Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Perennial Library (1978), Paperback
Description
A country house murder mystery classic, as a party find themselves snowed-in on Christmas Eve with a murderer among them . . . The snow is thick, the phone line is down, and no one is getting in or out of Warbeck Hall. All is set for a lovely Christmas, with friends and family gathered round the fire, except as the bells chime midnight, a murder is committed. But who is responsible? The scorned young lover? The lord's passed-over cousin? The social climbing politician's wife? The Czech history professor? The obsequious butler? And perhaps the real question is: Can they survive long enough to find out?
User reviews
LibraryThing member moss_icon
I haven't read any detective fiction since my early teens, but this is a delightful, traditional, easy read. Set at Christmas, it really succeeds at bringing the flavour out from an oft-mined setting, with Hare's writing coming across as exceptionally warm, witty and gripping. It's a simple tale,
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told across a scant number of pages, but it'll keep you turning the pages for the short time it takes you to read it. Although the actual location (Markshire) is fictional, the book does briefly touch on some real world issues, the post-war political aspects are particularly intriguing. Anyway, a lot of fun, probably more so if you live in England and read it in on a dark snowy evening prior to Christmas (as if it ever snows much here now anyway!). Show Less
LibraryThing member JBD1
An excellent little country house mystery. I will definitely be looking out for more of Hare's stories now.
LibraryThing member antiquary
A consciously "classic" English country house mystery at Warbeck Hall, the oldest great country house in Hare's cosy county of Markshire,, investigated by Dr. WEnceslas Bottwick, a Central European historian specializing in 18th century English history, currently a refugee from the Nazis. There are
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the classic elements: the impoverished peer who owns the hall, the snow-bound country house, the faithful butler. Show Less
LibraryThing member anglophile65
Didn't live up to expectations.
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
I really wish that I had not read this book. I have read several books by Cyril hare, and have enjoyed his ingenious plots and well written stories. Unfortunately, this one did not match up at all, and has rather eroded some of my respect for Hare as a master of the vintage whodunit.
Hare’s other
Of course, I should have known better, and asked myself why this novel has been out of print for so long, while his other classics have always been available. Rather too late for such wisdom after the fact, though.
Hare’s other
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novels, and particularly those featuring the languid barrister Francis Pettigrew, were finely crafted stories, often with a legal setting, and stand among the finest of the rich harvest of post-war detective stories. In this book, however, he seemed determined to poke fun at the genre, incorporating every cliché imaginable (a down at heel aristocratic family inhabiting a crumbling stately home that they can no longer afford to maintain, a Christmas setting in which the house is cut off by a drastic snowstorm, and rampant animosities between every character, leaving a plethora of potential suspects when the most unwholesome character is murdered at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve). Unfortunately, Hare does not pull of his parody, and the novel sinks beneath the weight of its own self-ridicule.Of course, I should have known better, and asked myself why this novel has been out of print for so long, while his other classics have always been available. Rather too late for such wisdom after the fact, though.
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LibraryThing member leslie.98
Very enjoyable country house mystery set at Christmas time during a snowstorm. However, if you are looking for a holiday book, this might not be a good choice as Christmas really plays no part in the story except as a reason for the people to have gathered together (and become stranded) at this
Despite the presence of a Scotland Yard man, this is actually a cozy mystery since the solution of the mystery (and much of the detecting) is done by one of the guests, a visiting historian who is doing research using the family archives. He also happens to be a survivor of Auschwitz which lends an interesting edge to the way he perceives the murders, the suspects, and the police.
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country house.Despite the presence of a Scotland Yard man, this is actually a cozy mystery since the solution of the mystery (and much of the detecting) is done by one of the guests,
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LibraryThing member pgchuis
A small group of people are gathered for Christmas when snow cuts them off from the rest of the world (both in terms of the roads and the telephone). The leader of a Fascist group is poisoned by cyanide and one of the small group must be the murderer. Other deaths follow. The characters include a
This was very well written and I liked the dry observations of Dr Bottwink. The motive for the murders is explained by a fact of which I was not aware (and which was only obliquely hinted at in the narrative), but this did not matter.
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Special Branch protection officer assigned to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chancellor himself, the Fascist leader, a European Jew, and (of course) the butler.This was very well written and I liked the dry observations of Dr Bottwink. The motive for the murders is explained by a fact of which I was not aware (and which was only obliquely hinted at in the narrative), but this did not matter.
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LibraryThing member uschulz
amazon: "Tragedy at Law follows a rather self-important High Court judge, Mr Justice Barber, as he moves from town to town presiding over cases in the Southern England circuit. When an anonymous letter arrives for Barber, warning of imminent revenge, he dismisses it as the work of a harmless
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lunatic. But then a second letter appears, followed by a poisoned box of the judge's favourite chocolates, and he begins to fear for his life. Enter barrister and amateur detective Francis Pettigrew, a man who was once in love with Barber's wife and has never quite succeeded in his profession - can he find out who is threatening Barber before it is too late?" Show Less
LibraryThing member michdubb
Clever use of historical trivia but the solution doesn’t quite add up.
LibraryThing member pgmcc
his story was set in an old English stately home over Christmas. On Christmas Eve the snow begins to fall. By morning the house is cut off from the outside world and one of the guests has been murdered. This is a very enjoyable whodunnit.
LibraryThing member BrokenTune
This was fun. My hunch about the solution was not entirely wrong but wrong all the same. I loved the William Pitt clue but the real solution was so much better than what I had thought of.
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Originally published in 1951, An English Murder by Cyril Hare is a post-WWII murder mystery that uses many of the classic ingredients from the Golden Age of Murder Mysteries. He sets his mystery at an English country manor during the Christmas season and has the cast totally snowed in. The use of
Be delving into English hereditary laws and customs, Cyril Hare came up with a unique murder mystery. The guests are a mixed bag and come with assorted tensions both personal and political. As this group of rather unlikable people are being cut down one by one, only one of the guests appears to be trying to solve the mystery. Historian Dr. Bettwink uses his research into old papers, his knowledge of human nature and a book about the life of William Pitt, to decipher the motive behind the three deaths.
I felt that An English Murder was the author’s clever homage to vintage English country house murder mysteries. He tweaked the ingredients just enough to come up with an original and interesting plot and added a more modern touch, well, 1950s modern, by including discussions revolving around class distinction and prejudices. I enjoyed this book and will look for more mysteries by this author.
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Christmas is really only an excuse to have a gathering as there is very little festivity involved in this story.Be delving into English hereditary laws and customs, Cyril Hare came up with a unique murder mystery. The guests are a mixed bag and come with assorted tensions both personal and political. As this group of rather unlikable people are being cut down one by one, only one of the guests appears to be trying to solve the mystery. Historian Dr. Bettwink uses his research into old papers, his knowledge of human nature and a book about the life of William Pitt, to decipher the motive behind the three deaths.
I felt that An English Murder was the author’s clever homage to vintage English country house murder mysteries. He tweaked the ingredients just enough to come up with an original and interesting plot and added a more modern touch, well, 1950s modern, by including discussions revolving around class distinction and prejudices. I enjoyed this book and will look for more mysteries by this author.
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LibraryThing member leslie.98
Very enjoyable country house mystery set at Christmas time during a snowstorm. However, if you are looking for a holiday book, this might not be a good choice as Christmas really plays no part in the story except as a reason for the people to have gathered together (and become stranded) at this
Despite the presence of a Scotland Yard man, this is actually a cozy mystery since the solution of the mystery (and much of the detecting) is done by one of the guests, a visiting historian who is doing research using the family archives. He also happens to be a survivor of Auschwitz which lends an interesting edge to the way he perceives the murders, the suspects, and the police.
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country house.Despite the presence of a Scotland Yard man, this is actually a cozy mystery since the solution of the mystery (and much of the detecting) is done by one of the guests,
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LibraryThing member therebelprince
A satisfying murder mystery which feels deeply classic but also oddly modern. Classic, because it is set in a snowed-in country house over a 36-hour period, with the suspects restricted to our main cast - everyone of them noble on the surface but deeply shabby within - and a bunch of unseen
Like most crime fiction novels, the second half is less exciting than the setup, although the plot holds together quite well. I would like to adapt this for the screen, I think. It could make an enjoyable - and timely - TV film.
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servants, of course. Modern, because this is a novel in which a socialist Chancellor and a neo-Fascist make up two members of the family, whose guests include a variety of upper-class types realising their day is nearly done, lower-class types on the make, and a refugee from Hitler's Europe who sees through all of this nonsense. (More than once, I had to remind myself this was an authentic novel of the 1950s, and not an Anthony Horowitz pastiche.) Like most crime fiction novels, the second half is less exciting than the setup, although the plot holds together quite well. I would like to adapt this for the screen, I think. It could make an enjoyable - and timely - TV film.
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Awards
Language
Original publication date
1951
Physical description
6.8 inches
ISBN
0060804556 / 9780060804558
DDC/MDS
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