Customer Reviews

The Piper on the Mountain

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

 

 

Fans of Ellis Peters's Inspector George Felse mystery series (the series she wrote before her more famous Brother Cadfael mysteries) will be very pleased with this book. Instead of George Felse, the hero of this story is George's son Dominic, who fans of the series have watched growing from a precocious adolescent to a teenager, and now to a very intelligent young man. On a trip with friends from university, Dominic stumbles accross a death which, although it was ruled an accident, may not have been so accidental after all. Not a little captivated by Tossa, the charming step-daughter of the dead man, he begins to investigate. The result is a clever, engaging mystery/suspense tale that will charm fans of the traditional British mystery.

This is a beautiful book!. The descriptions that Ms. Peters gives of the mountainous country found in Slovakia in the 1960's are lyrical. It truly sounds a beautiful place! She's also crafted a quite clever mystery centred around a renowned mountain-climber who falls to his death on some rather small hills. This fact is enough for his stepdaughter to question what happened to cause his death, and for her to set out with three friends to find out more about it. The book centres around Sir George Felse's son Dominic, and Ms. Peters has written a wonderful character in this young man. This is a very captivating book!

Best known for her "Brother Cadfael" series, Ellis Peters (1913-1985) was also the author of thirteen novels featuring Inspector George Felse. Published in 1966, THE PIPER ON THE MOUNTAIN is the fifth novel in that series.

Peters often worked with contrived plots, and that tendency is particularly obvious in this tale. Government security agent Herbert Terrell, who is fond of mountain climbing, falls to his death while on vacation in Czechoslovakia's Tatras Mountains--but the nature of the accident seems a bit odd to Robert Welland, assigned to the British embassy at Prague, and he suspects foul play. When Welland accidentally communicates his suspicions to Terrell's stepdaughter Tossa Barber, Tossa turns a student vacation to Europe into a search for the truth, and since Inspector Felse's son Dominic is in her party can Inspector Felse be far behind?

Unfortunately, however, the novel offers too little in the way of plot to sustain itself over the course of its two hundred pages--and although it offers an occasionally interesting look at Cold War era Czechoslovakia this is not really enough to hold a consistent interest. Even so it is smoothly written in the Ellis Peters style, and while I would not recommend it to newcomers to the series, established fans will likely enjoy it.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This is one of the better Inspector Felse series mysteries. It has great descriptions of Czechoslovakia. The plot is tight, the characterization is very good, and the ending is satisfying. Someone should reprint all of these. If you love the type of mystery of an innocent bystander who finds themselves in a mystery at an exotic locale, Ellis Peters earlier works are for you.

Inspector Felse's son Dominic is the one with the mystery on his hand, and the lovely Tossa is his helpmate in solving it. Their romance continues in Mourning Raga.

Some of my other favorites in this series are Grass Widow's Tale, The Knocker on Death's Door, Black is the Color of my True Love's Heart, Horn of Roland, and A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs.

If you can't find them all in print, try your local library's inter-library loan.

Nice story of acceptance of actions, and an attempt, however late, to set things right. A young Englishwoman's unloved step-father dies in Slovakia, and a minor member of British civil service shares his concern that the man was murdered, not just fallen to his death mountain- climbing, as is the official story. She travels to the area, setting off complications for self, friends, and two governments. It comes full circle at end, with her having matured under fire. Though billed as a George Felse case, the detective does not feature in this. A second series by the author of the justly-acclaimed Brother Cadfael stories.