Customer Reviews

Death of A Literary Widow

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Barnard has a very different sense of humour, and this book shows this off to advantage. Right from the beginning, the police don't see a crime, but a mild-mannered teacher doesn't follow along with this theory, so he investigates the crime by himself. The plot is tight, and it keeps you guessing until the end. There is still the satire on the stories of detection popularized in the Golden Age. If you like your mysteries with a liberal sprinkling of British humour, and you don't take them to seriously, Robert Barnard is the author for you.

"Death of a Literary Widow" by one of England's top crime writers, Robert Barnard, intrigues readers with two mysteries, one of which is a murder, one a secret shared by two widows. Before World War II Walter Machin had a brief burst of literary notoriety as a writer about working class life, "the poet of work," with a novel and book of short stories. After serving in the war he returned to his roots in the town of Oswaldston. His literary reputation waned. He never published again, and he lived for only a few years more.
His two widows share separate floors of an old house with an attic packed with his old manuscripts. The first wife Hilda and the second, Viola, hate each other and live like two former warring nations sharing an uneasy truce. One of Walter's unpublished novels has been found and is going to be released. The earlier books have been reissued so there is a Walter Machin revival going on with lots of money to be made.
An American scholar, Mr. Kronweiser, is busily transcribing and copying the Machin canon upstairs in the house with the intention of publishing the definitive study of the writer. He's part of the American university rat race called "publish or perish." Barnard says, "His manner mixed false geniality, false sincerity and natural shiftiness, a mixture made familiar by American politicians."
Greg Hocking, a young teacher, who later becomes an amateur detective, has befriended the two widows, and Viola has asked him to warn Hilda in interviews with the press not to say that Viola stole Walter away from her after the war. Hilda is Greg's favorite and is much more fun than Viola, but he does what he can to stave off all-out warfare. Hilda has one grown daughter, and Viola has two grown sons by a previous marriage with her husband Gerald who is still alive.
Barnard concocts devilishly clever plots, builds suspense, sets a fast pace, and has believable characters. He loves to use pubs in his stories, and his stories are furthered by characters who divulge secrets under the impetus of a few pints. Barnard is very good using writers as his focus; he likes to mimic styles and talk about the publishing business.
The ending of the book is a little anti-climactic and isn't completely satisfying.

I know Barnard is supposedly a very good
writer but I just cant seem to get into
his books. They're not ones I "cant put down". Also the title is, Death of a Literary Widow. In an apt bldg live two
elderly women who were both married to the
same man. They seldom talk to each other
probably becausethey cant stand each other.
The first wife living upstairs he divorced.
The 2nd wife living on the first floor she
became a widow when he died. Excuse me for
giving anything away but the first wife got
killed in a fire in the bldg. She was the
divorced wife. The 2nd escaped the fire.
The title would seem to denote that it should be the 2nd wife who dies as she is
the widow-to my way of thinking she should
be the one that gets killed as she was the
widow of their husband. I tend to analyze
little things but just wondered if this
occurred to anyone else.

This book is a pure delight to read --- has a marvelous sense of humor - the characters are well defined, the plot is a puzzle right to the very last paragraph and even though there is no crime as the police see it, a delightful justice is the ending!