence work on the would-be fiancee, Sir Geoffrey Blandon.
After his success in uncovering Geoffrey's dishonorable motives, Harry fashions a career out of "fixing" things for wealthy aristocrats. So when the Marquess of Hedley finds one of his guests dead at a lavish house party, he knows just the man to call.
But when Harry is caught between his client's desire for discretion and his suspicion that murder may indeed have been committed, he enlists the help of Superintendent Kerridge of the Scotland Yard and Lady Rose, also a guest at Lord Hedley's.
Set in the Edwardian world of parties, servants, and scandal, Snobbery with Violence is a delightful combination of murderous intrigue and high society.
After his success in uncovering Geoffrey's dishonorable motives, Harry fashions a career out of "fixing" things for wealthy aristocrats. So when the Marquess of Hedley finds one of his guests dead at a lavish house party, he knows just the man to call.
But when Harry is caught between his client's desire for discretion and his suspicion that murder may indeed have been committed, he enlists the help of Superintendent Kerridge of the Scotland Yard and Lady Rose, also a guest at Lord Hedley's.
Set in the Edwardian world of parties, servants, and scandal, Snobbery with Violence is a delightful combination of murderous intrigue and high society.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 16, 2003
343 people are currently reading
3720 people want to read
About the author
Marion Chesney
139 books751 followersMarion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 600 reviews
May 23, 2013
After reading so many TSTL female heroines in YA fiction lately, I decided it was time for a change of pace. A nice, cozy turn-of-the century historical sleuthing mystery. Sure, why not? I generally love my historical female sleuths, be it the spirited Lady Julia Grey, the lovely and undaunted Lady Emily Ashford, or hell, even the admittedly grating and bookish Amelia Peabody.
Surely, Lady Rose Summers would be just the thing to bring to a stop my current trend of face-palming every five second as I read about yet another dumb 21st century teenaged chick diving headfirst into danger or heading in the path of a dragon (true story, remember Jenny?).
She sounds awesome, too!!! A suffragette, a privileged daughter of a peer, yet not indifferent to the plights of the working class. Surely this intelligent young woman and her gentleman detective friend will be just the thing to bring my spirits up and restore my faith in humanity (womanity?).
Holy crap, I have never been so wrong.
Ok, I did get some things right from the summary. She is a peer's daughter, she is sympathetic to those not of her privileged class, and she is a suffragette. On all other fronts, however, she is dumb, dumb, dumb.
Our Lady Rose misguided, spoiled, and stubbornheaded to rival a bull, maybe a minotaur. A minotaur might be less annoying. Did I mention she is spoiled? She is the only child of a very wealthy Earl and his wife, and has gotten her way her entire life. Her mother is silly, her father your typical bluff, brash, genial, but extremely softhearted when it comes to his only child. As a result, Rose is permitted to do things and get away with things that would be unheard of for a peer's daughter. All she has to do is protest and her father gives in.
She was brought into feminism and the suffragette movement by a governess, and like a willful child, uses the movement as her own means to behave like a willful child, rather than standing for its ideals. Even her former governess is disgusted by her actions.
“Do you mean you consider me a disgrace?”
“Unlike you, my lady, I have to earn my living. I was always of the opinion that you were a bit spoilt.”
“Why didn’t you say so?”
“It was not my place to do so.”
Lady Rose feels she is superior to other debutantes, and after her disgrace regarding her confrontation with a suitor, she is severely lacking in friends. Only then does she realize that she has been a stuffy, superior pain-in-the-ass. She also has an annoying tendency to blame everyone and anyone but her own actions for her misfortune and fall from grace.
The plot is unbearably stupid, and we don't even get into the real plot until halfway through the book. Within the first half of the book, we are introduced to Captain Harry, the idiotic Brooding Gentleman Rake Who Suffers From a War Trauma (sigh) and his various forays into amateurish sleuthing for money, as he is completely and utterly broke. He is not much better than Rose in terms of likeability. He is...
"...bitter, brooding and taciturn, and he seemed unable to converse in anything other than cliches or grunts."
And for your information, no, he does not improve throughout the book. Our introduction to him goes by ways of following him through his idiotic methods of solving petty crimes and problems, including making up a chicken pox outbreak and blowing up a train station to prevent the Prince from consorting with Lady Rose. His reasoning?
"I had to make sure the palace thought it the work of the Bolsheviks. Anything less, and they might have suspected Lord Hadshire of getting up to tricks. The palace sent a telegram just before we left, cancelling the king’s visit ‘for reasons of national security.’"
In this day and age, we would call that terrorism, or at the very least, extreme lunacy.
Lady Rose and Harry hated each others' guts throughout most of the story; I actually hated them both for the entire story.
Surely, Lady Rose Summers would be just the thing to bring to a stop my current trend of face-palming every five second as I read about yet another dumb 21st century teenaged chick diving headfirst into danger or heading in the path of a dragon (true story, remember Jenny?).
She sounds awesome, too!!! A suffragette, a privileged daughter of a peer, yet not indifferent to the plights of the working class. Surely this intelligent young woman and her gentleman detective friend will be just the thing to bring my spirits up and restore my faith in humanity (womanity?).
Holy crap, I have never been so wrong.
Ok, I did get some things right from the summary. She is a peer's daughter, she is sympathetic to those not of her privileged class, and she is a suffragette. On all other fronts, however, she is dumb, dumb, dumb.
Our Lady Rose misguided, spoiled, and stubbornheaded to rival a bull, maybe a minotaur. A minotaur might be less annoying. Did I mention she is spoiled? She is the only child of a very wealthy Earl and his wife, and has gotten her way her entire life. Her mother is silly, her father your typical bluff, brash, genial, but extremely softhearted when it comes to his only child. As a result, Rose is permitted to do things and get away with things that would be unheard of for a peer's daughter. All she has to do is protest and her father gives in.
She was brought into feminism and the suffragette movement by a governess, and like a willful child, uses the movement as her own means to behave like a willful child, rather than standing for its ideals. Even her former governess is disgusted by her actions.
“Do you mean you consider me a disgrace?”
“Unlike you, my lady, I have to earn my living. I was always of the opinion that you were a bit spoilt.”
“Why didn’t you say so?”
“It was not my place to do so.”
Lady Rose feels she is superior to other debutantes, and after her disgrace regarding her confrontation with a suitor, she is severely lacking in friends. Only then does she realize that she has been a stuffy, superior pain-in-the-ass. She also has an annoying tendency to blame everyone and anyone but her own actions for her misfortune and fall from grace.
The plot is unbearably stupid, and we don't even get into the real plot until halfway through the book. Within the first half of the book, we are introduced to Captain Harry, the idiotic Brooding Gentleman Rake Who Suffers From a War Trauma (sigh) and his various forays into amateurish sleuthing for money, as he is completely and utterly broke. He is not much better than Rose in terms of likeability. He is...
"...bitter, brooding and taciturn, and he seemed unable to converse in anything other than cliches or grunts."
And for your information, no, he does not improve throughout the book. Our introduction to him goes by ways of following him through his idiotic methods of solving petty crimes and problems, including making up a chicken pox outbreak and blowing up a train station to prevent the Prince from consorting with Lady Rose. His reasoning?
"I had to make sure the palace thought it the work of the Bolsheviks. Anything less, and they might have suspected Lord Hadshire of getting up to tricks. The palace sent a telegram just before we left, cancelling the king’s visit ‘for reasons of national security.’"
In this day and age, we would call that terrorism, or at the very least, extreme lunacy.
Lady Rose and Harry hated each others' guts throughout most of the story; I actually hated them both for the entire story.
January 21, 2021
I thought I had read or at least heard of, pretty much every Marion Chesney book! And then I stumbled on this on Audible, and what a delight! An Edwardian setting, a heroine who is overeducated and spoiling for something interesting to do. Our hero is an injured soldier short of funds, who falls into the business of "fixing" problems among high society, like investigating potential suitors or uncovering blackmail.
Especially love Daisy, former chorus girl turned ladies' maid and confidante, and Becket, former dockworker turned valet!
Especially love Daisy, former chorus girl turned ladies' maid and confidante, and Becket, former dockworker turned valet!
June 22, 2016
An average mystery set during the Edwardian era, this book left me cold. The writing was clean but primitive, and the characters only sketched out. Nobody is alive in the novel, and I didn’t care for anyone there.
What the author does show is a huge class divide. It is gaping wide open, and the police is only free to do their jobs if the lower classes are involved. Murder is committed at a house party of a marquis, but nobody from the upper class could have done it. Aristocracy don’t commit crimes, do they? No investigation is required, and a pressure is brought to bear on the police officer in charge to pronounce the death accidental. Or else. And he does what he is told.
Even after out protagonists stir trouble, and a second body is discovered drowned in a moat, the author went out of her way to make the conclusion acceptable to the aristocracy, as if she wrote it in 1903 instead of 2003, the year of publication. No criminal is brought to justice, but all the loose ends are firmly tucked in.
A faintly boring tale.
What the author does show is a huge class divide. It is gaping wide open, and the police is only free to do their jobs if the lower classes are involved. Murder is committed at a house party of a marquis, but nobody from the upper class could have done it. Aristocracy don’t commit crimes, do they? No investigation is required, and a pressure is brought to bear on the police officer in charge to pronounce the death accidental. Or else. And he does what he is told.
Even after out protagonists stir trouble, and a second body is discovered drowned in a moat, the author went out of her way to make the conclusion acceptable to the aristocracy, as if she wrote it in 1903 instead of 2003, the year of publication. No criminal is brought to justice, but all the loose ends are firmly tucked in.
A faintly boring tale.
July 21, 2017
This was okay. The mystery was solid, but everything around it felt a little haphazard. Lady Rose is an outspoken, intelligent young woman who is ahead of her time (which is the Edwardian era). Captain Harry Cathcart is a young man invalided out of the army and at loose ends. When Rose's father is concerned about her suitor, he hires Harry to investigate. Harry unearths a scandal, which, although completely the fault of the cad courting Rose, makes Rose unmarriageable. Rose resents Harry; Harry thinks Rose is beautiful, but unwomanly.
And then we get another fifty pages of meandering where it's established that Harry is now a private investigator, and Rose is still unmarriageable. The actual plot picks up when Rose is invited to a house party and one of the other guests dies from arsenic poisoning. Rose's host the Marquess would like this to be an accidental death, but Rose thinks otherwise. The Marquess calls in Harry, this time to cover it all up, but he's too honest and insists on investigating, with Rose's help, which he doesn't want.
Chesney knows how to tell a mystery, so it's not unreadable. It's just really hard to warm to Rose. Normally, when you get a character who's told she's unwomanly and needs to learn to flirt and so forth, you know that's code for someone who refuses to be defined by society's unfair rules. But Rose really does come off as unsympathetic, hard, abrupt, and basically unlikeable. Yes, telling her she needs to learn to flirt is probably wrong, but she does need to learn to be more pleasant. I have a hard time believing Harry is attracted to her, nor her to him. Harry, for his part, has some hints of an interesting character, but rarely rises above the typical.
There's also a too-heavy dependence on the disparity between Edwardian manners and actual Edwardian behavior, but this inadvertently promotes a commentary on women's roles, so I was willing to overlook this. I was very fond of Harry's manservant and Rose's maid (a former actress with hidden depth) and would like to see more of them. But with Rose as unsympathetic and Harry as underdeveloped as he is, I'm not sure I'll continue with this series.
And then we get another fifty pages of meandering where it's established that Harry is now a private investigator, and Rose is still unmarriageable. The actual plot picks up when Rose is invited to a house party and one of the other guests dies from arsenic poisoning. Rose's host the Marquess would like this to be an accidental death, but Rose thinks otherwise. The Marquess calls in Harry, this time to cover it all up, but he's too honest and insists on investigating, with Rose's help, which he doesn't want.
Chesney knows how to tell a mystery, so it's not unreadable. It's just really hard to warm to Rose. Normally, when you get a character who's told she's unwomanly and needs to learn to flirt and so forth, you know that's code for someone who refuses to be defined by society's unfair rules. But Rose really does come off as unsympathetic, hard, abrupt, and basically unlikeable. Yes, telling her she needs to learn to flirt is probably wrong, but she does need to learn to be more pleasant. I have a hard time believing Harry is attracted to her, nor her to him. Harry, for his part, has some hints of an interesting character, but rarely rises above the typical.
There's also a too-heavy dependence on the disparity between Edwardian manners and actual Edwardian behavior, but this inadvertently promotes a commentary on women's roles, so I was willing to overlook this. I was very fond of Harry's manservant and Rose's maid (a former actress with hidden depth) and would like to see more of them. But with Rose as unsympathetic and Harry as underdeveloped as he is, I'm not sure I'll continue with this series.
July 15, 2016
I wasn’t a fan of M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series at all, so I was quite prepared to dislike Snobbery With Violence intensely. That might have been better for my TBR list, but it turned out that Snobbery With Violence hits the spot for me. It’s not Sayers, of course; it’s lacking in that incisiveness and depth of characters. But it is a fun quick read with characters you can more or less get along with: sometimes Rose is too spoilt, and Harry Cathcart too… blandly typical. I actually liked the side characters of Beckett and Daisy more; I like their relationship to each other and to their bosses.
Lady Rose’s family, well, they’re pretty colourless and despicable in a hands-off, self-absorbed way that is neither engaging nor particularly original. In general, the characters around the main four feel like props. The mystery, too, felt like that. It’s all relatively by-the-numbers. Sometimes the things which happen are just too silly — the example I can think of is from the second book, but at times there’s a cascade of events like a comedy of errors which just… makes the book feel like it’s intended to be a comedy somehow.
All of this is essentially damning with faint praise: I wouldn’t particularly recommend these books to someone specific, but since I have them, I’m reading them all and enjoying them. If you’re looking for something light with a bit of historical romance and a bit of mystery, this might be your thing. Objectively, it should probably be a two-star rating, but subjectively, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Originally posted here.
Lady Rose’s family, well, they’re pretty colourless and despicable in a hands-off, self-absorbed way that is neither engaging nor particularly original. In general, the characters around the main four feel like props. The mystery, too, felt like that. It’s all relatively by-the-numbers. Sometimes the things which happen are just too silly — the example I can think of is from the second book, but at times there’s a cascade of events like a comedy of errors which just… makes the book feel like it’s intended to be a comedy somehow.
All of this is essentially damning with faint praise: I wouldn’t particularly recommend these books to someone specific, but since I have them, I’m reading them all and enjoying them. If you’re looking for something light with a bit of historical romance and a bit of mystery, this might be your thing. Objectively, it should probably be a two-star rating, but subjectively, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Originally posted here.
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May 4, 2022I'd listen to Davina Porter read appliance installation manuals. Her fine narration elevates the flavor of this nicely baked English trifle. Recommended to those who like historical cozies with a hint of romance. (Series warning--this will stand alone, but just barely.)
December 16, 2014
I love historical fiction but it usually has such a sad undertone to it. Thought this would be more lighthearted and I was right. Mystery is a genre that I usually don't go for either although it isn't on purpose. The combination was good and it is a really fast read.
The beginning is slow though not completely boring. I think what the author is trying to do is let the reader get an idea of what the characters are like. I was surprised to find that I liked Harry more than Rose. You get the point of view of both of them. Harry has more common sense than Rose and he never seems like a spoiled kid like Rose sometimes does. Once the girl is murdered things get more interesting. Okay that sounds bad, but you know what I mean. There is an actual purpose once the mystery goes underway.
The mystery is very simple even though I really could not even begin to guess who was the murderer until close to the climax. The constant mentioning of how Rose is so bad at being feminine and proper felt like an excess. I was hoping it be more like, show don't tell; the author did both so it was somewhat overkill.
When I found out who did it I was surprised, but how it got resolved seemed kind of easy. What made me bump it up a star was that I really liked the ending and how it sets the second book up. The book was entertaining and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. The whole series is finished and my library has all the books. I checked.
The beginning is slow though not completely boring. I think what the author is trying to do is let the reader get an idea of what the characters are like. I was surprised to find that I liked Harry more than Rose. You get the point of view of both of them. Harry has more common sense than Rose and he never seems like a spoiled kid like Rose sometimes does. Once the girl is murdered things get more interesting. Okay that sounds bad, but you know what I mean. There is an actual purpose once the mystery goes underway.
The mystery is very simple even though I really could not even begin to guess who was the murderer until close to the climax. The constant mentioning of how Rose is so bad at being feminine and proper felt like an excess. I was hoping it be more like, show don't tell; the author did both so it was somewhat overkill.
When I found out who did it I was surprised, but how it got resolved seemed kind of easy. What made me bump it up a star was that I really liked the ending and how it sets the second book up. The book was entertaining and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. The whole series is finished and my library has all the books. I checked.
April 3, 2022
Marian Chesney's books are not quite my cup of tea, but Davina Porter improves every book she narrates. This one was rather fun.
April 3, 2009
I really do enjoy cosy mysteries and I prefer historical to contemporary so it was with great expectation that I started this Snobbery with Violence, an Edwardian murder mystery.
I must say that I enjoyed it very much and I almost laughed aloud at times. Lady Rose Summer was almost unbelievable at times, as she was much focused in the women's rights movement and the equality of rights between the lower and upper classes but at the same time, she seemed unaware of the proper behaviour to live in polite society and without proper knowledge of what being of the lower classes might entail.
The story starts with Lady Rose being pursued by a gentleman who is taking its time with the marriage proposal, Lady Rose's father hires Captain Cathcart to discover which are the man's intentions and unfortunately those were less than honourable. I understand Rose's anger at him and wanting to shame him publicly but it seemed odd that she did not know the double standard would actually make her an outcast while his sins would be quickly forgotten.
Rose and Captain Harry meet again when he is hired once more by her father to stop a visit from the king to their estate. It has come to the Earl's attention that the king wants to try his luck with Rose now that she is a fallen woman. Harry comes up with the idea of blowing up a bridge on the estate and blaming it on the bolshevists, which effectively scares the royal guest to be.
Due to her reputation, Rose is then invited to a house party on a strange fake castle where Lord Hedley has decided to gather those girls whose season was a failure and helping them find husbands. Not that Rose wants a husband of course. And here is where the mystery really starts. One the guest is found dead of what seems to be arsenic poisoning and the police are called to investigate but progresses little as the influences of the upper classes manage to call off the inquest. Rose immediately decides she must investigate and since Harry had been invited by Lord Hedley to try to solve the investigation discreetly there is nothing more obvious than bringing those two together.
This is a light and fun read and I think Chesney strong point is the characters she creates. Becket, who is Harry's man, and Daisy, a former dancer girl who becomes Rose's lady's maid are interesting characters and so is Inspector Kerridge. The police detective who keeps trying to solve the murders and mysteries he comes across only to see his actions stopped by the upper classes. The book is full of information about the distinctions between classes and about women’s role in society. I did like Harry and Rose although Rose did sometimes sound a bit TSTL and too socially awkward to truly be real. They are attracted to each other but spend most of the book in denial or misunderstanding each other's intentions.
The mystery ends up being solved by both of them after investigating everyone’s history and possible motives and Rose cannot resist a final confrontation with danger. A nice and entertaining read!
Grade: 4/5
I must say that I enjoyed it very much and I almost laughed aloud at times. Lady Rose Summer was almost unbelievable at times, as she was much focused in the women's rights movement and the equality of rights between the lower and upper classes but at the same time, she seemed unaware of the proper behaviour to live in polite society and without proper knowledge of what being of the lower classes might entail.
The story starts with Lady Rose being pursued by a gentleman who is taking its time with the marriage proposal, Lady Rose's father hires Captain Cathcart to discover which are the man's intentions and unfortunately those were less than honourable. I understand Rose's anger at him and wanting to shame him publicly but it seemed odd that she did not know the double standard would actually make her an outcast while his sins would be quickly forgotten.
Rose and Captain Harry meet again when he is hired once more by her father to stop a visit from the king to their estate. It has come to the Earl's attention that the king wants to try his luck with Rose now that she is a fallen woman. Harry comes up with the idea of blowing up a bridge on the estate and blaming it on the bolshevists, which effectively scares the royal guest to be.
Due to her reputation, Rose is then invited to a house party on a strange fake castle where Lord Hedley has decided to gather those girls whose season was a failure and helping them find husbands. Not that Rose wants a husband of course. And here is where the mystery really starts. One the guest is found dead of what seems to be arsenic poisoning and the police are called to investigate but progresses little as the influences of the upper classes manage to call off the inquest. Rose immediately decides she must investigate and since Harry had been invited by Lord Hedley to try to solve the investigation discreetly there is nothing more obvious than bringing those two together.
This is a light and fun read and I think Chesney strong point is the characters she creates. Becket, who is Harry's man, and Daisy, a former dancer girl who becomes Rose's lady's maid are interesting characters and so is Inspector Kerridge. The police detective who keeps trying to solve the murders and mysteries he comes across only to see his actions stopped by the upper classes. The book is full of information about the distinctions between classes and about women’s role in society. I did like Harry and Rose although Rose did sometimes sound a bit TSTL and too socially awkward to truly be real. They are attracted to each other but spend most of the book in denial or misunderstanding each other's intentions.
The mystery ends up being solved by both of them after investigating everyone’s history and possible motives and Rose cannot resist a final confrontation with danger. A nice and entertaining read!
Grade: 4/5
November 20, 2020
I listened to the audio version and Davina Porter is delightful as always. I enjoyed the book up to the end. It was tied up a bit too neatly but it was a fun read and the first in the series. Plan to continue reading the series.
October 28, 2017
"He [a servant] delivered Masie Chatterton's cocoa first and then hurried along to the other tower, where Lady Rose and Masie Chatterton had their rooms," writes the delightfully cheeky Chesney. A country manor estate party? With stains (!!!) on sheets not of blood? And apparently a ratio of one hooker per tower? With quiji boards and arsenic and things best left in the moat? If you're looking for a light, fluffy, diversion (I was, after Auster's 900-page door stopper, "4 3 2 1") this fits the bill perfectly. Now, back to Hamish in this author's "Death of a Nag", as I'm gearing up for Volume Six of Proust's "Lost Time."
September 8, 2009
I enjoyed this book for some reason, nice crossing of my corset romance fixation and a straight mystery. Distinct style of writing that I didn't like at first but enjoyed as I got into it. The main character is very mercurial and sometimes makes bad choices, which I found interesting. I will definitely try another!
October 7, 2011
This was just awful. Horrible, horrible writing, perhaps the most lamely plotted mystery I've ever read, and characters that don't approach 2 dimensional, let alone 3. I don't mind a light read at all, but this isn't even helium.
April 12, 2022
Je lis pas beaucoup de cosy mystery mais en effet c’était très cosy ! (stating the obvious)
J’ai trouvé le début un peu long mais c’est le temps de planter le décor dans cette époque édouardienne en Angleterre, de bien présenter les personnages et leur background.
Le fameux meurtre n’arrive qu’à la fin du premier tiers et à partir de là c’est parti pour une sorte de cluedo en huis clos dans un château lugubre.
C’était léger, sans grande prétention, sans grands rebondissements et ça coule tout seul, c’est cosy quoi ! L’enquête se lit hyper vite sans accroche et j’ai pas vu le temps passer.
On a aussi une petite romance enemies-to-lovers qui pointe le bout de son nez et qui saura bientôt se développer dans le sud de la France 👀
J’ai trouvé le début un peu long mais c’est le temps de planter le décor dans cette époque édouardienne en Angleterre, de bien présenter les personnages et leur background.
Le fameux meurtre n’arrive qu’à la fin du premier tiers et à partir de là c’est parti pour une sorte de cluedo en huis clos dans un château lugubre.
C’était léger, sans grande prétention, sans grands rebondissements et ça coule tout seul, c’est cosy quoi ! L’enquête se lit hyper vite sans accroche et j’ai pas vu le temps passer.
On a aussi une petite romance enemies-to-lovers qui pointe le bout de son nez et qui saura bientôt se développer dans le sud de la France 👀
June 18, 2016
I've read some of M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth mysteries, and I have a few Agatha Raisin mysteries on my pile, so when I saw this book at a used bookstore I grabbed it. I love historical mysteries, almost more than typical mysteries, but it doesn't seem like I read them as often as I should. So, last night when I was staring at my shelves trying to find something to read, I saw this book and I tentatively started reading. I'm glad I did, because I enjoyed this book a whole lot!
Lady Rose is not as much of a Lady as her parents would like her to be, at least by their standards. She takes part in suffragette rallies, and gives little thought to getting married, and for that I loved her. She was extremely typical for a MC, but she was also engaging. I really hope she and Harry have more parts together in the next book. Harry is also an enigma, we know some about him, but other things we know nothing about. I really enjoyed reading his character, also.
The setting was dismal, but it was supposed to be. The mystery was okay. It was well plotted, but it lacked many suspects and it went along one train of though for most of the book.
Overall a good book, I enjoyed it and it was a very quick read. I will be reading the next one.
Lady Rose is not as much of a Lady as her parents would like her to be, at least by their standards. She takes part in suffragette rallies, and gives little thought to getting married, and for that I loved her. She was extremely typical for a MC, but she was also engaging. I really hope she and Harry have more parts together in the next book. Harry is also an enigma, we know some about him, but other things we know nothing about. I really enjoyed reading his character, also.
The setting was dismal, but it was supposed to be. The mystery was okay. It was well plotted, but it lacked many suspects and it went along one train of though for most of the book.
Overall a good book, I enjoyed it and it was a very quick read. I will be reading the next one.
July 30, 2019
I was having a bad run with books that were leaving a bad taste in my mouth and so I started searching for a good little mystery and landed upon this cozy fair. Very well done for its genre, and part of a short series, to boot! Quick and fun reads, these.
November 8, 2021
Bit of a Bait and Switch
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (October 2008) of the original Minotaur hardcover (July 2003)
I've just about completed my pandemic reading splurge of cozy mysteries by M.C. Beaton, the penname used by Marion Chesney (1936-2019) for her popular Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. Chesney first became a writer with various historical romances from 1977 onwards, before branching out into the crime genre with her first Hamish Macbeth in 1985 and first Agatha Raisin in 1992. Romances are not my genre, but Chesney's mini-series of 4 Edwardian Murder Mysteries sounded like a possible crossover between her historical fiction and her cozy mysteries.
I call Snobbery with Violence a 'bait-and-switch' as its synopsis leads you to think that it will primarily be a series about impoverished Captain Harry Cathcart, who starts off as an unofficial 'fixer for a fee' for various rich nobles and businessmen and ends up forming a detective agency to perform the same services in an official capacity. The story actually evolves into having Lady Rose Summer as its primary lead and main investigator, with her maid Daisy Levine as confidante. Cathcart still plays a major supporting role throughout.
The series keeps things pretty light in the most part, although there are various underpinnings of the suffragette struggle and women's rights that come through with Rose Summer's independent streak and rebellion against being paraded out for 'the season' by her parents as a marriage prospect.
The narration by veteran Davina Porter (approx. 230 book narrations to her credit) was excellent throughout. Porter is especially good with her range of voices that is able to effectively mimic male as well as female tones.
All of the Edwardian Murder Mysteries series are available free to Audible Plus members.
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (October 2008) of the original Minotaur hardcover (July 2003)
I've just about completed my pandemic reading splurge of cozy mysteries by M.C. Beaton, the penname used by Marion Chesney (1936-2019) for her popular Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. Chesney first became a writer with various historical romances from 1977 onwards, before branching out into the crime genre with her first Hamish Macbeth in 1985 and first Agatha Raisin in 1992. Romances are not my genre, but Chesney's mini-series of 4 Edwardian Murder Mysteries sounded like a possible crossover between her historical fiction and her cozy mysteries.
I call Snobbery with Violence a 'bait-and-switch' as its synopsis leads you to think that it will primarily be a series about impoverished Captain Harry Cathcart, who starts off as an unofficial 'fixer for a fee' for various rich nobles and businessmen and ends up forming a detective agency to perform the same services in an official capacity. The story actually evolves into having Lady Rose Summer as its primary lead and main investigator, with her maid Daisy Levine as confidante. Cathcart still plays a major supporting role throughout.
The series keeps things pretty light in the most part, although there are various underpinnings of the suffragette struggle and women's rights that come through with Rose Summer's independent streak and rebellion against being paraded out for 'the season' by her parents as a marriage prospect.
The narration by veteran Davina Porter (approx. 230 book narrations to her credit) was excellent throughout. Porter is especially good with her range of voices that is able to effectively mimic male as well as female tones.
All of the Edwardian Murder Mysteries series are available free to Audible Plus members.
September 17, 2021
Une mise en place de l'histoire assez longue mais la deuxième partie était très chouette ✨
July 5, 2018
The book's cover proclaims happily "M.C. Beaton writing as Marion Chesney" though I don't know the publisher's motivation in giving readers two authors when one will do.
The story is rifled with Characters and Plot that are as flat as paper (though I'm sure, very well-researched in Edwardian History and Setting) and a Mystery that was simply un-mysterious. I don't mean to say that "whodunit" was apparent from the get-go and therefore boring, but that a good hundred pages go by before we stumble on our murder mystery at all, and as a reader I never cared "whodunit"--the writing was so dry (not British-witty-dry, but I've-been-drooling-and-my-mouth-is-dry) and the characters really were so thinly written that I wouldn't have minded them being killed off systematically, but then--that didn't even happen. No danger, no tension, and certainly no suspense.
Having happily read Patricia Wentworth, Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and many other Edwardian-style murder mystery authors, I feel confident in saying that the lack of love I feel for this book is genuinely because it did not deliver on its murder mystery. The writing is flat and uninteresting, the characters seem to be props instead of people, and the windy night in a huge old house on the moor with a crazed murderer on the loose feel is simply never there. While this book is easy to read, it is not worth the read if murder is on your mind.
The story is rifled with Characters and Plot that are as flat as paper (though I'm sure, very well-researched in Edwardian History and Setting) and a Mystery that was simply un-mysterious. I don't mean to say that "whodunit" was apparent from the get-go and therefore boring, but that a good hundred pages go by before we stumble on our murder mystery at all, and as a reader I never cared "whodunit"--the writing was so dry (not British-witty-dry, but I've-been-drooling-and-my-mouth-is-dry) and the characters really were so thinly written that I wouldn't have minded them being killed off systematically, but then--that didn't even happen. No danger, no tension, and certainly no suspense.
Having happily read Patricia Wentworth, Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and many other Edwardian-style murder mystery authors, I feel confident in saying that the lack of love I feel for this book is genuinely because it did not deliver on its murder mystery. The writing is flat and uninteresting, the characters seem to be props instead of people, and the windy night in a huge old house on the moor with a crazed murderer on the loose feel is simply never there. While this book is easy to read, it is not worth the read if murder is on your mind.
July 8, 2021
Une enquête de meurtres au milieu de la haute société londonienne, une ambiance à la Sherlock Holmes ou Agatha Christie, des personnages drôles et attachants... J'ai adoré suivre les aventures de Lady Rose et du Capitaine Cathcart ! C'est la première fois que je m'essaie à la plume de M.C. Beaton, après avoir beaucoup entendu parler d'Agatha Raisin, et j'ai passé un très bon moment de lecture.
La narratrice et les quelques mélodies qui ponctuent le récit m'ont vraiment immergé dans l'histoire et dans l'ambiance du roman. On découvre aussi une haute société critiquée de façon plus ou moins détournée avec les différents personnages du récit : Lady Rose qui a rejoint les sufragettes, Harry Cathcart qui fuie les soirées mondaines, Daisy qui vient d'un milieu plus pauvre, ou encore le commissaire qui déteste la haute société. Rien que l'intrigue même tourne autour de ça, c'est bien mené par l'auteure.
Sans aborder l'histoire d'un ton trop lourd et dramatique, on suit au contraire une histoire ponctuée d'humour et de retournements, on a pas le temps de s'ennuyer. Quant à l'enquête en elle-même, je l'ai parfois trouvée un peu simple, dans le sens où le hasard faisait que les preuves se trouvaient sans trop de difficultés, mais je trouve que ça rentre dans l'atmosphère de l'histoire, un peu satirique sur les bords, légère, humoristique. Je pense que l'auteure ne cherche pas là à créer des frissons, du suspense et de l'adrénaline, mais à nous divertir avec une histoire qui se lit vite, bien et dans laquelle on s'attache aux personnages.
Ça a marché pour moi, j'ai adoré écouter ce livre audio qui m'a fait rire et m'a entraînée dans une époque britannique que j'adore. J'ai hâte de suivre les prochaines aventures de Lady Rose et du Capitaine Cathcart...
La narratrice et les quelques mélodies qui ponctuent le récit m'ont vraiment immergé dans l'histoire et dans l'ambiance du roman. On découvre aussi une haute société critiquée de façon plus ou moins détournée avec les différents personnages du récit : Lady Rose qui a rejoint les sufragettes, Harry Cathcart qui fuie les soirées mondaines, Daisy qui vient d'un milieu plus pauvre, ou encore le commissaire qui déteste la haute société. Rien que l'intrigue même tourne autour de ça, c'est bien mené par l'auteure.
Sans aborder l'histoire d'un ton trop lourd et dramatique, on suit au contraire une histoire ponctuée d'humour et de retournements, on a pas le temps de s'ennuyer. Quant à l'enquête en elle-même, je l'ai parfois trouvée un peu simple, dans le sens où le hasard faisait que les preuves se trouvaient sans trop de difficultés, mais je trouve que ça rentre dans l'atmosphère de l'histoire, un peu satirique sur les bords, légère, humoristique. Je pense que l'auteure ne cherche pas là à créer des frissons, du suspense et de l'adrénaline, mais à nous divertir avec une histoire qui se lit vite, bien et dans laquelle on s'attache aux personnages.
Ça a marché pour moi, j'ai adoré écouter ce livre audio qui m'a fait rire et m'a entraînée dans une époque britannique que j'adore. J'ai hâte de suivre les prochaines aventures de Lady Rose et du Capitaine Cathcart...
February 2, 2023
When Rose decided to go up on the roof I lost all interest in her as an intelligent woman. Half-wit, more like. The killer was obvious in my opinion. Cozy mystery set in England in the Edwardian era, about 1900 I would guess. Cozy but stupid, but I did like the supporting characters: Daisy the maid and Becket the valet, and the grouchy Captain was fine, too. Rose was the idiot.
October 20, 2016
This is my first book by M. C. Beaton writing as Marion Chesney. I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is the first book in the "Edwardian Murder Mystery" series and I think it is going to be a good one. I like the cozy-mystery genre and I particularly like the historical English ones.
The book is filled with wit and humor, so it will definitely make you smile and probably shake your head a good deal.
Captain Harry Cathcart, is the impoverished younger son of a baron. He was seriously injured during the Boer wars and had to retire from the military. He is living on his small pension and also a small stipend from his family estate. He has returned as a reclusive, taciturn man who just has no patience or finesse with people. He tends to say what he thinks -- when he thinks it and how he thinks it.
Lady Rose Summer is the daughter of an earl -- AND -- she's also a well educated, free thinking supporter of women's rights. She's been socially ruined because of her support for and appearance at suffragette rallies. She has no patience for any of the social niceties and speaks her own mind. She has no discretion and keeps herself in trouble all the time. Yes, you'll shake your head at some of the things she does. She's very naive and fails to learn that discretion is the better part of valor!
Rose is being 'courted' by Sir Geoffrey Blandon, but he has yet to propose and her father is getting concerned. So, a mutual acquaintance suggests to her father that he contact Henry to see if he can help out -- Henry now has a new career! Henry discovers the reason behind the 'courting' and unmasks the culprit. Of course -- Rose disgraces herself further by publicly confronting Blandon at a ball (well, I said she was naive). Henry also solves a few other 'mysteries' before the main one starts.
After the scene with Blandon, Rose and her family leave London in disgrace. They rusticate in their country estate until a Marquess who is friends with Rose's father invites her to a house party. For some unfathomable reason, her parents agree to allow her to go to the house party accompanied ONLY by her ladies maid. So -- at the house party, one of the young ladies is found dead in her chamber. Rose is sure it is murder, but the Marquess wants to cover it up and have it declared an accidental death (or even suicide). The Marquess hires Henry to help with the cover-up, but Henry's ethics won't allow him to do that and he and Rose team up to discover what really happened. Some of their antics are priceless. We end up with another murder and several attempts on Rose's life before the mystery is solved.
It is full of twists and turns and you'll keep guessing right up to the end.
The book is filled with wit and humor, so it will definitely make you smile and probably shake your head a good deal.
Captain Harry Cathcart, is the impoverished younger son of a baron. He was seriously injured during the Boer wars and had to retire from the military. He is living on his small pension and also a small stipend from his family estate. He has returned as a reclusive, taciturn man who just has no patience or finesse with people. He tends to say what he thinks -- when he thinks it and how he thinks it.
Lady Rose Summer is the daughter of an earl -- AND -- she's also a well educated, free thinking supporter of women's rights. She's been socially ruined because of her support for and appearance at suffragette rallies. She has no patience for any of the social niceties and speaks her own mind. She has no discretion and keeps herself in trouble all the time. Yes, you'll shake your head at some of the things she does. She's very naive and fails to learn that discretion is the better part of valor!
Rose is being 'courted' by Sir Geoffrey Blandon, but he has yet to propose and her father is getting concerned. So, a mutual acquaintance suggests to her father that he contact Henry to see if he can help out -- Henry now has a new career! Henry discovers the reason behind the 'courting' and unmasks the culprit. Of course -- Rose disgraces herself further by publicly confronting Blandon at a ball (well, I said she was naive). Henry also solves a few other 'mysteries' before the main one starts.
After the scene with Blandon, Rose and her family leave London in disgrace. They rusticate in their country estate until a Marquess who is friends with Rose's father invites her to a house party. For some unfathomable reason, her parents agree to allow her to go to the house party accompanied ONLY by her ladies maid. So -- at the house party, one of the young ladies is found dead in her chamber. Rose is sure it is murder, but the Marquess wants to cover it up and have it declared an accidental death (or even suicide). The Marquess hires Henry to help with the cover-up, but Henry's ethics won't allow him to do that and he and Rose team up to discover what really happened. Some of their antics are priceless. We end up with another murder and several attempts on Rose's life before the mystery is solved.
It is full of twists and turns and you'll keep guessing right up to the end.
January 17, 2013
The first and best of this Edwardian series. We are introduced to Lady Rose and her penchant for "Bolshie" causes like women's suffrage and improving the lot of villagers who have the bad luck of a penny-pinching noble landlord. Harry Cathcart makes a delightful first appearance as a dour unpopular veteran of the Boer wars who turns out to have a gift for ridiculous disguise and a talent for burglary with intent to recover blackmailing letters, as well as a love-hate relationship with the socially disabled, compulsively encyclopedic Lady Rose. Not to mention Daisy, one of the masses turned inept lady's maid.
The quotations heading the chapters are choice. A few examples...
"All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes." William Gladstone. Bolshie, ha!
"O blind your eyes and break your heart and hack your hand away,
And lose your love and shave your head; but do not go to stay
At the little place in What'sitsname where folks are rich and clever;
The golden and the goodly house, where things grow worse for ever;
There are things you need not know of, though you live and die in vain,
There are souls more sick of pleasure than you are sick of pain."
G. K. Chesterton
The quotations heading the chapters are choice. A few examples...
"All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes." William Gladstone. Bolshie, ha!
"O blind your eyes and break your heart and hack your hand away,
And lose your love and shave your head; but do not go to stay
At the little place in What'sitsname where folks are rich and clever;
The golden and the goodly house, where things grow worse for ever;
There are things you need not know of, though you live and die in vain,
There are souls more sick of pleasure than you are sick of pain."
G. K. Chesterton
May 31, 2012
A debutante's first season, a country house party and, perhaps not surprisingly, a murder or two!
Lady Rose Summer, one-time Suffragette, is the deb involved. The attempt by her parents to put her in the limelight for her first season is an unmitigated disaster as she gets involved in trying to sort out who killed who and why.
There are plenty of characters to consider, sometimes too many to keep in mind, but, with the help of Harry Cathcart, who at first is something of a leper, she eventually unravels the mystery and it is then planned to send her to India where, as one observer commented, 'she will probably start another mutiny'!
However, those plans do not materialise and she and her maid end up going to Nice, where, quite independently Harry Cathcart has gone ... and Rose did begin to find she had a soft spot for him.
Whilst it is an enjoyable read the characters are not quite as solid as dear old Agatha Raisin or phlegmatic Hamish Macbeth and consequently one is not attracted to them in quite the same way.
Lady Rose Summer, one-time Suffragette, is the deb involved. The attempt by her parents to put her in the limelight for her first season is an unmitigated disaster as she gets involved in trying to sort out who killed who and why.
There are plenty of characters to consider, sometimes too many to keep in mind, but, with the help of Harry Cathcart, who at first is something of a leper, she eventually unravels the mystery and it is then planned to send her to India where, as one observer commented, 'she will probably start another mutiny'!
However, those plans do not materialise and she and her maid end up going to Nice, where, quite independently Harry Cathcart has gone ... and Rose did begin to find she had a soft spot for him.
Whilst it is an enjoyable read the characters are not quite as solid as dear old Agatha Raisin or phlegmatic Hamish Macbeth and consequently one is not attracted to them in quite the same way.
October 8, 2018
Not perhaps as great a disappointment as the other reviewers found it but nothing remarkable. The introduction is rushed, the romance stereotypical Clueless Male Cannot Deal With Intelligent Woman But Falls For Her Intelligence Anyway, and the general tone completely inappropriate (conversationally, that is) for the era (sexually transmitted diseases, affairs, etc). It felt a bit like a Miss Fisher's Murders Mystery...but without Miss Fischer's strong personality.
I picked up the series because book 4 caught my attention so perhaps I'll make my way towards it. It is a pity, really, that this book was so disappointing. It had quite a lot of potential. However, it hovers around 'what the heck is going on?! instead of getting on with anything.
I picked up the series because book 4 caught my attention so perhaps I'll make my way towards it. It is a pity, really, that this book was so disappointing. It had quite a lot of potential. However, it hovers around 'what the heck is going on?! instead of getting on with anything.
February 7, 2017
It has one or two things I didn't care about but overall, it was so easy to read and to enjoy what was happening... I laughed too, which was good.
Now I'm very curious to see what happens with the main characters for I'm sure their adventures have to go on!
Now I'm very curious to see what happens with the main characters for I'm sure their adventures have to go on!
November 25, 2012
What an entertaining book. Looking forward to reading more of Marion Chesney!
August 8, 2017
Read this earlier in the week. To be honest, it might be more accurate to say I read the first half and straight up skimmed the second, out of mild curiosity over two of the secondary characters.
I thought this was fairly terrible. Didn't like the writing style, didn't like the mystery, didn't like that it took over half the book to get to the mystery, and really, really didn't like the main characters.
Rose is the specialest of most special snowflakes. She is better than other girls of her age/social class because she has a better education and she cares about the working classes. Neither of these is bad in and of themselves, but they manifest in pretty much the most obnoxious way possible. Because her education seems to be entirely fact-based, in that she's well-read. But she's also spoiled and oblivious. She's done all this reading but somehow not managed to glean any information about how the society she lives in actually functions? Which, I guess would be possible if you limited your reading to textbooks and encyclopedias, but its also implied that she keeps up on current events, which I assume in part means the newspaper, which means HOW DO YOU NOT TAKE IN BASIC CONTEXT RE: YOUR SOCIETY, EVEN UNINTENTIONALLY? Rose does not seem to. She's blunt and rude and dismissive and just downright unpleasant for most of this, while also not displaying any common sense or making any particularly useful contributions to anything. She's also spoiled. She has fond but also essentially absent parents who apparently indulged her every whim, and has made no friends of any kind in her entire life (I guess, because no one seems to have told her anything useful, and we're led to believe that she's gained all her information through extensive reading)? I really couldn't stand her.
And Harry's not much better. He's dismissive and also bordering on rude. His detective skills are mediocre at best. (His plan to stop the king from visiting Rose's parents - to seduce her since she is 'a challenge/ice queen/whatever I was paying minimal attention to these sorts of details - involves blowing up a railway station and a bridge so people suspect local terrorism. That's right, his plan involves a terrorist act, and blaming it on the Bolsheviks, AS YOU DO.)
The only semi-interesting part of this mess was Rose's maid Daisy, and Harry's butler, whose name I can't remember. They are the reason I skimmed the second half instead of just cutting my losses.
I do not expect 100% accuracy in my romance/mystery novels. I do not expect brilliant mysteries. What I do expect is that the characters are some combination of likeable/quirky/interesting, and the setting is fun. I'll handwave away details, but you've got to make the reading experience enjoyable. This was not.
Also, I read the descriptions of the later books, and I can predict how this series is going to go down. I also couldn't help noticing that in the next one Rose apparently goes to London to work for her living, instead of being a pampered Earl's daughter and is surprised at how hard it is. I will definitely not be following her.
I thought this was fairly terrible. Didn't like the writing style, didn't like the mystery, didn't like that it took over half the book to get to the mystery, and really, really didn't like the main characters.
Rose is the specialest of most special snowflakes. She is better than other girls of her age/social class because she has a better education and she cares about the working classes. Neither of these is bad in and of themselves, but they manifest in pretty much the most obnoxious way possible. Because her education seems to be entirely fact-based, in that she's well-read. But she's also spoiled and oblivious. She's done all this reading but somehow not managed to glean any information about how the society she lives in actually functions? Which, I guess would be possible if you limited your reading to textbooks and encyclopedias, but its also implied that she keeps up on current events, which I assume in part means the newspaper, which means HOW DO YOU NOT TAKE IN BASIC CONTEXT RE: YOUR SOCIETY, EVEN UNINTENTIONALLY? Rose does not seem to. She's blunt and rude and dismissive and just downright unpleasant for most of this, while also not displaying any common sense or making any particularly useful contributions to anything. She's also spoiled. She has fond but also essentially absent parents who apparently indulged her every whim, and has made no friends of any kind in her entire life (I guess, because no one seems to have told her anything useful, and we're led to believe that she's gained all her information through extensive reading)? I really couldn't stand her.
And Harry's not much better. He's dismissive and also bordering on rude. His detective skills are mediocre at best. (His plan to stop the king from visiting Rose's parents - to seduce her since she is 'a challenge/ice queen/whatever I was paying minimal attention to these sorts of details - involves blowing up a railway station and a bridge so people suspect local terrorism. That's right, his plan involves a terrorist act, and blaming it on the Bolsheviks, AS YOU DO.)
The only semi-interesting part of this mess was Rose's maid Daisy, and Harry's butler, whose name I can't remember. They are the reason I skimmed the second half instead of just cutting my losses.
I do not expect 100% accuracy in my romance/mystery novels. I do not expect brilliant mysteries. What I do expect is that the characters are some combination of likeable/quirky/interesting, and the setting is fun. I'll handwave away details, but you've got to make the reading experience enjoyable. This was not.
Also, I read the descriptions of the later books, and I can predict how this series is going to go down. I also couldn't help noticing that in the next one Rose apparently goes to London to work for her living, instead of being a pampered Earl's daughter and is surprised at how hard it is. I will definitely not be following her.
July 27, 2021
Une belle découverte ce livre !
Contente de découvrir un livre de l'autrice, j'avais beaucoup entendu parler de sa série Agatha Raisin. Ce premier tome de la série Les enquêtes de Lady Rose est prometteur. Je lirai la suite avec plaisir.
Au début, je n'accrochais pas trop. Je me demandais où l'autrice voulait aller. Je ne comprenais pas non plus le titre de la série (Les enquêtes de Lady Rose). Puis à partir de la moitié de l'histoire, tout s'est éclairé et je suis bien rentrée dans l'histoire. Je me suis plongée dans l'univers et l'époque.
Lady Rose se met en quête de la vérité accompagnée du capitaine Harry Cathcart afin de découvrir le coupable du meurtre. Je trouvais qu'il faisait un beau duo. Même s'ils disent tous les deux le contraire, il règne une alchimie entre eux.
J'ai adoré le personnage de Rose et sa dame de compagnie Daisy. Rose ne veut pas suivre les dictats de la société qui lui impose de trouver un mari et lui impose des restrictions quant à son rôle de femme et sa liberté. Elle considère sa dame de compagnie comme une personne à part entière et lui octroie plus de liberté. Daisy est un petit bout de femme curieuse et espiègle très attachante.
C'est le deuxième cosy mystery que je lis et c'est certain j'en lirai d'autres.
J'ai écouté le livre audio. J'ai apprécié la voix de la lectrice qui était douce et qui m'était de l'intonation là où il en fallait. Les livres audio ça me relaxe toujours.
Petit bémol, il y avait beaucoup de personnages différents et ce n'était pas toujours évident de comprendre qui était qui en lecture audio. Je pense que la lecture papier aurait été plus facile.
Contente de découvrir un livre de l'autrice, j'avais beaucoup entendu parler de sa série Agatha Raisin. Ce premier tome de la série Les enquêtes de Lady Rose est prometteur. Je lirai la suite avec plaisir.
Au début, je n'accrochais pas trop. Je me demandais où l'autrice voulait aller. Je ne comprenais pas non plus le titre de la série (Les enquêtes de Lady Rose). Puis à partir de la moitié de l'histoire, tout s'est éclairé et je suis bien rentrée dans l'histoire. Je me suis plongée dans l'univers et l'époque.
Lady Rose se met en quête de la vérité accompagnée du capitaine Harry Cathcart afin de découvrir le coupable du meurtre. Je trouvais qu'il faisait un beau duo. Même s'ils disent tous les deux le contraire, il règne une alchimie entre eux.
J'ai adoré le personnage de Rose et sa dame de compagnie Daisy. Rose ne veut pas suivre les dictats de la société qui lui impose de trouver un mari et lui impose des restrictions quant à son rôle de femme et sa liberté. Elle considère sa dame de compagnie comme une personne à part entière et lui octroie plus de liberté. Daisy est un petit bout de femme curieuse et espiègle très attachante.
C'est le deuxième cosy mystery que je lis et c'est certain j'en lirai d'autres.
J'ai écouté le livre audio. J'ai apprécié la voix de la lectrice qui était douce et qui m'était de l'intonation là où il en fallait. Les livres audio ça me relaxe toujours.
Petit bémol, il y avait beaucoup de personnages différents et ce n'était pas toujours évident de comprendre qui était qui en lecture audio. Je pense que la lecture papier aurait été plus facile.
August 17, 2022
4⭐️
J’ai beaucoup aimé cette ambiance à la Bridgerton (qui est encore choqué?), avec en supplément meurtre à la cour, comment vous dire que j’ai été ravie de ce petit combos !
J’aime de plus en plus la plume M.C Beaton, à tel point que j’ai envie de lire tous ses livres 😍
Dans ce roman, on retrouve Lady Rose, une protagoniste au caractère bien trempé, très indépendante, féministe de part son soutien aux suffragettes et ses participations aux manifestions pour le droit de vote des femmes.
J’ai passé un agréable moment de lecture, même si je n’ai pas autant ris que lorsque j’ai lu Agatha Raisin, plusieurs passages m’ont fait sourire de part la tournure ridicule et absurde dont prenait les choses !
J’ai plus écouté en audio que lu ce livre, et je peux vous dire que c’était un pur régal ! Les petites musiques de début de chapitre mettaient directement dans l’ambiance 🔎
Un cosy mystery à l’époque des saisons mondaines, des corsets et de toutes sortes de dramas tel est ce que vous propose M.C Beaton dans les enquêtes de Lady Rose.
Si vous aimez les cosy mystery ET la Chronique des Bridgerton, je ne peux que vous conseiller ce roman 🥰
J’ai beaucoup aimé cette ambiance à la Bridgerton (qui est encore choqué?), avec en supplément meurtre à la cour, comment vous dire que j’ai été ravie de ce petit combos !
J’aime de plus en plus la plume M.C Beaton, à tel point que j’ai envie de lire tous ses livres 😍
Dans ce roman, on retrouve Lady Rose, une protagoniste au caractère bien trempé, très indépendante, féministe de part son soutien aux suffragettes et ses participations aux manifestions pour le droit de vote des femmes.
J’ai passé un agréable moment de lecture, même si je n’ai pas autant ris que lorsque j’ai lu Agatha Raisin, plusieurs passages m’ont fait sourire de part la tournure ridicule et absurde dont prenait les choses !
J’ai plus écouté en audio que lu ce livre, et je peux vous dire que c’était un pur régal ! Les petites musiques de début de chapitre mettaient directement dans l’ambiance 🔎
Un cosy mystery à l’époque des saisons mondaines, des corsets et de toutes sortes de dramas tel est ce que vous propose M.C Beaton dans les enquêtes de Lady Rose.
Si vous aimez les cosy mystery ET la Chronique des Bridgerton, je ne peux que vous conseiller ce roman 🥰
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