Customer Reviews

Murder at Madingley Grange

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

 

 

Take one well-cared for English Stately Home. Add one nephew, Simon, and one niece, his sister Laurie, who agree to manor-sit while their Aunt, who is the owner, goes off to Bath for an indeterminate stay. Laurie has her petite feet firmly on the ground, literally, as one of her favorite activities is tending to the gardens. She also likes cooking and excels at the gourmet variety. Simon is a dreamer. How can he use this unanticipated opportunity to fatten his somewhat empty coffers? Simple, my dear Watson. Simon conjures up a 'thirties mystery weekend' - Murder at Madingley Grange. Laurie has her doubts, but as Simon has already placed the advert in THE TIMES, she grudgingly goes along with him. Doesn't she always? But, if her erstwhile fiancé should be there to help out some, that would work. Wouldn't it? Blend in the usual assortment of eccentrics: the widowed mother with beautiful daughter hoping to land a country home of her own; the mature married couple and his mother, a gypsy, who might do a bit of 'seeing' if asked nicely. The husband of this pair is a frustrated vaudevillian, specializing in juvenile-type jokes and pranks. Another couple, of which the husband is detective buff, wishful of becoming the next Sherlock Holmes, while his wife may not be everything she seems to be. Two independent young men: one hoping to capture the above-mentioned daughter, and the other a devotee of the thirties, complete to clothing, etc., and mostly unaware of other surroundings. Add two of the most unusual domestic servants you'll ever encounter anywhere, and the scene is set for one long laugh. It's almost a comedy of errors, combined with manners. No violence to speak of either, but much wild and wacky fun.

One reviewer noted that he didn't finish the book out of disappointment; this is understandable but was the wrong call. Like so many really well-done mysteries, the true value of this story isn't clear until the hilarious and chilling conclusion that was completely unexpected. Now this is on the very short list of mysteries that I can read again and again with great pleasure each time.

This is one of the funniest books I've ever read...But if you're expecting Inspector Barnaby, you've another think coming. This is more like a screwball comedy than a murder mystery. If you like Ngaio Marsh or Agatha Christie you will probably enjoy this comedy of murders.

I just reread Murder at Maddingly Grange after about ten years. I was as disappointed this time as I was the last. It's got all the earmarks of a Wodehouse frolic crossed with a country house murder, a la, I suppose, Christie, but they just don't deliver. The attempt to emulate Wodehouse's delivery is overdone, and I can't quite figure out what the point is. Without giving away the ending, I can say that nothing is as you expect it to be, but not, unfortunately, in a good way. Pity.

Caroline Graham is well known for her Inspector Barnaby detective novels which are droll in their own way, but mostly police procedurals set in small English towns and villages. Graham's other books (still crime/mystery) veer sharply toward satire and farce and her writing is no less skilled and entertaining in that context.

"Murder at Madingley Grange" is Graham on a mad tear toward Wodehouse-ingly comedy with a cast of broadly drawn characters thrown together for a "solve-the-murder" weekend at a stately home in the English countryside. The plot and players are mostly over-the-top English stereotypes and the story line can get a bit ragged toward the end, but if you can set aside logic and reality and accept the unlikeliness of much of the action, the whole thing provides some very funny moments--even a few belly laughs.

So give it a shot, particularly if you've got a transcontinental plane ride coming up. It's a quick and entertaining read.

This on kept me guessing right up to the amazing ending. Imaginatively written with great characters. Twists and turns that delight and amuse!

My fault, I should have researched this book more before picking up, I thought it was an Inspector Barnaby Book. I was very disappointed, enough so that I didn't finish. The plot was not interesting and the characters was strictly one dimensional. Not very enjoyable reading at all. Don't be put off Caroline Graham by this book though. The rest of her works are outstanding.