Customer Reviews

Oxford Mourning: A Kate Ivory Mystery

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Oxford Mourning is the perfect companion for a cold, winter afternoon, when your body is weary from a morning of sledding with the kids, and your mind, while alert, is not quite up to the task of too challenging a read. Partway through this short, tight mystery, I realized that Stallwood's attention to her characters was somewhat reminiscent of Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell's marvelous psychological studies masquerading as whodunnits. I say somewhat because Vine/Rendell is a master of the genre, whereas Stallwood is more of a reasonably apt pupil. Two Kate Ivory mysteries preceded this one, but I have not yet read them. That said, let me note that, in Oxford Mourning, the secondary characters of "the family" are more vividly portrayed than the sleuth herself. Not at all a disappointing way to spend a few hours, though.

I picked up this mystery because I enjoy English settings. Oxford is an important character in this diverting novel. It is a quick read, and often entertaining. On the whole, however, I was disappointed in it. One of the main characters has lost her memory, and consequently is presented very vaguely; it is hard to care about a character so illy defined. I think the novel would have been stronger if we had a sense of Angel's character earlier. Stallwood shifts the narrative voice from character to character almost paragraph by paragraph, I had a sense I was developing ADD. A light, diverting read, but Stallwood cannot develop characterization as well as Margaret Yorke.