Murder On A Mystery Tour [Mass Market Paperback]

Marian Babson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1988

REGGIE & MIDGE...The genteel husband-and-wife proprietors of the failing Chortlesby Manor Hotel, who are carefully staging a "murder weekend" for American tourists.

BRAMWELL...The hard-boiled American detective writer---stuck under Mama's thumb till death them do part.

AMARYLLIS...Bramwell's overbearing mother---whom the hotel staff would dearly love to strangle.

THE CHANDLER TWINS...Two identical, giggling bachelorettes---daffy but dangerous?

ROGER ACKROYD...The Manor's Mouser---he let an uninvited guest into the house.

When a real killer stalks a group of amateur sleuths on holiday, solving murders is no longer fun and games. Too many guests are checking out early from this eerie old English mansion. They're not settling their bills---or leaving enough useful clues.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam (November 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553277235
• ISBN-13: 978-0553277234
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,660,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful cozy to enjoy again and again, May 16, 1999

By 

Carroll D. Lakins "Sally" (Piney Flats, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder on a Mystery Tour (Hardcover)

The story takes place in an english manor house turned hotel near Salisbury. Midge and her husband Reggie have turned the manor into a hotel in an attempt to save the family home. They are hosting a series of muder weekends for people from the states. All seems to be going well until an unscripted murder occurs with a plethora of suspects. A very entertaining read if you enjoy english country home mysteries.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Classic Country House Murder in the Grand English Tradition, June 19, 2005

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder on a Mystery Tour (Hardcover)

A large manor house, a fire blazing in the drawing room, card tables set for bridge, a busload of American tourists arriving on a pre-planned "murder game weekend" and a blizzard which leaves them all housebound is the setting for Marian Babson's entertaining and often comical mystery.

Reggie and Midge, the hosts at Chortlesby Manor, have recreated the 1930's golden age of mystery for visiting tourists to play the murder game and help the financially strapped estate survive. It will come as no surprise to savvy readers that the staged murders soon convert to real-life murders and something strange is definitely afoot. As one of the characters so succintly states, "The inmates have taken over the asylum."

In addition to the hosts and permanent residents of the manor, the visiting guests include a twin with a multiple personality disorder, a visiting American writer and his dominating mother, numerous actors hired by the touring company and others. In fact, there are so many "others" that it is oftentimes confusing distinguishing characters and keeping track of the large ensemble.

Babson does enlighten the reader with the history of the murder game, thought to have first been introduced into England by American Elsa Maxwell in the 1920's. Maxwell herself admits she did not originate the game but borrowed the concept from American artist Neysa McMein of the famed Algonquin Round Table. The game was immortalized in Ngaio Marsh's A MAN LAY DEAD (1934) and later in Agatha Christie's DEAD MAN'S FOLLY (1956).

I don't think Babson's effort will reach classic status, but it is certainly a cozy way for a mystery lover to while away an afternoon.