Hasty Death: An Edwardian Murder Mystery (Edwardian Murder Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Marion Chesney (Author)

Book Description

Series: Edwardian Murder Mysteries | Publication Date: April 5, 2005

Lady Rose Summer refuses to abide by her parents' insistence that she marry. Even more distressing, she wants to become self-supporting by moving out with her maid Daisy and going to work in trade. On advice from Captain Harry Cathcart-a noble-born private investigator who knows the independent-minded Rose all too well-the Earl and Countess of Hadshire agree to let Rose work as a typist and live in a women's hostel. It isn't long before Rose realizes that life as a working woman isn't quite what she imagined...or before she inadvertently discovers that recently-murdered playboy Freddy Pomfret was a blackmailer. In order to investigate properly, Rose must now return to London high society's glittering, treacherous rounds. And from elegant London townhouses that conceal ugly secrets to a tranquil country estate where danger lurks along every path, she and Harry will follow a trail of deception, rumors, and devious plots-even as a singularly calculating killer prepares to end the rebellious Lady Rose's sleuthing for good.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lady Rose Summer, the willful, spoiled and charming heroine of British veteran Chesney's light historical series that began with 2003's Snobbery with Violence, decides to break the class barriers and go out into the working world with her maid Daisy. Their adventures include a kidnapping, narrow escapes, a daring rescue and of course murder. After returning to the comforts of her London home, Lady Rose turns to dashing Captain Harry Cathcart, a Boer War veteran turned detective, for aid in solving the murder. Once again Chesney has concocted an amusing brew of mystery and romance that will keep her fans turning the pages.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Tourists are advised to watch their backs in the bucolic villages where M.C. Beaton sets her sly British mysteries...outsiders always spell trouble for the inbred societies Beaton observes with such cynical humor."-The New York Times Book Review

"[Beaton's] imperfect heroine is an absolute gem!"-Publishers Weekly

"Beaton's Agatha Raisin series just about defines the British cozy."-Booklist

"Anyone interested in...intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin."-Atlanta Journal Constitution

"Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha."-Chicago Sun-Times

"Few things in life are more satisfying than to discover a brand new Agatha Raisin mystery."
-Tampa Tribune Times

"The Raisin series brings the cozy tradition back to life. God bless the Queen!"-Tulsa World

"The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshingly sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likable heroine...a must for cozy fans."-Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (April 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312936168
• ISBN-13: 978-0312936167
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #804,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marion Chesney is known primarily for the more than 100 historical romance novels she has published under her own name and under several pseudonyms: Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward. But M.C. Beaton is the pseudonym she reserves for her mystery novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing period piece, May 13, 2005

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hasty Death: An Edwardian Murder Mystery (Edwardian Murder Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This mystery is part of a historical (Edwardian) series written by M.C. Beaton using a pen-name Marion Chesney. M.C. Beaton is a real favorite of mine (known for the Hamesh Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series), so I picked up this book with high expectations.

I have mixed feelings about the book. It's amusing and reasonably accurate historically, although it's not meant to be a very serious attempt to do either a mystery (the plotting isn't that strong) or period piece (the characters are very atypical for the time, as the author points out). My interest in the book was strong at first but by the last 50 pages, far from being desperate to find out "who done it", my interest was waning and I was counting how many pages I had left.

The characters are amusing and likeable (the ones that ought to be, at least -- the unlikeable ones are sufficiently villainous in a light-hearted way). The heroine Rose (an upper class young woman is driving her parents crazy with her desire to be a modern young woman -- for a while she was supporting the suffragettes and now she wants a JOB). The romantic interest is Harry, an upper class young man who is WORKING as a private detective -- which has made many of the upper class look down on him as being in trade. At the beginning of the book, a young man (from the upper crust) is found dead, and these two independently (and subsequently sometimes together) investigate his death. There's a class-conscious police detective who is longing to man the barricades when the revolution happens, a cockney maid (who is somewhat unbelievably transformed into Rose's companion), a manservant, and a variety of aristocratic characters. There's a country house party and a wicked doctor and various other characters, all drawn broadly enough you have no trouble remembering who is who.

Parts of the book are laugh out loud funny. I only wish Ms. Chesney had concentrated more on plotting.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing, December 31, 2005

By 

G. Greene - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hasty Death: An Edwardian Murder Mystery (Edwardian Murder Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Hasty Death" is the third installment in this Edwardian series, and even though I vastly prefer Chesney's Regency novels, these are beginning to grow on me a bit. The characterizations are highly amusing, and the relationship between Rose and Cathcart is moving along nicely; they even become engaged, though it is a sham engagement. And no, the situation is not resolved at the end of the book . . . which brings me to one of the major irritations about this mystery/romance series: though the murder mystery is resolved at the end of each book, the romantic relationship is not, which I find very unsatisfying. In Chesney's previous books, they all contained an entertaining cast of characters and each one became the focus of successive novels. Not so, here; we are supposed to be engaged by a not-very-intriguing mystery and remember where these characters are in their development when the next installment comes out in a year or two, and while these characters are mildly interesting, they aren't that memorable, nor are they worth rereading the previous novels.

Nevertheless, Chesney is a very good writer, and this is a nice way to while away an afternoon.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too-hasty publication, January 9, 2006

By 

Angela Boyter (Ellicott City, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hasty Death: An Edwardian Murder Mystery (Edwardian Murder Mysteries) (Hardcover)

As someone who has enjoyed the Hamish MacBeth series, I was looking forward to some light entertainment but was sadly disappointed. The basic ingredients are all there for a satisfying cosy with TWO spunky heroines and double love interests, but The author failed to deliver on the promise.
Perhaps the situations were supposed to be humorous coincidences, but they stretched far beyond humor and were too far-fetched to be believable, and there was ample evidence of sloppy writing and no editing. For example, in one scene the heroine goes to a luncheon that is to feature a speech by a noted occultist. Instead, with no explanation, the scene unfolds with a speech by the hostess on vegetarianism instead.
If you are looking for a modern historical mystery with a light touch, I would recommend Jacqueline Winspear's Maisis Dobbs series instead.