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Francis Pettigrew #5
Untimely Death
Francis Pettigrew travels to Exmoor for a holiday with his wife - an area in which as a young boy he was traumatised by coming across a dead body on the moor.
In an attempt to exorcise this trauma, Pettigrew walks across the moor to the place where the incident occurred - only to find another dead body. Moreover when he returns to the scene with the police, the body is gone.
Did he really see a body - or is it a hallucination conjured up by his return to the scene of the crime that has haunted him since childhood?
In "Untimely Death", Cyril Hare conjures up an intriguing puzzle whose twists and turns will keep the reader turning the pages until the final surprising resolution.
In an attempt to exorcise this trauma, Pettigrew walks across the moor to the place where the incident occurred - only to find another dead body. Moreover when he returns to the scene with the police, the body is gone.
Did he really see a body - or is it a hallucination conjured up by his return to the scene of the crime that has haunted him since childhood?
In "Untimely Death", Cyril Hare conjures up an intriguing puzzle whose twists and turns will keep the reader turning the pages until the final surprising resolution.
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
20 people are currently reading
173 people want to read
About the author
Cyril Hare
73 books99 followersCyril Hare was the pseudonymn of Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark who was the third son of Henry Herbert Gordon Clark of Mickleham Hall, a merchant in the wine and spirit trade in the family firm of Matthew Clark & Sons.
Having spent most of his formative years in the country where he learned to hunt, shoot and fish, he was educated at St Aubyn's, Rottingdean and Rugby, where he won a prize for writing English verse, before reading history at New College, Oxford, where he gained a first class degree.
His family tradition indicated a legal career and he was duly called to the bar in 1924 and he joined the firm of famed lawyer Ronald Oliver and went on to practice in the civil and criminal courts in and around London.
He was 36 when he began his writing career and he picked his pseudonymn from Hare Court, where he worked, and Cyril Mansions, Battersea, where he lived after he had married Mary Barbara Lawrence in 1933. The couple had one son and two daughters.
His first literary endeavours were short, flippant sketches for Punch magazine and he had articles published in the Illustrated London News and The Law Journal. His first detective novel, 'Tenant for Death' was published in 1937 and it was called 'an engaging debut'.
During the early years of World War II he toured as a judge's marshall and he used his experiences as the basis for his fourth novel 'Tragedy at Law', which was published in 1942. In that same year he became a civil servant with the Director of Public Prosecutions and in the latter stages of the war he worked in the Ministry of Economic Warfare, where his experiences proved invaluable when writing 'With a Bare Bodkin' in 1946.
He was appointed county court judge for Surrey in 1950 and he spent his time between travelling the circuit trying civil cases and writing his detective fiction.
In addition to these two strings to his bow, he was a noted public speaker and was often in demand by a wide variety of societies. But his workload did curtail his literary output, which was also hampered by the fact that he did not use a typewriter, and his reputation, very good as it is in the field of detective fiction, stands on nine novels and a host of short stories. He also wrote a children's book, 'The Magic Bottle' in 1946 and a play, 'The House of Warbeck' in 1955.
He has left two enduting characters in Inspector Mallett of Scotland Yard, who featured in three novels, and Francis Pettigrew, an amateur sleuth, who also featured in three novels. In addition the two appeared together in two other novels, 'Tragedy at Law' (1942) and 'He Should Have Died Hereafter' (1958).
Having suffered from tuberculosis for some time, he died at his home near Boxhill, Surrey on 25 August 1958, aged only 57. After his death Michael Gilbert introduced a fine collection of his short stories entitled 'The Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare', in which he paid due tribute to a fellow lawyer and mystery writer.
Gerry Wolstenholme
June 2011
Having spent most of his formative years in the country where he learned to hunt, shoot and fish, he was educated at St Aubyn's, Rottingdean and Rugby, where he won a prize for writing English verse, before reading history at New College, Oxford, where he gained a first class degree.
His family tradition indicated a legal career and he was duly called to the bar in 1924 and he joined the firm of famed lawyer Ronald Oliver and went on to practice in the civil and criminal courts in and around London.
He was 36 when he began his writing career and he picked his pseudonymn from Hare Court, where he worked, and Cyril Mansions, Battersea, where he lived after he had married Mary Barbara Lawrence in 1933. The couple had one son and two daughters.
His first literary endeavours were short, flippant sketches for Punch magazine and he had articles published in the Illustrated London News and The Law Journal. His first detective novel, 'Tenant for Death' was published in 1937 and it was called 'an engaging debut'.
During the early years of World War II he toured as a judge's marshall and he used his experiences as the basis for his fourth novel 'Tragedy at Law', which was published in 1942. In that same year he became a civil servant with the Director of Public Prosecutions and in the latter stages of the war he worked in the Ministry of Economic Warfare, where his experiences proved invaluable when writing 'With a Bare Bodkin' in 1946.
He was appointed county court judge for Surrey in 1950 and he spent his time between travelling the circuit trying civil cases and writing his detective fiction.
In addition to these two strings to his bow, he was a noted public speaker and was often in demand by a wide variety of societies. But his workload did curtail his literary output, which was also hampered by the fact that he did not use a typewriter, and his reputation, very good as it is in the field of detective fiction, stands on nine novels and a host of short stories. He also wrote a children's book, 'The Magic Bottle' in 1946 and a play, 'The House of Warbeck' in 1955.
He has left two enduting characters in Inspector Mallett of Scotland Yard, who featured in three novels, and Francis Pettigrew, an amateur sleuth, who also featured in three novels. In addition the two appeared together in two other novels, 'Tragedy at Law' (1942) and 'He Should Have Died Hereafter' (1958).
Having suffered from tuberculosis for some time, he died at his home near Boxhill, Surrey on 25 August 1958, aged only 57. After his death Michael Gilbert introduced a fine collection of his short stories entitled 'The Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare', in which he paid due tribute to a fellow lawyer and mystery writer.
Gerry Wolstenholme
June 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
May 21, 2020
I’m not sure why the publisher changed the title of this novel. The original was clever, literary and appropriate to the plot.
The novel is more a legal drama than a detective novel with a long courtroom scene which is presented with humour and panache. The author drew on his personal experience at the Bar to make the details authentic.
The two amateur detectives finally work out what happened by thinking of who stood to gain by the victim’s death, though the adroitly managed final twist still succeeded in being unexpected.
Hare writes well not just about the workings of the legal system but also about the way a married couple negotiate their relationship. There are many references to how each has their foibles which are known and accommodated by the other. The hunting episode is particularly well done, showing the gulf between the married couple in their opinion about hunting and those who hunt. But far and away the best scene in the book was the elderly portly gentleman who decided to mount a hard mouthed but spirited pony who proceeded to bolt with him downhill. Surely a scene transposed from life?!
The novel is more a legal drama than a detective novel with a long courtroom scene which is presented with humour and panache. The author drew on his personal experience at the Bar to make the details authentic.
The two amateur detectives finally work out what happened by thinking of who stood to gain by the victim’s death, though the adroitly managed final twist still succeeded in being unexpected.
Hare writes well not just about the workings of the legal system but also about the way a married couple negotiate their relationship. There are many references to how each has their foibles which are known and accommodated by the other. The hunting episode is particularly well done, showing the gulf between the married couple in their opinion about hunting and those who hunt. But far and away the best scene in the book was the elderly portly gentleman who decided to mount a hard mouthed but spirited pony who proceeded to bolt with him downhill. Surely a scene transposed from life?!
July 16, 2023
The final instalment in the series sees Francis and Eleanor Pettigrew on holiday in Exmoor where an unfortunate sequence of events involving a pony and the local hunt results in Pettigrew finding and then mislaying a body. Our old friend Inspector Mallet turns up as he has retired to the area and the two men try to determine what happened. Soon after the son-in-law of the man who owns the farm where the Pettigrews are staying turns up dead with injuries suggestive of a car accident to the body. A question of inheritance is now involved and the time of death becomes critical. I wish there were more books in this series, I have thoroughly enjoyed Francis Pettigrew's acerbic wit and the legal intricacies of the plots.
October 11, 2022
Review of the audiobook narrated by Chris MacDonnell
3.5 stars
This book was published in 1958, well after the real "Golden Age of Mystery," but apart from a few mundane details it could just as easily have been set in 1938. It is a skillfully crafted good, old-fashioned murder mystery. I recommend it to all Golden Age fans.
3.5 stars
This book was published in 1958, well after the real "Golden Age of Mystery," but apart from a few mundane details it could just as easily have been set in 1938. It is a skillfully crafted good, old-fashioned murder mystery. I recommend it to all Golden Age fans.
August 1, 2023
Retired lawyer Francis Pettigrew and his wife Eleanor take a holiday in Exmoor. Pettigrew has uncomfortable childhood memories of the place - he once saw a dead body on the moors - so he is shocked and dismayed to find another dead body while out on his own. When he returns, however, the body has disappeared.
This is a really enjoyable series and it is a shame that Hare died relatively young (aged 58) with only five books in the series. As always, there is a legal aspect to the story with the Court of Chancery and an obscure piece of inheritance law featuring. The characters include an old schoolfriend of Eleanor, a clan of related families who are at loggerheads with each other, and the reappearance of the likeable Inspector Mallett.
I did miss some of the wit of earlier stories and Pettigrew himself is somewhat subdued - like his author, his health is not robust, and he is conscious of his advancing age - but these are intelligent and well written mysteries. 3.5* for me, rounded up because I like Pettigrew so much.
This is a really enjoyable series and it is a shame that Hare died relatively young (aged 58) with only five books in the series. As always, there is a legal aspect to the story with the Court of Chancery and an obscure piece of inheritance law featuring. The characters include an old schoolfriend of Eleanor, a clan of related families who are at loggerheads with each other, and the reappearance of the likeable Inspector Mallett.
I did miss some of the wit of earlier stories and Pettigrew himself is somewhat subdued - like his author, his health is not robust, and he is conscious of his advancing age - but these are intelligent and well written mysteries. 3.5* for me, rounded up because I like Pettigrew so much.
August 11, 2022
The writing was great, the story interesting, the twist somewhat foreseeable - but what I simply cannot forgive is that one dead body was left unresolved. How can the cover blurb highlight the mindboggling coincidence of two dead bodies in the same location, but 50 plus years apart, and then completely ignore the cold case!? Apparently they are unconnected, so then why tease us and mislead us? I would have given this one 2 stars due to disappointment, but it was otherwise an enjoyable read.
February 13, 2019
Perfectly fine but unexceptional Mystery. Full review at classicmystery.blog
May 25, 2025
I wasn't quite sure what this book was really about. Was it an examination of a small British town in the 1950s, a murder mystery or a comedy. In the end I think it was all of these things and after a very slow start it did maintain my interest towards the end. Overall though, I thought it was a pretty forgettable book.
September 27, 2020
Quite satisfying, amusing late Golden Age detection.
Frank Pettigrew, walking on Exmoor with his wife among the stag hunters, captures a riderless pony which bolts off with him aboard after it is startled by the dead body of a man, briefly seen by the rider. This relives an identical childhood incident and Frank half believes he has precognition. Along with the locally retired Mallet he unpicks the complications of the local Gorman family and the usual problems that families face when money and the outcome of a will is critical.
Frank Pettigrew, walking on Exmoor with his wife among the stag hunters, captures a riderless pony which bolts off with him aboard after it is startled by the dead body of a man, briefly seen by the rider. This relives an identical childhood incident and Frank half believes he has precognition. Along with the locally retired Mallet he unpicks the complications of the local Gorman family and the usual problems that families face when money and the outcome of a will is critical.
August 25, 2021
A novella length mystery, which is a nice length. It starts with a vacation, then a dead body, then a missing dead body, which shows up again elsewhere. There is an inquest and then, we jump forward in time. There are several jumps in time. It shows Pettigrew having his emotions get the better of him, though about mid-point his mind starts to click again and the detecting on his part takes off.
An interesting mystery, that features English entails of property, and hunting. Would say its mood was dreamlike at times.
An interesting mystery, that features English entails of property, and hunting. Would say its mood was dreamlike at times.
February 3, 2021
Loved the Frank Pettigrew / Inspector Mallet series & this one was the best of them. All the others were available cheaply on Kindle, but this one wasn't & I had to buy on eBay. Glad I did. Delightful mystery.
January 13, 2024
A twisty, entertaining mystery
August 22, 2024
I can't remember why I picked this one up, especially seeing it's the end of the series. That said, it was a fun and quick murder mystery that largely takes place in a court room. I'd say the cover is a big spoiler though.
June 26, 2025
Another very enjoyable story with Francis Pettigrew and the delightful Eleanor, this time on Exmoor. These books always have such good characters and such a lovely feel to all of it. I’m sorry this was the final one in the series.
July 26, 2025
A very enjoyable puzzle
March 10, 2025
Half way this book I wrote here "... not one his finest .... An interesting plot, but plods along at a slow pace"
In the an end, an excellent book with a plot you just don't realise until the end. Brilliant.
Sometimes we are "taught" to expect drama and plot intrigued from the off in modern books, when in fact the beauty here is the long drawn out building of the plot, facts and characters.
At the end there was also a delightful escapade into 1930 archaic UK legal system that is no more....
In the an end, an excellent book with a plot you just don't realise until the end. Brilliant.
Sometimes we are "taught" to expect drama and plot intrigued from the off in modern books, when in fact the beauty here is the long drawn out building of the plot, facts and characters.
At the end there was also a delightful escapade into 1930 archaic UK legal system that is no more....
February 7, 2023
A nice, smart traditional mystery, with some well-placed red herrings and very interesting characters. I'm really curious now and probably will go back to the rest of the books in the series.
Chris MacDonnell's narration is excellent.
Chris MacDonnell's narration is excellent.
January 26, 2024
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This English mystery delivers family secrets, a disappearing body, and a pleasant dose of good natured humour to a couple on vacation.
Cyril Hare was a staple of classic mystery writing whose real name was Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark, a barrister and judge who incorporated court cases into his novels. His 1942 novel, Tragedy At Law, has never been out of print, considered one of the best detective stories set in the legal world. Untimely Death (1958) was his final novel and the fifth to star barrister Francis Pettigrew.
Francis and his wife Eleanor are on holiday to Exmoor, where he vacationed as a boy. While she stops to see a friend, he walks across the fields toward Bolter's Tussock, site of a scary day in his childhood when he came across the dead body of a man. Terrified, he left the scene and was always curious what came of it. This present day, he comes across a wandering pony, perhaps from the hunt taking place nearby. He nearly falls off as he mounts it, as his face careens across the field, passing directly into the face of a dead man's body! Back in town he raises the alarm, but when they return to the spot - there is no body to be found.
Of course, there is no one to believe him. Was it a hallucination caused by his past trauma?
The couple is staying at a local inn run by Mrs. Gorman, indeed the whole town is full of the Gorman family. The wealthy patriarch Gilbert Gorman has just passed away and questions arise on the line of inheritance - for his son, Mrs. Gorman's husband Jack, has just been found on the roadside, struck dead by a motor vehicle.
An involved court case ensues over the next few months, with Pettigrew as witness to his strange discovery - who is the dead man, and who will receive the Gorman estate - how could they be connected? And if Mrs. Gorman and Jack have been separated for over a year, how is she now pregnant? It's a nest of secrets, but as a rule in golden age mysteries, if you pay attention, you can spot the clues.
Eleanor is a great character, full of amiable humour and clever asides - as is Francis - I thought at first it was a mystery spoof or comedy. Also on scene is Inspector Mallett, co-star of three other Pettigrew novels, now retired from being Supervisor, and three three of them hash out what happened. It does devolve into a lot of English legalese, but this is a short mystery, so I stayed a spectator and listened at the back of the courtroom for the finale.
Clever and entertaining.
This was first published He Should Have Died Hereafter.
This English mystery delivers family secrets, a disappearing body, and a pleasant dose of good natured humour to a couple on vacation.
Cyril Hare was a staple of classic mystery writing whose real name was Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark, a barrister and judge who incorporated court cases into his novels. His 1942 novel, Tragedy At Law, has never been out of print, considered one of the best detective stories set in the legal world. Untimely Death (1958) was his final novel and the fifth to star barrister Francis Pettigrew.
Francis and his wife Eleanor are on holiday to Exmoor, where he vacationed as a boy. While she stops to see a friend, he walks across the fields toward Bolter's Tussock, site of a scary day in his childhood when he came across the dead body of a man. Terrified, he left the scene and was always curious what came of it. This present day, he comes across a wandering pony, perhaps from the hunt taking place nearby. He nearly falls off as he mounts it, as his face careens across the field, passing directly into the face of a dead man's body! Back in town he raises the alarm, but when they return to the spot - there is no body to be found.
Of course, there is no one to believe him. Was it a hallucination caused by his past trauma?
The couple is staying at a local inn run by Mrs. Gorman, indeed the whole town is full of the Gorman family. The wealthy patriarch Gilbert Gorman has just passed away and questions arise on the line of inheritance - for his son, Mrs. Gorman's husband Jack, has just been found on the roadside, struck dead by a motor vehicle.
An involved court case ensues over the next few months, with Pettigrew as witness to his strange discovery - who is the dead man, and who will receive the Gorman estate - how could they be connected? And if Mrs. Gorman and Jack have been separated for over a year, how is she now pregnant? It's a nest of secrets, but as a rule in golden age mysteries, if you pay attention, you can spot the clues.
Eleanor is a great character, full of amiable humour and clever asides - as is Francis - I thought at first it was a mystery spoof or comedy. Also on scene is Inspector Mallett, co-star of three other Pettigrew novels, now retired from being Supervisor, and three three of them hash out what happened. It does devolve into a lot of English legalese, but this is a short mystery, so I stayed a spectator and listened at the back of the courtroom for the finale.
Clever and entertaining.
This was first published He Should Have Died Hereafter.
July 24, 2024
The second Cyril Hare mystery I’ve picked up, and less entertaining than the first, the snowed-in-at-Christmas offering, An English Murder. This was his final novel, and features appearances by two of his series investigators, retired barrister Frank Pettigrew and retired Police Superintendent Mallett. Neither of them were particularly vivid on the page, but perhaps Hare felt he had established their personalities in earlier instalments, and only needed to sketch them in here. Regardless, Pettigrew was a dull figure, as was his wife Eleanor, and I didn’t warm to either of them. She exemplifies what used to be an admired wifely archetype – supremely tactful, discreet, all-knowing, managing – but now comes across as disagreeably nannyish.
I’m used to ‘Golden Age’ crime novels concentrating their effects in terms of both time and location, and it was striking that here the convention was broken at the three-quarter mark by jumping ahead six months, and shifting the scene of the action. I wonder whether this was deliberate experimentation by Hare, or simply an inescapable feature of the plot he’d mapped out for himself (there is another time lapse later on). I can’t say that the tension was much affected, since there wasn’t a huge amount in the first place. Ultimately, I'm not sure it was a good idea to play down the narrative excitement of finding a dead body in favour of puzzling over a point of law.
An English Murder had a Jewish refugee academic as its sleuth, and it occurs to me that Hare is a more sympathetic writer from an outsider than an insider point of view; this book gets a bit complacent and borderline snobbish (Pettigrew is quick to notice that he only gets a threepenny Christmas card from his Exmoor host, Mr Joliffe). The final twist was a good one, but rather tossed away on the last two pages.
Published in 1957, Untimely Death must be the most modern book I’ve read to still employ the Jane Austen era spelling of ‘shew/shewed/shewing’ for ‘show/showed/showing.’
I’m used to ‘Golden Age’ crime novels concentrating their effects in terms of both time and location, and it was striking that here the convention was broken at the three-quarter mark by jumping ahead six months, and shifting the scene of the action. I wonder whether this was deliberate experimentation by Hare, or simply an inescapable feature of the plot he’d mapped out for himself (there is another time lapse later on). I can’t say that the tension was much affected, since there wasn’t a huge amount in the first place. Ultimately, I'm not sure it was a good idea to play down the narrative excitement of finding a dead body in favour of puzzling over a point of law.
An English Murder had a Jewish refugee academic as its sleuth, and it occurs to me that Hare is a more sympathetic writer from an outsider than an insider point of view; this book gets a bit complacent and borderline snobbish (Pettigrew is quick to notice that he only gets a threepenny Christmas card from his Exmoor host, Mr Joliffe). The final twist was a good one, but rather tossed away on the last two pages.
Published in 1957, Untimely Death must be the most modern book I’ve read to still employ the Jane Austen era spelling of ‘shew/shewed/shewing’ for ‘show/showed/showing.’
October 25, 2023
Finally, I got to the book I was supposed to be reading for my book club a few months ago (it doesn't matter when you comment, so that's okay). I was determined to read all the other Pettigrew books first, and I'm glad I did. It will not be as good if you go into this cold and don't know about his foibles and his relationship with Eleanor!
Having said that, I was a wee bit disappointed, as with the last book. I was delighted with the reappearance of Mallett - now retired from the police himself in the part of the country where Pettigrew goes on holiday, quite coincidentally. I liked that their friendly relationship rekindled despite the 20(?) years' absence.
As for the story, I think I got it in the end, but I was a bit confused about the courtroom scene.
I did like the twist that the correct question was something else altogether. I found the climax rather abrupt and melodramatic, though. And I was disappointed that
Altogether though, I loved this series and I tore through it in record time. Now off to hunt for Hare's non-Pettigrew books (some of which feature Mallett, I believe).
Having said that, I was a wee bit disappointed, as with the last book. I was delighted with the reappearance of Mallett - now retired from the police himself in the part of the country where Pettigrew goes on holiday, quite coincidentally. I liked that their friendly relationship rekindled despite the 20(?) years' absence.
As for the story, I think I got it in the end, but I was a bit confused about the courtroom scene.
I did like the twist that the correct question was something else altogether. I found the climax rather abrupt and melodramatic, though. And I was disappointed that
Altogether though, I loved this series and I tore through it in record time. Now off to hunt for Hare's non-Pettigrew books (some of which feature Mallett, I believe).
June 13, 2023
This is the last in the series featuring Francis Pettigrew, which I have been enjoying. The series started in 1942 and this final book was published in 1958, the year that Cyril Hare, or Alfred Alexander Clark, died. He was only 58 and it's sad (as a reader) to think that he could have written so many more books, as I have really enjoyed everything I have read by him.
The series consists of:
1. Tragedy at Law (1942)
2. With a Bare Bodkin (1946)
3. The Wind Blows Death (1949)
4. Death Walks the Woods (1954)
5. Untimely Death (1958)
In this final book in the series, Francis, and his wife Eleanor, go on holiday to Exmoor. Pettigrew had visited as a child and recalls seeing a body. Of course, on his holiday, the same thing happens again and, lo and behold, the body vanishes. Was he just recalling a childhood trauma or did he really see a body on the moor and, if so, why was it hidden?
Hare's books always involve law and Pettigrew, now retired, is soon thrown into a case involving a family and an inheritance case where the time of death is of paramount importance. Although not the best in the series, this is an enjoyable read and I am sorry to have come to the end of it.
The series consists of:
1. Tragedy at Law (1942)
2. With a Bare Bodkin (1946)
3. The Wind Blows Death (1949)
4. Death Walks the Woods (1954)
5. Untimely Death (1958)
In this final book in the series, Francis, and his wife Eleanor, go on holiday to Exmoor. Pettigrew had visited as a child and recalls seeing a body. Of course, on his holiday, the same thing happens again and, lo and behold, the body vanishes. Was he just recalling a childhood trauma or did he really see a body on the moor and, if so, why was it hidden?
Hare's books always involve law and Pettigrew, now retired, is soon thrown into a case involving a family and an inheritance case where the time of death is of paramount importance. Although not the best in the series, this is an enjoyable read and I am sorry to have come to the end of it.
June 13, 2022
Rating between 2.5 & 3
Not a favourite among the works I have read by this author. The plot held some interest but I felt this novel could probably be labelled as literary fiction with elements of the mystery genre, rather than as a true mystery novel. The reason for the suspected murder I had seen several times before (a Poirot short story, a Wimsey novel) with other stories having similar ideas. The murder weapon, for want of a better word, was relatively easy to guess at, even if the reader discounted a certain Holmes story. The introduction late in the day, at around 98% of the boom, of a second murder although making the guilt party‘s reasons more interesting did feel a bit of a cheat by the author.
There was some nice moments between Pettigrew and his wife Eleanor that did feel like they came from real life situations.
The countryside of exmoor was well drawn and also felt like the author had been there himself.
Overall an okay novel but I doubt if it will stick in my memory, a couple of the earlier Pettigrew novels were better I think, and I generally prefer the author’s short stories over his novels.
Not a favourite among the works I have read by this author. The plot held some interest but I felt this novel could probably be labelled as literary fiction with elements of the mystery genre, rather than as a true mystery novel. The reason for the suspected murder I had seen several times before (a Poirot short story, a Wimsey novel) with other stories having similar ideas. The murder weapon, for want of a better word, was relatively easy to guess at, even if the reader discounted a certain Holmes story. The introduction late in the day, at around 98% of the boom, of a second murder although making the guilt party‘s reasons more interesting did feel a bit of a cheat by the author.
There was some nice moments between Pettigrew and his wife Eleanor that did feel like they came from real life situations.
The countryside of exmoor was well drawn and also felt like the author had been there himself.
Overall an okay novel but I doubt if it will stick in my memory, a couple of the earlier Pettigrew novels were better I think, and I generally prefer the author’s short stories over his novels.
July 4, 2023
This is the last book in the Francis Pettigrew series, which I fear I will miss now it is finished.
This starts with Francis and his wife, Eleanor, taking a holiday to Exmoor, where Francis had spent holidays with his family as a child. On one of these family holidays, Francis had found a body on the moors whilst on a hunting party. As a youngster this had upset him greatly, and he found returning there couldn't help bring back the memories of that experience. Unfortunately, the same happens, but a body can not be found, making even Francis doubt himself. However, Inspector Mallett, retired, gets drawn into the investigation, and together with the courts of law, proves that Pettigrew is not losing mind.
This starts with Francis and his wife, Eleanor, taking a holiday to Exmoor, where Francis had spent holidays with his family as a child. On one of these family holidays, Francis had found a body on the moors whilst on a hunting party. As a youngster this had upset him greatly, and he found returning there couldn't help bring back the memories of that experience. Unfortunately, the same happens, but a body can not be found, making even Francis doubt himself. However, Inspector Mallett, retired, gets drawn into the investigation, and together with the courts of law, proves that Pettigrew is not losing mind.
June 13, 2023
As a boy, Francis Pettigrew on his first hunt was terrified by the sight of a pony bolting. What happened then lay submerged in his mind (but not his nightmares), only to be repeated thirty years later: a bolting pony, and a dead body. This time round, however, Pettigrew is a respected and well-established attorney, so his approach is very different. And although Pettigrew is on holiday, he friend, the retired Inspector Mallett is on the scene with picnic hampers and a shrewd brain to disentangle the knots and the relationships. Almost literally a cuo bono case, this is a delightful vintage crime novel from the Golden Age, with a little help from Sherlock Holmes and two women.
April 17, 2021
#5 in the Francis Pettigrew mystery series.
So-so London lawyer who became involved in government work during WW II has retired into the country life just outside of London. Recently married to a much younger woman, they settle into life in Markhampton.
On holiday with his wife to a place where Pettigrew spent time as a child brings back memories of his time there along with a haunting childhood nightmare from a stag hunt, he stumbles upon the body of man involved in a stag hunt, but when he returns with help, the body is nowhere to be found!
So-so London lawyer who became involved in government work during WW II has retired into the country life just outside of London. Recently married to a much younger woman, they settle into life in Markhampton.
On holiday with his wife to a place where Pettigrew spent time as a child brings back memories of his time there along with a haunting childhood nightmare from a stag hunt, he stumbles upon the body of man involved in a stag hunt, but when he returns with help, the body is nowhere to be found!
August 7, 2025
This is a surprisingly good story for 1957, which just escapes being historical crime. I like especially the Exmoor pony, the rides on Exmoor, and seeing a blackcock, which is the male black grouse - now extinct on Exmoor.
While on holiday with this wife in an area he visited as a child, the main character tries to avoid seeing a stag hunt but ends up seeing a dead man's body. Much confusion follows over where the body was, who it was, and when it was there. Women are distinct characters and the animals are lively.
I read a paperback reprint. This is an unbiased review.
While on holiday with this wife in an area he visited as a child, the main character tries to avoid seeing a stag hunt but ends up seeing a dead man's body. Much confusion follows over where the body was, who it was, and when it was there. Women are distinct characters and the animals are lively.
I read a paperback reprint. This is an unbiased review.
October 26, 2023
The last in the Pettigrew series due to the authors death aged only 58.
Again a finely crafted intricately plotted Murder mystery involving many suspects & a good few red herrings in true GA style.
Pettigrew is taken on holiday by his wife to a farm on Exmoor not knowing if his childhood visits there with his family. Nor did she know of his belief that during a stag hunt as a child he’d seen a dead body on the moor immediately prior to his pony bolting…
Again a finely crafted intricately plotted Murder mystery involving many suspects & a good few red herrings in true GA style.
Pettigrew is taken on holiday by his wife to a farm on Exmoor not knowing if his childhood visits there with his family. Nor did she know of his belief that during a stag hunt as a child he’d seen a dead body on the moor immediately prior to his pony bolting…
April 6, 2018
Another enjoyable read from Cyril Hare.
He has a lovely writing style, somewhat old fashioned but still beautifully expressed.
A good story line with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader interested but the solution came out in the end and without any daft twists!
He has a lovely writing style, somewhat old fashioned but still beautifully expressed.
A good story line with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader interested but the solution came out in the end and without any daft twists!
June 4, 2022
Just the right thing to read on a plane back from England. Finished it in a couple of hours. Didn't take much thought to read, but stimulated the pleasure centre with mildly amusing characters and more than mildly amusing diction.
November 25, 2023
Great 1950s mystery novel. Interesting case of Pettigrew (Hare's detective) goes back to the site of his youth where he saw a dead body. He was haunted by this, and goes to the same place where he sees another body! Is this magical realism? Fun story.
January 4, 2025
I didn't much care for this narrator, Chris MacDonnell. He didn't put much emotion into it and the straight read made it hard to determine who was who sometimes. Interesting mystery, with a great conclusion!
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