Fallen Into the Pit

Not bad. The only problem with it is that it's too similar to Rainbow's End and Joyful Woman - Dom comes up with a clever (documentary) trap that lands him in severe danger, though he's provided for rescue. If this had been referenced in Joyful Woman it would have been better - but I'm not sure

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what order they were written in. And I remembered the final solution to the mystery but not that it only comes after the whole story's done, to explain the slightly thin motive. Another loose end is Pussy - she's Dom's best friend and other self here, and never shows up again. As an individual story it's very good - straightforward mystery and police procedural, emotional complications of many sorts, musings on the effects of the war on English society, schoolboy pranks and much nastier diversions - full of all manner of things, well-written and well-presented. As part of a series it's a little annoying for its lack of references and lack of being referred to. Overall, good.

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I liked the whole atmosphere in this mystery. It's a village in post-war UK. They are wondering can they go back to life before the war? Should they? It shows how people who are together in a small village their whole lifes manage to get along. I think it has the right balance between being overly

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cheery and dark and menacing. I remember reading kid's mysteries like Trixie Belden. It is a more realistic look at two 13-year olds being detectives.

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Inspector Felse mystery regarding a former German soldier held in the UK who works in an open pit coal mine in 1951.

Vivid post World War 2 setting -- an unpleasant German POW released for farm work is killed after a quarrel that involved a charismatic teacher of Felse's young son Dominic, who investigates on his own. The unpleasant German in peaceful English village setting reminds me of one of the storoes in

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Maning Coles' Nothing to Declare..

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This book is written in a style that certain female British authors seem to have adopted in the 30s through the 50s. Another author who wrote similarly is Mary Renault in her contemporary novels and Dorothy Sayers in her later Lord Peter mysteries. The style is hard to describe, but very

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recognizable and sometimes rather precious and annoying. I read this book in an original edition; it smelled fantastic and made me think of the original readers of this book. Although it is set just a few years after WWII and the plot incorporates elements of the aftermath of the war like former German POWs and ex-commandoes there is no mention of rationing. This may be because this story is set in the country or possibly because the author felt it would be wrong to remind her readers about how hungry they were always feeling.

The plot itself was good, with a convincing revelation in the end, and the clues were fairly placed before the reader.

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Enjoyable story centered on son Dominic and his redoubtable friend, Pussy

Rating: 3.25* of five

Not precisely as expected. The first murder, one which I'd been *panting* after happening since the instant I met the Kraut Eddie Haskell character who is, disappointingly, not boiled in oil after being flayed alive and rolled in finely ground salt, was but the first salvo in

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war.

The War. Mm, yeah, best to put this into its time and place. England in 1951 was still under rationing. The scars of German bombing were everywhere, and the shift from staunchly capitalist to resolutely socialist government had not yet taken hold. The veterans of the fighting were, then as now, seen off with a wave and a pusillanimous "good luck!" from their erstwhile "superiors."

One of those veterans figures in the book as suspect, as well as one point on a love triangle, and strangely enough the schoolmaster-cum-confidant to the peculiarly prominent son of the nominal sleuth. He's got PTSD, as we'd now call it, after half a decade of being a murder machine in order to survive in the wilds of Croatia. And the second murder, of his love-rival, cements his place in the town's mind as The Killer.

But the sleuths? Not so sure. Neither father nor son Felse is at all convinced of Doolally Veteran Dude's desire to murder either victim. Son goes on an extended...more on this anon...search for physical evidence while Father does...does...um. Yeah.

Anyway, the two Felse men end up on the same track in the end and they discover the real murderer's identity due to the same strangely silent clue. They arrive in the same place at the same time, luckily, and they jointly score one for the forces of Right and Justice. But they do so in very different ways, and we only see Son's PoV! What?!

So this is why I'm not giving the book four or more stars. Policeman Felse is largely Father Felse in this book. He's not absent, he's just in a secondary crime-solving position, and that's not quite as satisfying as one might have imagined it to be when plotting out the book, Mme Pargeter/Peters (deceased). Oh, and that third murder? Not quite so sure it was well handled plot and position-wise.

But it was your first mystery, so I shall be kind and not fling it against the wall with panther-screeches of outraged fury.

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I didn't care for this 1st book in the Felse series as much as the Cadfael books. The writing style is lush but not my kind of thing. Plus I thought the mystery was a bit too predictable. However, I liked Dominic and Pussy so I will try another one.

I've read a few of the Inspector Felse books and enjoyed them, and this one was no exception. It features the usual (but not boring!) combination of unpleasant murder victim, a touch of romance, hordes of plausible suspects and entertaining (but not entirely amicable) relationships between the

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various characters. George Felse is sympathetic, and son Dominic teeters charmingly between childishness and maturity.

The viewpoint is omniscient, freely shifting between characters and their thoughts. I generally find that jarring (either being confused by lack of clarity or annoyed by the author obviously withholding knowledge), but in this case the read was very smooth.

Events appeared a touch contrived, with Dominic happening upon clue after clue, but that didn't dectract from my enjoyment. I did have a pretty good idea of the murder's identity (and a final twist) well in advance of the denoument, but I don't think the clues were belaboured.

If you like well-plotted gentle mysteries, this is well worth reading.

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