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Mrs. Bradley #18
The Rising of the Moon
Every full moon, a Ripper runs amok on the streets of Brentford. Masters Simon and Keith Innes set out to catch the killer under the disturbing guidance of the repellently delightful sleuth, Mrs. Bradley. Full of the very British eccentric goings-on that mark the popular tales of Gladys Mitchell, this shows her at her mordant and morbid best.
223 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
51 people are currently reading
282 people want to read
About the author
Gladys Mitchell
94 books142 followersAka Malcolm Torrie, Stephen Hockaby.
Born in Cowley, Oxford, in 1901, Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell was the daughter of market gardener James Mitchell, and his wife, Annie.
She was educated at Rothschild School, Brentford and Green School, Isleworth, before attending Goldsmiths College and University College, London from 1919-1921.
She taught English, history and games at St Paul's School, Brentford, from 1921-26, and at St Anne's Senior Girls School, Ealing until 1939.
She earned an external diploma in European history from University College in 1926, beginning to write her novels at this point. Mitchell went on to teach at a number of other schools, including the Brentford Senior Girls School (1941-50), and the Matthew Arnold School, Staines (1953-61). She retired to Corfe Mullen, Dorset in 1961, where she lived until her death in 1983.
Although primarily remembered for her mystery novels, and for her detective creation, Mrs. Bradley, who featured in 66 of her novels, Mitchell also published ten children's books under her own name, historical fiction under the pseudonym Stephen Hockaby, and more detective fiction under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie. She also wrote a great many short stories, all of which were first published in the Evening Standard.
She was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger Award in 1976.
Born in Cowley, Oxford, in 1901, Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell was the daughter of market gardener James Mitchell, and his wife, Annie.
She was educated at Rothschild School, Brentford and Green School, Isleworth, before attending Goldsmiths College and University College, London from 1919-1921.
She taught English, history and games at St Paul's School, Brentford, from 1921-26, and at St Anne's Senior Girls School, Ealing until 1939.
She earned an external diploma in European history from University College in 1926, beginning to write her novels at this point. Mitchell went on to teach at a number of other schools, including the Brentford Senior Girls School (1941-50), and the Matthew Arnold School, Staines (1953-61). She retired to Corfe Mullen, Dorset in 1961, where she lived until her death in 1983.
Although primarily remembered for her mystery novels, and for her detective creation, Mrs. Bradley, who featured in 66 of her novels, Mitchell also published ten children's books under her own name, historical fiction under the pseudonym Stephen Hockaby, and more detective fiction under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie. She also wrote a great many short stories, all of which were first published in the Evening Standard.
She was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger Award in 1976.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
June 5, 2014
Spoilers.
Flawed, intriguing Golden-Era style mystery, written in 1945, which is a lot late for that Era. Author Mitchell has a mashup going here, with a boys-own adventure vying for the edge against a village-cozy mystery, occasionally veering into other territory. (Also a cracked-jewelbox Edmund Crispin style mystery, it should be said).
A lot of stage direction, basically a continuing dolly-shot, follows a pair of adolescent boys and takes us in; the location is a Thameside village sometime before the era of publication, far enough from London to be its own island of drama, near enough to be vulnerable to big city evil. Within the town, there is no end to the connections and pathways: “ ... I did not dream of crossing the lock-gates and the footbridge on my return, but hurried up the slope of the road bridge and came out where the old chapel used to be, and so to the bustle of the high street, glad (for the first time, I think) to see street lamps as well as the moon, and to hear the noisy buses and grating trams instead of the little sounds of the flowing water...”
For some reason, and without aid of a map, the reader is guided, maneuvered, reversed and re-routed throughout the entire length of the book. The pace of the story is tight and driven enough to keep us on the trail, but really: “... This time the bridge was that which carried the alternative path—for the path I had selected branched off from another at about a hundred yards from the village of boats--over the canal to a path which was not part of the towing path but had been made for the convenience, I suppose, of the men who used the small dock at the mouth of our river. The bridge was narrow and high. A stone ramp led steeply up to it, and on the other side of this ramp there was a handrail which was continued up to and over the bridge...”
Luchino Visconti directed a film called 'Le Notti Bianche' that visually presented this kind of milieu, and benefitted from the sleepwalking 'maze' quality in alleys, mews, canals, bridges, lock-gates, etc-- almost entirely by moonlight. But the bookish version of same doesn't really pull it off. Any dedicated mystery reader, myself included, would probably have been game to give this a chance with a map on the flyleaf, but as it is ...
Mitchell is good at the scene change, hastening the next act and deftly placing the hinges where the reader doesn't notice. She's not so good at Orientation, and substitutes a game of Chutes & Ladders where she might have been better off with a simpler locale. (Or a map. Did I say map?)
Alongside the merry chase up and down the bridges, we have something here in the best tradition of the 'Cozy' -- where eccentricity, and the harmlessness of Quirk -- turn sharply to terror, on the turn of a page. As we get to the end of the convoluted wandering of the boys and the climax draws close, there is a kind of sickly-sweet quality of Ruin and Rot, just below the placid surface of things. The scene where a man's head is found under the cover of a kettle boiling on a deserted hearth-- and is identified by the one, black tooth .. takes us right into a Grimm's tale in an enchanted wood.
As much of the story also takes place in an Antique Shop, we also get the ephemera and flotsam washed onto the shore of the Edwardian-era empire, although not developed into an active element. (For us, damascened sabers and Indian Goddesses, Japanese lacquers and daggers in velvet scabbards are the indicators of distant misadventures; not so in the author's day.) It's been sketched in conscientiously, though.
In the end, it's a worthwhile if confounding ride, for a short mystery. The author's idea to stack and cascade her scenery as she does her clues looks less like the Escher graphic it might have seemed in the original conception. But there are moments enough of original English Mystery strangeness-- to make it a rewarding read. Take a compass.
October 13, 2021
One of the best Mrs Bradley stories I've read.
Dark and gothic from start to end, and where as sometimes her writing loses momentum with this book it just gains and gains.
A good October read.
Dark and gothic from start to end, and where as sometimes her writing loses momentum with this book it just gains and gains.
A good October read.
March 27, 2022
3.5 - I don’t read murder mysteries or crime thrillers and I’m not quite sure how The Rising of the Moon came to be in my possession. Anyway, it was quite fun to read this 1945 tale of two young brothers trying to solve a series of gruesome murders (women with their throats slit), taking place in their country town. I probably would have loved this book at age thirteen when I was devouring every Agatha Christie under the sun and trying to write my own whodunnits. Now, I found it too wordy and far-fetched, although I guess you're supposed to suspend disbelief with this sort of book and just go along for the bloody ride. I did, however, like the close relationship between the two brothers.
July 8, 2015
The Rising of the Moon is the most poignant of all of Gladys Mitchell's novels. Narrated by a gentle and perceptive 13-year-old orphan, the novel conjures up both the carefree atmosphere that always penetrates a school holiday and the awkwardness of living as a poor relation. The novel's subtle and fair portrayals of all the characters -- their strengths and their fecklessnesses -- makes this the best Mrs. Bradley novel I've read yet.
Simon Innes and his 11-year-old brother Keith spend their days wandering and playing in their idyllic town of Brentford some time prior to World War II. The boys live with their older, irresponsible brother Jack and his beleaguered and irascible wife June, but, for all that, they lead a more or less carefree existence until a madman begins murdering young women at night during the full moons. Romantically imagining themselves detectives, the two boys begin investigating the horrid crimes. But what they find makes them begin to suspect that their own brother Jack might be involved.
When Dame Beatrice Lestrange Bradley, psychiatrist to the Home Office and sleuth, arrives on the scene a little over a third of the way through the book, she partners with the Innes brothers to unmask a serial killer. Usually, delaying the detective's arrival weakens a mystery novel -- Ngaio Marsh's Overture To Death comes to mind -- but not in this case!
The Rising of the Moon paints a nuanced portrait of the Innes household. One can taste the longing of the Innes boys for a time when their parents still provided a more normalized life for them and before they had to shift with one self-absorbed guardian and one sometimes resentful one. One feels the pangs of young, unrequitable love through Simon's idolization of Christina, the kind-hearted, pretty young woman who lodges at the Innes household. One cringes as Jack tactlessly evokes jealousy in his wife, showing chivalrous kindnesses toward Christina that it never occurs to him to extend to June. One even feels for June, trapped in a marriage with a man who refuses to grow up and forced by circumstance to play mother to two boys in addition to her own 3-year-old. One admires the cleverness that Simon and Keith display, first in trying to assist the police and then in trying to foil them and protect Jack. The novel's suspenseful ending kept me reading into the wee hours. How wonderful that the novel has returned to print! But how sad that more people don't know about it!
I truly loved The Saltmarsh Murders, and I didn't think that Mitchell could improve on that slyly funny novel. But The Rising of the Moon is one of the best novels I've read in any genre. I won't soon forget the Innes brothers' exciting adventure.
Simon Innes and his 11-year-old brother Keith spend their days wandering and playing in their idyllic town of Brentford some time prior to World War II. The boys live with their older, irresponsible brother Jack and his beleaguered and irascible wife June, but, for all that, they lead a more or less carefree existence until a madman begins murdering young women at night during the full moons. Romantically imagining themselves detectives, the two boys begin investigating the horrid crimes. But what they find makes them begin to suspect that their own brother Jack might be involved.
When Dame Beatrice Lestrange Bradley, psychiatrist to the Home Office and sleuth, arrives on the scene a little over a third of the way through the book, she partners with the Innes brothers to unmask a serial killer. Usually, delaying the detective's arrival weakens a mystery novel -- Ngaio Marsh's Overture To Death comes to mind -- but not in this case!
The Rising of the Moon paints a nuanced portrait of the Innes household. One can taste the longing of the Innes boys for a time when their parents still provided a more normalized life for them and before they had to shift with one self-absorbed guardian and one sometimes resentful one. One feels the pangs of young, unrequitable love through Simon's idolization of Christina, the kind-hearted, pretty young woman who lodges at the Innes household. One cringes as Jack tactlessly evokes jealousy in his wife, showing chivalrous kindnesses toward Christina that it never occurs to him to extend to June. One even feels for June, trapped in a marriage with a man who refuses to grow up and forced by circumstance to play mother to two boys in addition to her own 3-year-old. One admires the cleverness that Simon and Keith display, first in trying to assist the police and then in trying to foil them and protect Jack. The novel's suspenseful ending kept me reading into the wee hours. How wonderful that the novel has returned to print! But how sad that more people don't know about it!
I truly loved The Saltmarsh Murders, and I didn't think that Mitchell could improve on that slyly funny novel. But The Rising of the Moon is one of the best novels I've read in any genre. I won't soon forget the Innes brothers' exciting adventure.
May 29, 2014
Not only an awesome mystery but an even better than excellent period piece. These brothers (11 and 13 their ages) are street savvy beyond the English village cozy, let me tell you. This is NOT an easy read. It holds dialect, colloquial language/reference and also oodles of locational detail for its short page length. It's written in another era and yet it's creepy, creepy factor-STILL HUGE by today's standards. I am having a hard time locating a copy of another Gladys Mitchell work- but I'll not give up. Just excellent human nature and psychology of different ages (kids and elderly to a T)on top of it.
This kept me guessing into the last 40 pages and illuminated beyond the horrid and savage crimes of the mystery element within the story. The family and social circle story was just as pure and solid a tale. EXCELLENT. It only lost a star for me, in that the completion was just a bit too pat and also bit the end of the nasty one off too quickly.
This kept me guessing into the last 40 pages and illuminated beyond the horrid and savage crimes of the mystery element within the story. The family and social circle story was just as pure and solid a tale. EXCELLENT. It only lost a star for me, in that the completion was just a bit too pat and also bit the end of the nasty one off too quickly.
January 22, 2013
Publicado en http://lecturaylocura.com/cuando-sale...
Ediciones Nevsky, de la que ya he hablado alguna vez, gracias a su sello Fábulas de Albión, inaugurado durante este año pasado, están enriqueciendo su catálogo y, por qué no decirlo, mejorado aún más si cabe la calidad de las obras que están publicando; ya que, al evidente catálogo de escritores rusos y afines a lo ruso, se están uniendo ahora obras de otro tipo de temática, más oscura, tirando al gótico y que vienen a complementar extraordinariamente a una de las editoriales más interesantes del panorama actual.
Dentro de estas obras nos encontramos ahora con “Cuando sale la luna” de la autora británica Gladys Mitchell. Esta escritora, contemporánea de Agatha Christie y Dorothy L. Sayers, era una de las “tres grandes damas” de la ficción detectivesca los años 30 del siglo XX, la menos conocida de las tres, al menos por aquí, pero perteneciente como ellas al fabuloso “Detection Club”: la edad dorada de las historias de detectives. Su obra se caracterizó por utilizar lo clásico del género para intentar una interpretación más personal, llevando la novela policíaca a estructuras más novedosas, utilizando psicología freudiana y desembocando, según las circunstancias en novelas más oscuras, jugando con lo sobrenatural y creando casi novelas góticas.
En “Cuando sale la luna” tenemos a un asesino destripador que actúa en las noches de luna llena y que alterará la vida de un tranquilo lugar de vacaciones en la campiña británica, y muy especialmente la de los hermanos Keith y Simon Innes (el narrador), que, debido a la acusación que pende sobre su hermano mayor harán las pesquisas necesarias para averiguar el causante de los asesinatos.
La novela, en esta ocasión parte de un planteamiento tremendamente clásico, pero utilizando estas reglas le sirve para crear una historia más oscura, no revoluciona en cuanto a lo estructural, pero sí en cuanto a la caracterización psicológica de los personajes y en dotar de atmósfera, tenebrosa, a medio camino en lo macabro y el cuento de hadas desde el punto de vista del niño; la luna se convierte, claramente, en uno de los personajes del libro: “Para mí la luz de la luna siempre lo inundaba todo de un efecto tan romántico como siniestro. Aquel hombre peligroso estaba dentro de mis ideas sobre la noche”, omnipresente en todas sus páginas y dotando de un aire siniestro o lírico a la trama según el momento.
La novela, en estos parámetros, es deliciosa, además de reflejar lo que piensan los niños, también le sirve para pintar una situación social que vivía, en aquel tiempo de entreguerras la sociedad inglesa más costumbrista y le da un aire que en algunos momentos tira a lo mágico, como podemos ver en el excelente párrafo que pongo a continuación:
“La luna se volvía más pequeña y luminosa. Se estaba agrandando, volviéndose enorme. El efecto era el de un cuento de hadas, irreal, una ensoñación, hermoso. La maleza veraniega que bordeaba el canal era alta y untuosa. Las hierbas estivales comenzaban a crecer formando arbustos. Ya hacía tiempo que había pasado la flor del espino, y las hojas eran espesas y entretejidas. En la orilla opuesta altos árboles se elevaban ennegrecidos contra la luz de la luna, ante nosotros vimos las siluetas de las vigas, líneas pesadas y gruesas, del puente de la vía del tren al otro lado del agua.”
Estamos ante una prosista excepcional y que complementa maravillosamente las clásicas novelas de detectives del resto de miembros del mejor club de detectives de ficción de la historia. Espero que tenga éxito, ya que la escritora tiene más de 65 libros en su haber y, posiblemente, sean, al menos, de una calidad parecida a este; tendríamos diversión garantizada durante mucho tiempo.
Ediciones Nevsky, de la que ya he hablado alguna vez, gracias a su sello Fábulas de Albión, inaugurado durante este año pasado, están enriqueciendo su catálogo y, por qué no decirlo, mejorado aún más si cabe la calidad de las obras que están publicando; ya que, al evidente catálogo de escritores rusos y afines a lo ruso, se están uniendo ahora obras de otro tipo de temática, más oscura, tirando al gótico y que vienen a complementar extraordinariamente a una de las editoriales más interesantes del panorama actual.
Dentro de estas obras nos encontramos ahora con “Cuando sale la luna” de la autora británica Gladys Mitchell. Esta escritora, contemporánea de Agatha Christie y Dorothy L. Sayers, era una de las “tres grandes damas” de la ficción detectivesca los años 30 del siglo XX, la menos conocida de las tres, al menos por aquí, pero perteneciente como ellas al fabuloso “Detection Club”: la edad dorada de las historias de detectives. Su obra se caracterizó por utilizar lo clásico del género para intentar una interpretación más personal, llevando la novela policíaca a estructuras más novedosas, utilizando psicología freudiana y desembocando, según las circunstancias en novelas más oscuras, jugando con lo sobrenatural y creando casi novelas góticas.
En “Cuando sale la luna” tenemos a un asesino destripador que actúa en las noches de luna llena y que alterará la vida de un tranquilo lugar de vacaciones en la campiña británica, y muy especialmente la de los hermanos Keith y Simon Innes (el narrador), que, debido a la acusación que pende sobre su hermano mayor harán las pesquisas necesarias para averiguar el causante de los asesinatos.
La novela, en esta ocasión parte de un planteamiento tremendamente clásico, pero utilizando estas reglas le sirve para crear una historia más oscura, no revoluciona en cuanto a lo estructural, pero sí en cuanto a la caracterización psicológica de los personajes y en dotar de atmósfera, tenebrosa, a medio camino en lo macabro y el cuento de hadas desde el punto de vista del niño; la luna se convierte, claramente, en uno de los personajes del libro: “Para mí la luz de la luna siempre lo inundaba todo de un efecto tan romántico como siniestro. Aquel hombre peligroso estaba dentro de mis ideas sobre la noche”, omnipresente en todas sus páginas y dotando de un aire siniestro o lírico a la trama según el momento.
La novela, en estos parámetros, es deliciosa, además de reflejar lo que piensan los niños, también le sirve para pintar una situación social que vivía, en aquel tiempo de entreguerras la sociedad inglesa más costumbrista y le da un aire que en algunos momentos tira a lo mágico, como podemos ver en el excelente párrafo que pongo a continuación:
“La luna se volvía más pequeña y luminosa. Se estaba agrandando, volviéndose enorme. El efecto era el de un cuento de hadas, irreal, una ensoñación, hermoso. La maleza veraniega que bordeaba el canal era alta y untuosa. Las hierbas estivales comenzaban a crecer formando arbustos. Ya hacía tiempo que había pasado la flor del espino, y las hojas eran espesas y entretejidas. En la orilla opuesta altos árboles se elevaban ennegrecidos contra la luz de la luna, ante nosotros vimos las siluetas de las vigas, líneas pesadas y gruesas, del puente de la vía del tren al otro lado del agua.”
Estamos ante una prosista excepcional y que complementa maravillosamente las clásicas novelas de detectives del resto de miembros del mejor club de detectives de ficción de la historia. Espero que tenga éxito, ya que la escritora tiene más de 65 libros en su haber y, posiblemente, sean, al menos, de una calidad parecida a este; tendríamos diversión garantizada durante mucho tiempo.
April 1, 2022
The best Mrs. Bradley so far.
Gladys Mitchell has evolved a formula for a Mrs. Bradley mystery. Something happens somewhere and there is someone relating those events. That someone may be a relation or just a friend and eventually seeks Mrs. Bradley's help. Sometimes, as is the case here, it is a total stranger who tells the story and it is the Home Office which brings her into the case.
Simon, the older of two brothers 13 and 11, tells the story. The characters, the family dynamics, the setting are all very convincingly done. So much so that you begin to wonder about Gladys Mitchell's own childhood, her own outlook at that age. The emotions here are more fully formed and deeper.
Gladys Mitchell has evolved a formula for a Mrs. Bradley mystery. Something happens somewhere and there is someone relating those events. That someone may be a relation or just a friend and eventually seeks Mrs. Bradley's help. Sometimes, as is the case here, it is a total stranger who tells the story and it is the Home Office which brings her into the case.
Simon, the older of two brothers 13 and 11, tells the story. The characters, the family dynamics, the setting are all very convincingly done. So much so that you begin to wonder about Gladys Mitchell's own childhood, her own outlook at that age. The emotions here are more fully formed and deeper.
December 6, 2017
This was the second Gladys Mitchell I read (I'm now ploughing through my third) and it won me over completely. Mrs Bradley, the series detective, haunts the edges of the story but the narrator and protagonist is really a young teenager, Simon Innes. He and his younger brother Keith are orphans living with their unsettled older brother and his wife. (The first among many bits of cleverness: Mitchell somehow has Simon convey that she deserves our sympathy even though he himself dislikes her and, indeed, wishes her dead.) The setting is pre-war Brentford, a small town rather than a suburb of London, populated by characters out of Dickens, Wodehouse and early social realism. The mystery isn't quite mysterious enough to make this a great crime novel, but as a macabre, charming, funny novel that just happens to revolve around a crime, I can't fault it.
February 3, 2021
This is my favourite of Gladys Mitchell’s Mrs Bradley books that I’ve read to date. It feels very different to many of her other stories which, to be fair, can be variable in quality,
The book is narrated by 13 year old Simon Innes, an orphan living with his older brother and wife. It catches the trusting, gung-ho risk-taking spirit, youthful passions and occasional fear of teenage Innes and his wise 11 year old brother perfectly. As the boys are the star, Mrs Bradley takes a bit of a back-seat but certainly adds her usual colour in the usual ways, and give the story an edge.
There are several gruesome murders, and a slow build up to get you guessing. It’s a clever, poignant story.
I loved this book, and it’s rekindled my passion for Mitchell.
The book is narrated by 13 year old Simon Innes, an orphan living with his older brother and wife. It catches the trusting, gung-ho risk-taking spirit, youthful passions and occasional fear of teenage Innes and his wise 11 year old brother perfectly. As the boys are the star, Mrs Bradley takes a bit of a back-seat but certainly adds her usual colour in the usual ways, and give the story an edge.
There are several gruesome murders, and a slow build up to get you guessing. It’s a clever, poignant story.
I loved this book, and it’s rekindled my passion for Mitchell.
August 21, 2022
Two precociously smart boys take it upon themselves to solve a series of murders in their muddy, seedy, boozy riverside town. Their involvement is both crucial and almost disastrous - fortunately Mrs Bradley is on hand to steer them right.
Not as strong - or as mysterious - as the other Mrs Bradley story I’ve read (Dead Man’s Morris) but there’s lots to enjoy here, particularly in the characterisation of the boy wannabe-detectives: Gladys Mitchell has an excellent handle on the overconfidence (and dreadful naivety) of clever children, keenly but incompletely observant of everything from vital clues to their older brother’s miserable marriage. Even so their actions after their ghastly discovery in the penultimate chapter stretch credulity - as their own narration admits.
Not as strong - or as mysterious - as the other Mrs Bradley story I’ve read (Dead Man’s Morris) but there’s lots to enjoy here, particularly in the characterisation of the boy wannabe-detectives: Gladys Mitchell has an excellent handle on the overconfidence (and dreadful naivety) of clever children, keenly but incompletely observant of everything from vital clues to their older brother’s miserable marriage. Even so their actions after their ghastly discovery in the penultimate chapter stretch credulity - as their own narration admits.
Want to read
March 22, 2019Synopsis: every full moon, a Ripper runs amok in Brentford; Mrs. Bradley assists Simon and Keith to catch the killer.
January 18, 2013
Un muy interesante descubrimiento: Gladys Mitchell. Una de las grandes damas de la literatura policíaca británica de la época clásica, junto a Agatha Christie y Dorothy L. Sayers; por desgracia, no goza de la misma fama que ellas en la actualidad, espero que la publicación de varias de sus obras anime a redescubrirla.
En cuanto al libro, es muy original: el narrador es un niño y cuenta como él y su hermano se ven envueltos en la investigación de una serie de crímenes que tienen lugar en un tranquilo pueblecito. Al principio no pasa de ser un pasatiempo y una forma de escapar de la vigilancia de los adultos, pero pronto se convierte en algo mucho más serio cuando su hermano mayor es sospechoso de ser el asesino. Una galería de personajes muy bien construidos, una improbable detective, mezcla de Miss Marple y psiquiatra y, sobre todo, una forma de narrar que atrapa y hace que se lea la novela de un tirón. Lo mejor, las descripciones, que generalmente son tediosas y con Mitchell resultan cautivadoras, y el personaje del narrador: es muy deifícil hacer que el protagonista sea un niño y resulte creíble, sin ñoñerías o pedanterías; generalmente suelen resultar niños repelentes o completamente irreales. En este caso, el protagonista y su hermano me recuerdan mucho a los Jem y Scout de "Matar a un ruiseñor".
La única pega que le pongo a este estupendo libro es la horrible edición, plagada de erratas y faltas de ortografía atroces. Hacen que a veces estés más pendiente de cazar el fallo que de la lectura.
En cuanto al libro, es muy original: el narrador es un niño y cuenta como él y su hermano se ven envueltos en la investigación de una serie de crímenes que tienen lugar en un tranquilo pueblecito. Al principio no pasa de ser un pasatiempo y una forma de escapar de la vigilancia de los adultos, pero pronto se convierte en algo mucho más serio cuando su hermano mayor es sospechoso de ser el asesino. Una galería de personajes muy bien construidos, una improbable detective, mezcla de Miss Marple y psiquiatra y, sobre todo, una forma de narrar que atrapa y hace que se lea la novela de un tirón. Lo mejor, las descripciones, que generalmente son tediosas y con Mitchell resultan cautivadoras, y el personaje del narrador: es muy deifícil hacer que el protagonista sea un niño y resulte creíble, sin ñoñerías o pedanterías; generalmente suelen resultar niños repelentes o completamente irreales. En este caso, el protagonista y su hermano me recuerdan mucho a los Jem y Scout de "Matar a un ruiseñor".
La única pega que le pongo a este estupendo libro es la horrible edición, plagada de erratas y faltas de ortografía atroces. Hacen que a veces estés más pendiente de cazar el fallo que de la lectura.
February 28, 2009
I'm only half way through but enjoying it. Set in small town in pre-WWI England, the narrator is 13-year old Simon Innes. Simon describes himself a the Watson to his younger brother Keith. A "Ripper" is going through the town killing young ladies and Mitchell's detective, Mrs. Bradley of the 'claw like hands' and beautiful voice, has teamed up with the kids to find the killer. Mitchell was born in 1901 and in modern terms her style is a bit dated but very nice. She is literate in a way that seems common to British writers of that age, and evokes mood and the minds of two precocious kids fairly believably. If I can, I will update the review when I finish.
To see my Amazon.com reviews, try this
To see my Amazon.com reviews, try this
November 19, 2015
This started out a bit of a slog, but had me on the edge of my seat by the end. The intrepid brothers Simon and Keith are quite the young detectives, and later accompanied by Mrs. Bradley who is Miss Marple-ish in her crime solving abilities. The area it takes place in was confusing to me-I think the language used compounded that. The relationship with the young lady boarding with the boys, their older brother/guardian and his wife was a strange one. Overall a great mystery plot and cast of characters.
December 29, 2025
Un final bastante macabro para una novela cuasi-gótica sobre un pequeño pueblo asolado por un vil asesino de chicas jovenes al mas puro estilo Jack el Destripador. La historia no es tanto un misterio como una especie de historia estilo Los Cinco pero para un público adulto en la que dos curiosos jovenes se entrometen en una investigación de los asesinatos antes mencionados. No es, a pesar de la juventud de sus protagonistas y el hecho de que estos estén escritos como lo que son, niños de trece y once años respectivamente, una novela juvenil, y como he mencionado tiene un final bastante cargado de suspense y con un giro muy macabro. Por su parte, no es quizá el mejor libro para conocer a Mrs. Bradley, la habitual protagonista de los libros de Mitchell, pues aparece tarde y poco, quedando relegada a personaje secundario que actúa más como mentora de Simon Innes, narrador y protagonista verdadero.
No en vano, la recomiendo mucho si te gustan las historias de misterio y suspense, pues está bastante bien escrita.
No en vano, la recomiendo mucho si te gustan las historias de misterio y suspense, pues está bastante bien escrita.
May 4, 2017
Mrs Bradley doesn't put in an appearance until nearly half way through this mystery novel. The story is told, it would appear in retrospect, by a 13 year old boy who, with his 11 year old brother become interested in a series of murders of young women in their rural London suburb. They are from a family it would seem one step up from working class. Their older brother, with whom they live, is more interested in their young female border than his wife and young son. Actually, whenever he appeared the very small boy was one of my favorite characters. At the very end I was not quite sure what part the rag and bone man had played and what part the antiques dealer had, although she was certainly off her rocker.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 1, 2021
#18 in the Mrs Adela Bradley mystery series. A fully qualified medical doctor and a psychoanalyst (Freudian), she is a consultant for the Home Office and an amateur detective who teams with her chauffeur George Cuddleup and her secretary Laura Menzies to solve mysteries who don't join the series until later.
Could there be a Jack-the-Ripper copycat in the sleepy village of Brentford near London? Women are being murdered when there is a full moon. Young brothers Simon,13 and the narrator, and Keith, 11, Innes discover that their brother Jack was mysteriously absent from their home on that last moonlit night and try to protect him. They are the real stars of this mystery and, with the help of Mrs. Bradley, they investigate to clear his name.
Could there be a Jack-the-Ripper copycat in the sleepy village of Brentford near London? Women are being murdered when there is a full moon. Young brothers Simon,13 and the narrator, and Keith, 11, Innes discover that their brother Jack was mysteriously absent from their home on that last moonlit night and try to protect him. They are the real stars of this mystery and, with the help of Mrs. Bradley, they investigate to clear his name.
June 14, 2022
Four and a half stars: Mitchell was a wonderful writer and this book is very satisfying. Its narrator is a 13 year old boy (although he seems older than his years), who with his 11 year old brother lead a comfortable life despite losing both parents and having to live with their older married brother. The murders start almost immediately, but Mrs. Bradley doesn't appear for 100 pages, so it's mostly the boys observations that carry the story.
My one minor gripe is the absence of a map of the area, since there are so many descriptions of the layout of the town and various canals, bridges, streets, farms, manor houses, etc., that it would have been fun to follow the travels along graphically.
My one minor gripe is the absence of a map of the area, since there are so many descriptions of the layout of the town and various canals, bridges, streets, farms, manor houses, etc., that it would have been fun to follow the travels along graphically.
May 19, 2023
WOW!!*
I just finished the Rising of the Moon by Gladys Mitchell and it was the best yet! I'm glad that Kindle Unlimited doled out her novels in such a seemingly haphazard manner.
I've read most of the 65 books and have preferred to read any of The Dame Beatrice /Mrs Bradley series
than anything else in this past year or so.
Mrs Mitchell created the most interesting characters in the series-
Mrs Bradley, who later becomes Dame Beatrice, her secretary and Watson, Laura, and Laura's husband, Gavin, who works his way from cop to a high position in Scotland Yard.
(+ Mrs Bradley's relatives and friends).
But this story is told by a 13 yo boy, as he and his younger brother are on the scene when the murders begin-
I just finished the Rising of the Moon by Gladys Mitchell and it was the best yet! I'm glad that Kindle Unlimited doled out her novels in such a seemingly haphazard manner.
I've read most of the 65 books and have preferred to read any of The Dame Beatrice /Mrs Bradley series
than anything else in this past year or so.
Mrs Mitchell created the most interesting characters in the series-
Mrs Bradley, who later becomes Dame Beatrice, her secretary and Watson, Laura, and Laura's husband, Gavin, who works his way from cop to a high position in Scotland Yard.
(+ Mrs Bradley's relatives and friends).
But this story is told by a 13 yo boy, as he and his younger brother are on the scene when the murders begin-
March 12, 2025
This was first published in 1945 and is narrated by the 13 year old Simon Innes. He and his younger brother Keith are the chief protagonists in the novel with Mrs Bradley coming into the story about half way through.
The blurb on the cover says that the story is set in Brentford, certainly it's somewhere between London and Oxford and a case could be made for a number of places. So it may well be that Gadys Mitchell concatenated a number of towns into her description, I don't know Brentford, amd I suspect it was considerably different in 1945 to what it is like now, so i couldn't say.
It's an interesting book and definitely gives you a feel of post war life. In many ways it is a dark book but worth taking a chance on.
The blurb on the cover says that the story is set in Brentford, certainly it's somewhere between London and Oxford and a case could be made for a number of places. So it may well be that Gadys Mitchell concatenated a number of towns into her description, I don't know Brentford, amd I suspect it was considerably different in 1945 to what it is like now, so i couldn't say.
It's an interesting book and definitely gives you a feel of post war life. In many ways it is a dark book but worth taking a chance on.
February 5, 2020
Certainly the best Mrs Bradley novel I've read to this point. Wrote from the point of view of schoolboy Simon Innes it follows his high imagination when a Jack the Ripper style murder starts killing young woman during the full moon. Simon and his younger brother Keith investigate and summise has to who the killer is while showing endless fascination for their lodger Christina, a young shop girl who dotes on them in equal measure. Mrs Bradley plays only a small role in the novel and points the boys in their quest for truth. While Gladys Mitchell is not to everyone's taste The Rising of the Moon has a much broader appeal.
November 28, 2020
It’s unclear to me exactly what kind of book Mitchell had set out to write here: it doesn’t work as juvenile adventure story, even though it follows the far-fetched exploits of a couple of kids. As a crime novel, it lacks the sort of tension required for that genre to succeed. If it’s supposed to be a mystery, it’s neither the “cozy” sort nor a compelling detective novel. Mrs. Bradley, the self-appointed detective only makes her first appearance about 100 pages in. And as far as I’m concerned, she wasn’t worth the wait. The plot is shaky, the atmosphere vague, the dialogue off-kilter, the characters uninteresting. Altogether, a deeply flawed mish-mash.
October 31, 2021
I was surprised that although this is a Mrs Bradley novel she is such a peripheral character. The story is told by Simon who with his brother Keith does most of the sleuthing when a serial killer strikes in Brentford.
In some ways Mrs Bradley is a deus ex machina who provides information the boys wouldnt otherwise have access to and who provides them a pass into situations that they would otherwise be excluded from. It is an interesting device.
I didnt guess whodunnit.
In some ways Mrs Bradley is a deus ex machina who provides information the boys wouldnt otherwise have access to and who provides them a pass into situations that they would otherwise be excluded from. It is an interesting device.
I didnt guess whodunnit.
August 1, 2025
This mystery novel was everything I wanted in a murder mystery when I read this as a child. It was filled with suspense, intrigue, and a twist I had been dying for
The only reason this doesn't have a five star rating is because it isn't clear that this is part of a series, the eighteenth book to be precise, which would have been great to know before starting the story. Otherwise, this was rather enjoyable read.
The only reason this doesn't have a five star rating is because it isn't clear that this is part of a series, the eighteenth book to be precise, which would have been great to know before starting the story. Otherwise, this was rather enjoyable read.
March 17, 2017
Gruesome murder story narrated by 13 year old boy
The Rising of the Moon didn't reveal Mrs. Bradley until well into the story. The main characters were two brothers, ages 13 and 11. Simon, the older brother, narrates the adventure and we follow the gruesome murders through his eyes. Interesting and exciting read with well developed characters.
The Rising of the Moon didn't reveal Mrs. Bradley until well into the story. The main characters were two brothers, ages 13 and 11. Simon, the older brother, narrates the adventure and we follow the gruesome murders through his eyes. Interesting and exciting read with well developed characters.
February 22, 2018
Didn't realize this was part of a series.
Two boys in a small town in England help solve a rash of murders that plague their town. I think this was one my mother picked up at a library book sale. Found it when we were clearing out our mountain cabin.
Two boys in a small town in England help solve a rash of murders that plague their town. I think this was one my mother picked up at a library book sale. Found it when we were clearing out our mountain cabin.
January 27, 2018
Really enjoyed this tale!
March 30, 2021
Review to come.
October 5, 2022
Love Gladys
December 22, 2022
quite the "ripping" (ha ha) yarn
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