Customer Reviews

The Knocker at Death's Door

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This was the first Inspector Felse mystery I ever read. After I'd finished all of Peters' Brother Cadfael mysteries, I finally gave in, despite having groused to myself for years that she'd spent time on these when she could have been spreading mayhem through medieval Shropshire for our fun and her profit.

It's a shame I took so long to give Felse a fair chance. Peters was already an excellent writer when this story was written; the Felse stories are good novels, not just clever puzzles. They carry the bonus that they aren't bound to a formula as tightly as are the chronicles of Brother Cadfael.

Felse's turf is on the Welsh border, but in the last half of the twentieth century, and in "Midshire" (technically not Shropshire). As in the Cadfael stories, time doesn't stand still for the characters. This, as one of George's later appearances, doesn't feature his son Dominic in an active role in the investigation - Dominic is on holiday abroad, having just graduated from university. This particular story is set in Mottisham, one of the villages near Felse's home base of Comerbourne; the area is also the scene of RAINBOW'S END, for anyone who'd like to see how the supporting characters fared in later years.

The Macsen-Martels, as their double-barreled name suggests, are an old family, but their fires are burning out. The valley, as local Sgt. Moon says, is tribal, not feudal - 'squire' is a dirty word around here. The best they ever did was in acquiring Mottisham Abbey out of Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. "Count for nothing now. Never will again. Never *did*, for all that much."

Robert senior was a notorious womanizer who sank the family deep in debt before finally breaking his neck in the hunting field. His widow, a cousin whom he married for her money, would never hear a word against him. Robert junior, the elder son, takes after his mother in looks and values, but what in her is aristocratic arrogance has in him been eroded like a medieval carving. He grew up helping her cope with his father's endless debts and paternity suits, and it seems to have taken its toll on more than the family fortunes - he's worn to the bone. Far from being a lord of the manor, he works in a realtor's office. His younger brother Hugh, on the other hand, has his father's energy, but he turns it to a more profitable end as the junior partner of Cressett and Martel, local garage. (The senior partner, Dave Cressett, is only a year younger than Robert, and where Hugh provides flash and dazzle, Dave provides sturdy dependability. Dinah, Dave's younger sister, chips in - a pocket edition, but made of the right stuff; Hugh's got sense enough to be moving toward marriage with her.)

The family can't maintain the Abbey anymore, and they've finally convinced the National Trust to step in. The building must be restored to original condition as much as possible, so they've started by reinstalling the old wine cellar door in the church porch - there's a family story that it belongs there. George Felse, just returning from a holiday after promotion to deputy head of the county CID, passes the time of day with Sgt. Moon while stuck in traffic, caused by the bishop's stately progress of reconsecrating the door. It's a *DOOR* - 7 x 5 mediaeval oak, flanked by carved angels that were outdated when it was carved and have come all the way around to being modern, and weighing a quarter of a ton. It and its knocker come complete with a Macsen-Martel family legend, which we hear when the younger son, Hugh, takes his Dinah to officially meet his family.

Only a local sensation, not even a nine-days'-wonder; Bunty's comfortable statement that there's nothing to fetch them back for a second look, though, goes into the category of Famous Last Words. At first, it only begins with the regulars of the Sitting Duck taking the mickey out of the small gang of pressmen who turned out for the ceremony. (The pub conserves its home-brewed beer for the regulars, and anyhow such strangers are nature's way of providing entertainment.) Nobody expected Gerry Bracewell, the quickest-witted of the pack, to return a few weeks later in pursuit of a potential story - and still less for Dave Cressett to find him dead in the church porch, head beaten in before the door.

Felse opts to hang onto the case rather than passing it to the Yard; something was significant about the door itself, not the man. All that was unusual about him was that he'd seen the door once before, years ago, when photographing the house for a series of articles on obscure country houses. But what could be so deadly about a door that was already on public display?

The only touches of amateur hour in Felse's thoroughly professional investigation are Dave Cressett's inquiries when he returns Bracewell's car to the widow, and a few scenes from Dinah's point of view. They're adequately explained by the closed-shop attitude of Mottisham's people - when there's trouble, they pull together, but right must be done. Although those psychic researchers are fair game when they show up at the pub...

Best known for her "Brother Cadfael" series, Ellis Peters (1913-1985) was also the author of thirteen novels featuring Inspector George Felse. Published in 1970, THE KNOCKER ON DEATH'S DOOR is the tenth novel in that series--and among the best.

Peters often worked with contrived-but-witty plots, and this work shows her at her best. The Macsen-Martels have a notable family tree and historic home, but their time has passed. In the face of dwindling fortunes, they have decided to pass their home into the hands of the National Trust--but before they do so they restore to the local cathedral a historic door that fell into their possession. But along with the door goes a legend, the tale of a man who was carried off by the devil when the door refused to admit him into the church.

Needless to say, no sooner is the door returned to its rightful place at the church than there is a body to go with it: a news photographer is found dead at the threshold, his hand extended to the great cast iron knocker. But his soul wasn't spirited away by the devil, at least not judging from the gaping wound on the back of his head. It is murder, and Inspector Felse is on the scene.

Unlike most Felse novels, this particular entry does not feature his son Dominic; it instead offers an array of locals, some of whom are determined to play detective. Although hardcore mystery fans will likely spot the killer early on simply due to the way Peters sets up the plot, the characters are well drawn and the story is an amiable companion for the hour or two it requires. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This is another solid entry in the George Felse series. We see a great deal of George this time, and that is a good thing. George is a wonderful character - straight, no-nonsense, and smart as a whip. The wonderful thing about Ellis Peters books is her wonderful plots and characterizations. She will take something simple like an old, medieval door and build a tale around it. This whole story revolves around this old door, and the old door has a lot of secrets to tell. George is willing to listen to the door and its hidden secrets and is therefore able to solve the case. We have a nice mix here of an old cold case and two new cases (a murder and an attempted murder). Ms. Peters weaves them all together seamlessly.

Mild-mannered DCI George Felse, who prefers to solve English country crime without the aid of the Yard, finds himself near the Welsh/English border--first on vacation, then on business. He is abruptly shaken out of his appreciation of Midshire's
natural beauty when confronted by a manorial/monastic mystery--complete with curse. Could monks gone amuck at the time of the
Dissolution actually influence lives (i.e., cause death) in this century? What is the fatal attraction of a curiously-wrought knocker on an oaken door, which was hung first in a church, then in a private wine cellar, but has since been donated back to an ecclesiastical setting?

Ellis Peters, known to aficionados as the creator of the Brother Cadfael series, weaves a delightful web of suspicious characters, cryptic legend and mundane motives into a contemporary thriller, with medieval over--or rather, undertones. Her fans will recognize her penchant for incidental romance: in this case an unexpected but platonic love affair at the end. Socially-conscious in her own time, she raises poignant commentary on the role of impoverished aristocracy, dying out gracefully (?) for lack of cash and new blood...apologies for the ill-chosen expression. Will the Manor be saved by the Trust or is this the end of the line for the Macsen-Martel family? Will the sins of the philandering patriarch be visited upon future generations? Anything by Peters is sure to please; savor this novel as her literary premonition of a medieval Welsh monk dabbling in mystery. My advice: beware of the cowl in the mist and don't knock first!

Being a fan of Ellis Peters's brother Cadfael series, I decided to try her earlier mystery series, featuring detective inspector George Felse. The Knocker on Death's Door is a good, light read, with interesting historical details, although the solution to the mystery will be obvious to most experienced mystery-novel readers. The plot centers around the restoration of a medieval door to its original place in the village church, and the secrets the door holds, which reveal a long-hidden murder. There's a sweet, innocent romantic sub-plot woven through the detective story, and George Felse is a delightful investigator. Overall, a good read for fans of the traditional English-cosy mystery.

Like many other readers, I've come to my first Inspector George Felse mystery by way of Brother Cadfael. I found it a delightful surprise. Although published over 40 years ago and set in then contemporary England, it didn't seemed dated at all.

Inspector Felse and his wife are returning home from a holiday weekend when they find themselves caught in a traffic jam in a little village where no traffic jam ought to happen. It's caused by a bishop's progress, as a church door is reconsecrated - "re" because that door has been removed from a private home's wine cellar as part of preparing the home to become an historic site. This involves restoring the home as closely as possible to what it was in the time of King Henry VIII, when it stopped being a monastery.

The door and its curious knocker attract attention from the press, partly because of a local legend about an apostate monk who died after the door refused to admit him. A few weeks after the reconsecration, a journalist who saw the door when it was still part of the Macsen-Martel home arrives in the village to see if he can find a story. He winds up dead on the church steps, his head bashed in.

So Inspector Felse returns to a place he thought he had passed through once, incidentally, and would never see again. As he investigates, another man winds up on the church steps - this one still alive, but with head injuries. Understanding the locals, from the aristocratic but now impoverished Macsen-Martels to the owners of the local garage, proves just as important to solving the case as Felse's investigative skills. The characters make this an absorbing read, although the mystery is fun, too. If I come across more Inspector Felse books, I'll be happy to read them.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 science fiction EPPIE winner "Regs"

Gotcha! The clues are there. She just tells you they're something else while shows them to you in plain sight.

As usual an interesting cast of well-developed secondary characters.

An pleasant series in addition to Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael saga.