Customer Reviews

Henrietta Who (Thorndike British Favorites)

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

 

 

Life, for Henrietta Jenks, had always been a quiet, well-ordered affair. But just before her 21st birthday, her mother is struck by a hit and run driver, and Henrietta discovers she's not who she thought she was.

This is the third in Aird's series of excellently well-written, police-procedural-types of classic British mystery with the team of Detective-Inspector Sloan (methodical, persistent, an all-around "good copper") and Detective-Constable Crosby (young, brash and a bit dim).

The best about Aird's books is that she actually gives you the clues (in the best tradition) cleverly hidden in the dialog and descriptions, so that if you pay close attention, you have a good chance of figuring things out. I wish more of her books were in print. Not as depressing as Martha Grimes or Elizabeth George, but equally interesting, and her detecting team manage to be amusing while still "real" people.

Like other reviewers I really enjoyed this book. It's probably Catherine Aird's best.

Grace Jenkins is knocked down by a car and killed, which leaves her 20-year-old daughter Henrietta alone in the world. Bewildered Henrietta is then told that on the basis of the autopsy examination Grace Jenkins couldn't possibly be her mother- she had never had any children.

Meanwhile,in one of the best scenes of the book, the police are examining the scene of the traffic "accident", and coming to the grim conclusion that it was a case of murder by motor car.

The police have to solve a murder, and Henrietta has to find her true identity. The book is a comfortable read without being too soft-headed, and the dialogue is first-rate. The book is fairly short- there is no unnecessary padding. If you like English village who-dun-its you won't be disappointed!

Ms. Aird writes a detective story in the truly classic way. Her plots are tight and there are just enough red herrings to make it interesting. This book is no exception. Poor Henrietta Jenkins loses her mother in a hit-and-run accident and then discovers that she's not Henrietta Jenkins at all, and the woman that she knew as her mother could not possibly have been. So who is she and who were her parents? The hit-and-run turns out to be murder and DI Slonae is called in to investigate. He's got a real puzzler on his hands with this one because no one is who they seem. An excellent little who-dun-it that is truly fun to read.

The Rue Morgue Press, who publishes traditional mysteries from the Golden Age, presents Catherine Aird's Inspector C.D. Sloan mysteries. Aird's tales are completely fictional, from the setting (in this case Calleshire) to Catherine Aird's name, which is a pseudonym for Kinn Hamilton McIntosh. She was born in 1930 in Yorkshire, and credited her village life as a doctor's daughter, a onetime golfer, and editor/publisher of village histories as inspiration for her mysteries. As a child kidney problems waylaid her, and reading while recuperating provided the foundation for her writing style. HENRIETTA WHO? is her third book and was published in 1968.

Grace Jenkins moved to the out-of-the-way village of Larking with a baby girl and a story of a husband killed during the war. When Grace is run down by a car, the pathologist performing her autopsy discovers that she never had children and probably was never married. Young Henrietta Jenkins rushes home from college to discover that she doesn't know who she is or who her parents really were. She has only a photograph of her supposed father and medals that don't match up. To further confuse the picture, Henrietta and her beau, Bill Thorpe, see a man who she swears is the man in the photograph alive and walking down the street. But when Crosby and Sloan arrive at his home to interview him, they find him murdered:

"When they got to the back door it was ever so slightly ajar. It opened a little further at Sloan's knock, and when there was no reply to this, Sloan opened it a bit more still and put his head round. 'Anyone at home?' he called out. Cyril Jenkins was at home, all right. There was just one snag. He was dead. Very."

Catherine Aird's style is omnipresent, with clear, concise writing. She brought the mystery genre back to the "village cozy" mystery, with humor stepping forward and grisly details of the corpse fading into the background. Aird has many fans, including the New York Times reviewer Allen J. Hubin, who called this book one of the year's best.

Shelley Glodowski

Senior Reviewer

Robin Bailey reads this Catherine Aird mystery well.He reads clearly and fluently and has a warm and mellow voice. Set in the English country side after the War the story opens with an apparent road accident on a country lane. Thus setting in motion a chain of events that keeps both the central character 'Henrietta' and the listener guessing. The rural setting will be familiar to readers of Agatha Christie,Margery Allingham and PD James. The Tone more towards Allingham than James. The characters are well drawn and the book maintains pace and quality.A classic murder mystery. Good to listen to on a cold dark night, whilst sitting by the fire.

This is the second Catherine Aird novel that I have read and I must say I am hooked. As with all English setting novels, the going is a bit slow paced and the writing a bit droll but also entertaining at the same time. The premise of this story is quite different. A woman is found dead in the middle of a road and has apparently been hit by a car. However, the hit and run was intentional. The woman's daughter returns from university to identify her mother and to get her mother's affairs in order. The reader soon finds out that the daughter, Henrietta, could not possibly be the biological child of her supposed mum. On autopsy, they find that the "mother" had never bore children. From there the story evolves and the ending is unexpected. Henrietta remains a "who" until the very end of the story. The fun is getting to the truth of the matter. It is a somewhat convoluted story and is sure to entertain.

Enjoyed Henrietta Who very much. Held my interest to the very end. Millie O.