Murder at Shots Hall [Paperback]

Maureen Sarsfield (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Rue Morgue Press (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915230550
• ISBN-13: 978-0915230556
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,335,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating read from an underrated author, November 6, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder at Shots Hall (Paperback)

Maureen Sarsfield published three novels, two of them mysteries featuring Lane Parry, an Inspector with Scotland Yard, in the 1940's. Both were reprinted in the United States, which was fairly notable for the time. Then Sarsfield disappeared from the public eye, until the Rue Morgue Press decided to bring them her books back to the mystery reading audience.

Murder at Shots Hall introduces the reader to Inspector Lane Parry, who is called upon when there is a murder in Shotshall, which is the name of both the village and its manor house. We are introduced to the lovely and inscrutable Flikka Ashley, who is living at Shots Hall with her down-to-earth Aunt Bee Chattock. When their housekeeper Molly Pritchard is found poisoned, the horrible Detective Sergeant Arnoldson immediately assumes that Flik is the murderess. Fortunately for Flik, there are several gentlemen in the village who worship her from afar, which comes in very handy when the bodies start piling up and the evidence points to her as the probable suspect. The village doctor, Abbot, is one of her admirers, and knocks himself out seeing to her safety even as his duties exhaust him. There is still a doubt in his mind, which drives him wild:

"Abbot said nothing, thinking she was all dressed up int hat lovely wool dress not to be grilled but to kill. It was the color of her hair, and very tight in the waist, and plain. She'd a fancy for Parry, all right, and Parry, might the devil take him, wouldn't hesitate to hang her if needs be. Then, less unjustly, he decided it was all pretty bloody for Parry, unless he was unmoved by her loveliness, which seemed impossible, even for a policeman."

The tone of Murder at Shots Hall is what sets it apart from so many of today's stories. It is a story Hitchcock would have loved...all moody and surreal. The characters, who are well drawn and each desperate in their own right, are constantly having to battle wretched weather to get where they are going, which is usually to the scene of another murder. Nothing is what it seems, and the ending is delightfully twisted. But when one thinks about it, it all makes perfect sense. Those are the elements of a wonderful cozy. Too bad Sarsfield didn't write more...she was definitely on a par with Agatha Christie. Thanks to the Rue Morgue Press for resurrecting this little gem. A fascinating read from an underrated author.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wholly unsatisfying!, August 15, 2006

By 

J. Lesley "(Judy)" (Midsouth, United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Murder at Shots Hall (Paperback)

I made myself wait two days before writing this review hoping that I would be able to view this book in a better light but it is just not going to happen. I had originally read the only other review for Murder at Shots Hall before purchasing it and expected that it would be just the perfect cozy mystery which I love so much. I find that I am going in the polar opposite direction from the other reviewer.

This book was originally published as Green December Fills the Graveyard but the title has been changed by Rue Morgue Vintage Press to better define the book within the mystery genre. (For anyone interested in the second Sarsfield mystery it was published as A Dinner for None in Britain and as A Party for Lawty in the U.S. Rue Morgue has retitled that selection as Murder at Beechlands. Just a little information so you will not accidently buy the same book multiple times.)

I did not like this book. I am very irritated with myself because I even finished it but I wanted to see if I had spotted the murderer. I'm also sorry to say that I had but not the reasoning behind that character being guilty. I thought I would scream if I read one more time that Flik was lovely, just lovely, so lovely, really lovely, a lovely woman. Why was she lovely? Surely the author saw something in her imagination which made Flik lovely. Her hair, her eyes, her skin, her figure, her hands, her feet??? What, what, what??? We are just told ad nauseam how lovely she is. And that every man "fell" for her. Once again, why? This story all takes place over a very short time, a matter of days, and every single night the fog came down so that no movement could be seen, so thick that it actually dripped off people. This village was six miles from the sea and yet the salt in the fog stung skin and eyes. Really? Now that's a long way for salt spray to travel. But of course I'm forgetting. Every night these poor people had to endure gale force winds (just to make it more interesting).

This book is so full of stupidity that I could spend all day trying to relate it all. Several examples: (1) The SCOTLAND YARD INSPECTOR told the constable left on the premesis to take his boots off and walk around outside in his socks at about 2:00 am (in the mud, rain and howling wind) so that he would not wake Flik up, she needed her rest! (2)The doctor (who had lived within a three mile radius of Flik for many years but had never met her until the first murder) actually almost balked against going to check up on a newborn infant whose parents thought he was dying because he wanted to go check up on Flik. (3)A broom comes flying out of the air and manages to hit a police constable smack on the head while he is wallowing in the mud (again during all that howling wind and rain) in the middle of the night, in the middle of a muddy road but nobody can figure out where the broom came from and don't even really believe that it happened. I'm telling you, my list could just go on and on.

When push came to shove, Flik was hiding two "dreadful" secrets which she could never allow to be revealed and so was willing to go to prison for murders she had not committed. When the secrets were revealed they were pure piffle! Nobody cared. It's for sure that I didn't.

Detective Sergeant Arnoldson was a truly abhorrent character. So much so that it made no sense for the powers-that-be to allow him to stay on the police force. He had propositioned Flik several years previously for "special favors" after he rescued her from her burning bedroom after a bomb struck Shots Hall during an air raid. (He spotted a military man's mess kit beneath her bed.) She had turned him down and he was resentful and liked to gossip about her and insinuate that she was not a "nice" lady. I got sick and tired of hearing about his red, sweaty face and his wet lips. He also broke the law in his treatment of Flik during the murder investigation and yet his superiors put up with him. Once again, my perennial question is WHY?

Well, now I've vented my spleen and I feel somewhat better. If you still want to buy this book after reading my rants, go right ahead. I bought the book based on one 5 star rating. Now you have an entirely different assessment. Happy decision making!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Post-World War II mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed, June 30, 2010

By 

Cathy G. Cole (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murder at Shots Hall (Paperback)

First Line: "NO," Flik's aunt had said.

Flikka Ashley and her Aunt Bee Chattock live in Shots Hall in Sussex. Two-thirds of the manor house was destroyed by German bombs, and the two women live in what's left. Poverty is sniffing around outside the big oak door; Flik and Bee do their best to ward it off by selling an occasional bottle of vintage liquor or some of Flik's sculptures, but it's tough going. When Molly Pritchard, an old family retainer, is murdered, Arnoldson, the loathsome local copper, is determined to pin the deed on Flik. Fortunately Scotland Yard Inspector Lane Parry is sent to take charge. Finding the real killer is not going to be a walk in the park.

I seldom read vintage mysteries. It's a rare occurrence when the publishing date on any mystery I read is older than 1990. In many ways, I blame Nancy Drew for this. I tried reading Nancy when I was a child, but I laughed every time she donned a fresh frock and jumped into her roadster. No, my preference has almost always gone to the current crop of crime. Now that I've read Murder at Shots Hall, my preferences may need a bit of adjusting.

The author, Maureen Sarsfield, is every bit as much of a mystery as two of the three books she wrote. Her two mysteries, Murder at Shots Hall and Murder at Beechlands, feature Inspector Lane Parry of Scotland Yard. Both books were published in the late 1940s and quickly picked up by American publishers, which was unusual for that time. However, after three books, Sarsfield vanished and no one knows what happened to her.

I wish she had continued to write because this book shows real talent. Sarsfield shows a knack for setting, plot, pacing, humor, and characterization. Almost every bit of it is shown through dialogue and action-- Sarsfield does not tie bibs around our necks and spoon feed us information. I like that. A lot.

The small village is filled to the rafters with suspects because everyone's personal habits and business is common knowledge to all, and Sarsfield's skill brings them to life while Parry struggles to keep them all straight. Congreve, a police constable who's a welcome bit of comic relief, sums it up best:

"This is like driving a car along the road and every corner another passenger 'ops on board," Congreve decided cheerfully.

"All I can say is," Parry grunted, "that I hope the springs don't give way from the strain."



Does the author ever put a foot wrong? Occasionally. If I had a dollar for each time Flik is described as lovely, my next trip to the UK would be assured. The description of the loathsome local copper is a bit heavy-handed (although enjoyable in spots), and the resident doctor may be thought of as heartless unless the reader is truly paying attention. I have to admit that none of this counted for much because I was enjoying the story and the writing so much. I couldn't even be bothered to slap myself upside the head when the killer's identity was revealed. What should have been obvious to me was buried beneath my delight as I turned the pages.

After finishing-- and thoroughly enjoying-- Murder at Shots Hall, I have two things to say: (1) It's a shame that Sarsfield only wrote three books. The lady had true talent. (2) I feel fortunate that I have her second mystery sitting on my shelves waiting for me.

I think I'm going to let it sit there for a while. A treat should be savored.