Customer Reviews

Death and the Joyful Woman

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Is vulgarity grounds for murder? Alfred Armiger had antagonized many with his greed and crass acquisitiveness. So when the ruthless beer baron is discovered dead, his head beaten in by a magnum of champagne, there is no shortage of suspects. But all of Comerford is shocked with Detective George Felse arrests Kitty Norris, the daughter of a rival beer baron, the last person to see Armiger alive, and the main beneficiary of his will! But Kitty, charming and popular, has an unexpected advocate in Felse's young son, Dominic, who secretly adores her. Passionately convinced of Kitty's innocence, Dominic sets out to find the true culprit, a hazardous undertaking that might well cost him his life!

Best known for the Brother Cadfael mysteries, Ellis Peters actually wrote the Felse series first, but until recent years, these appealing books have been out of print in the United States. "Death and the Joyful Woman," which received an Edgar Award, deserves a warm welcome from American readers. Peters has told not only an engaging mystery but a sensitive coming-of-age story as well. Characters and relationships are sharply delineated--Dominic is a highly likable teen sleuth and his interactions with his parents, especially his father, are both amusing and touching. And a subplot concerning a struggling young couple and an unusual painting--the Joyful Woman of the title--proves just as involving as the main storyline. Readers of "Fallen into the Pit," Peters' first Felse mystery, may notice that the method Dominic uses to flush out the murderer is similar to the one he employs here, but this is a minor quibble in an otherwise excellent novel. Highly recommended.

Best known for her "Brother Cadfael" series, Ellis Peters (1913-1985) was also the author of thirteen novels featuring Inspector George Felse. Published in 1961, DEATH AND THE JOYFUL WOMAN is the second novel in that series. Like most of Peters' work, it is a lightly written, enjoyable read.

In this particular novel, Inspector Felse is called to the scene of an unlikely homicide: Alfred Armiger, wealthy businessman and owner of the newly opened pub The Jolly Barmaid, has been found clubbed to death with a bottle of champagne. At a guess, the most likely suspect would seem to be Armiger's son Leslie; the two have had a very public falling out. But Leslie Armiger is hardly the only suspect; there is also the young and slightly eccentric heiress Kitty Norton, whose beauty ensnares Felse's young son Dominic. And Dominic may be willing to run any risk to protect her from prison.

JOYFUL WOMAN is among the most critically lauded of Peters' Inspector Felse novels, and with some reason. The characters are particularly well drawn, the plot is quite tight, and it reads at a quick pace. True enough, Peters will never compete with such masters of the genre as Christie, Sayers, or Marsh--and a sharp reader will likely spot the killer in the last third of the novel. Still, JOYFUL WOMAN is a pleasant read and good introduction to Peters' style of "cosy" mystery.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Ellis Peters is a very good author, so I don't understand why she would have used the same trick in each of the first two books in the George Felse series. Also, I thought that this series was a George Felse series, but both of the first two books have his young son Dominic as the key character and the one who actually solves the case in each instance. This book also exposes poor Dominic to an adolescent crush that seems to take over the plot of the story. Needless to say, I was very disappointed with this book. I do hope that subsequent books in the series have different plots and a little less of a certain adolescent boy. In this book a rich business magnate is found brutally murdered in his brand new ballroom in his brand new hotel. The police seem to be at sixes and sevens throughout the book, and it appears that this murder is just "too complicated" for them to solve, but it was easily figured out by Dominic. Disappointed (and that's the first time ever that I've said this about Ellis Peters).