Snobbery with Violence: An Edwardian Murder Mystery (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Marion Chesney (Author)

Book Description

Series: St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries | Publication Date: May 4, 2004

Lady Rose Summer's debut into high society is a complete disaster. Rose's father suspects her fiancé Sir Geoffrey Blandon to be nothing more than a first-degree blackguard and calls on Captain Harry Cathcart, the impoverished younger son of a baron, to investigate. After Harry brings forth evidence of Blandon's dishonorable intentions, a scandalous public breakup follows. To redeem her name, Rose attends the last-chance soirée at Telby Castle for aristocratic women with dubious matrimonial prospects. But when a malicious guest is found dead under strange circumstances, Rose becomes far more intrigued with discovering the truth than with landing a suitor. From Telby Castle's whisper-filled corridors to country lanes with secrets at every turn, Harry and Rose must unravel a web of lies, rumors, and perilous plots as a clever murderer sets out to make Rose's disastrous season her last.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Murder and mayhem abound at an Edwardian house party in this debut installment of a promising new mystery series. Physically and spiritually wounded during the Boer War, an embittered Captain Harry Cartwright returns to England with neither a purpose nor any financial wherewithal. The impoverished younger son of a baron, he possesses the proper pedigree but no pocketbook. Through a series of coincidences, Harry becomes known as the sort of man who will "fix things"--if the price is right--for upper-crust clients embroiled in delicate situations. Engaged by the syphilitic marquis of Hedley to investigate a murder in his manor during a weekend of veiled sexual high jinks, he clashes with Lady Rose Summer, the disgraced suffragette daughter of a wealthy earl. The sparks fly as haughty Harry and headstrong Rose reluctantly join forces, creating a charming detective duo driven by both mutual intelligence and attraction. Fans of the author's Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries, written under the name M. C. Beaton, will welcome this new series of historical whodunits. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Fans of the author's Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries, written under the name M. C. Beaton, will welcome this new series of historical whodunits."-Booklist

"Old hand Chesney maintains her charm and sassiness while indicting evergreen pomposity and class-status stupidity."-Kirkus Reviews

"Combines history, romance, and intrigue resulting in a delightful romantic mystery...the who-done-it is well developed and captures reader interest from the outset."
--Midwest Book Review

"Tourists are advised to watch their backs in the bucolic villages where M.C. Beaton sets her sly British mysteries...outsiders always spell trouble for the inbred societies Beaton observes with such cynical humor."--The New York Times Book Review

"[Beaton's] imperfect heroine is an absolute gem!"--Publishers Weekly

"Beaton's Agatha Raisin series just about defines the British cozy."--Booklist

"Anyone interested in...intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin."-Atlanta Journal Constitution

"Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha."--Chicago Sun-Times

"Few things in life are more satisfying than to discover a brand new Agatha Raisin mystery."
--Tampa Tribune Times

"The Raisin series brings the cozy tradition back to life. God bless the Queen!"--Tulsa World

"The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshingly sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likable heroine...a must for cozy fans."-Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312997167
• ISBN-13: 978-0312997168
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marion Chesney is known primarily for the more than 100 historical romance novels she has published under her own name and under several pseudonyms: Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward. But M.C. Beaton is the pseudonym she reserves for her mystery novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Promising Debut, January 6, 2006

By 

P. Bigelow (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Snobbery with Violence: A Mystery (Hardcover)

Set in the early years of the 20th century, this first-in-a-series entry introduces us to Lady Rose, a rebellious young lady of means who chafes at her society restrictions and sometimes absurd social requirements, and to Harry Cathcart, a wounded veteran of the Boer Wars who finds himself with no career and no visible means of support. Their lives are thrown together when Lady Rose, whose reputation is damaged when she is photographed at a suffragette rally, is wooed by a suitor who refuses to ask for her hand in marriage. Harry is recommended to Lady Rose's father and is asked to investigate her suitor.

As damaged goods, Lady Rose is asked to attend a get together at an absurdly tacky castle. It is obvious from the outset why she is there - to find a husband. But things get dicey when there is a death amongst the guests. Harry is called in to do damage control, but questions whether the person died of natural causes, suicide, or was murdered. Lady Rose, although blaming Harry for her downfall, cannot resist the lure of the excitement of helping Harry investigate the circumstances of her fellow guest's death.

This is a promising new series in the historical/cozy mystery genre. It took me a while to place the characters in their historical context because I apparently did not read the subtitle of the book, "An Edwardian Murder Mystery" on the front cover. I read historical mysteries because I love history and I love mysteries. However, there was little history in this mystery. With the exception of the mention of the suffragette movement and several references to that new contraption the automobile, there was no mention of the surrounding socio-political happenings.

The author did an admirable job of introduction the two main characters as well as several minor ones, the mysterious Becket, Harry's valet, Daisy, former vaudevillian and now Lady Rose's personal maid and confidante, and Lady Polly, Rose's mother. There were, of course, other minor characters, but these are the ones who will, presumably, return in other entries in this series. In addition, the author kept the story moving along by doling out clues without giving away the ending.

All in all a satisfying cozy that has the promise of becoming a very good historical mystery series.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming mystery, characters, and interesting history, August 13, 2003

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Snobbery with Violence: A Mystery (Hardcover)

Returned from the wars in Africa, Captain Harry Cathcart has retired to his (low-cost) club and is well behind on paying his friend and acting-gentleman's gentleman when he gets a strange request. The Earl of Hadshire is concerned that a young man has been paying court on his daughter, Lady Rose, yet no proposal has been forthcoming. Can Cathcart investigate and determine if the young man is all he seems? With this job, Cathcart launches into a career of helping hapless British aristocrats recover from social embarassment, blackmail, and other consequences of their foolish acts. For Lady Rose, however, the consequences are tragic--thanks to her impetuous announcement, everyone knows that the young man was tampering with her affections--and Lady Rose, not the young man, suffers a destroyed reputation.

A beautiful woman with a shady reputation becomes a target for any playboy and Edwardian England (the novel is set in 1907) has plenty of playboys. Cathcart is called in to head off embarrasment again--but even Cathcart draws the line at covering up murder. And when Lady Rose is invited to a house party in the country, deaths and disappearances start to happen too quickly to be called anything else--except by the local aristocrats who are willing to use all their powers to cover up anything that might stink of such commonness as murder.

Author Marion Chesney creates a charming tale that combines romantic tension (Lady Rose and Cathcart are attracted but in denial), mystery, and a look at a historical era where the British aristocracy cling to the vestiges of their Regency glories even as the rest of the world heads toward modernism and world war. Cathcart makes a fine romantic hero as well as an intriguing sleuth with Lady Rose available to provide impetuous advice and push him to extremes. Lady Rose, with her ambitions to become middle-class, support for woman's sufferage, and contempt for corsets, lives in an era where such beliefs are just possible--and is punished just as society would punish such an outrage--by being put on the shelf. Cathcart's servant and Rose's maid provide a secondary romantic interest as well as humor. I also appreciated the bolshevick police sergeant.

Chesney's writing draws the reader in, lets us share the romance but also the disgrace of Edwardian aristocracy, and propells a fine mystery through to its conclusions. I would be surprised if we don't see more of Lady Rose and Captain Cathcart--and look forward to the next installment.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hopefully, the beginning of a great new series!, July 4, 2003

By 

PMcD "PMcD" (Leawood, KS United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Snobbery with Violence: A Mystery (Hardcover)

This is a terrific Edwardian mystery/romance from Marion Chesney, who, as M.C. Beaton, writes my current favorite mystery series featuring Agatha Raisin. If you like the Agatha Raisin books, Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mysteries, and Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence Beresford adventures, you'll love this book.

Chesney creates 4 really memorable characters in this delightful story, told with her unique humor. Aristocratic Captain Harry Cathcart, a saturnine, anti-social Boer War veteran who must earn his living, turns to discreetly clearing up messes for the aristocracy and becomes quite successful.

Lady Rose Summer, beautiful daughter of an earl, is over-educated and far too independent for her class and time. She meets Captain Cathcart when her father hires him to investigate a young man she has become infatuated with. Lady Rose's father later hires Cathcart to handle another delicate situation regarding King Edward VII.

The two meet again and join forces to investigate the mysterious death of a fellow guest of Lady Rose's at a marquess's house party. The young woman has died of arsenic poisoning, and Cathcart and Lady Rose set about uncovering some sordid secrets among the aristocracy to find out why the girl was killed.

Cathcart's manservant Becket, a young man Cathcart found starving and nearly dead from hard labor, has worked hard to educate himself, and eagerly assists in the investigation. Lady Rose's maid Daisy, a former music hall performer, is educated by Lady Rose throughout the story, and also joins the investigation. Becket and Daisy are clearly fond of each other, and clearly intend to bring the feisty Lady Rose and the proud Cathcart together.

I hope Chesney intends to write more stories with these characters. This first novel would earn five stars, except for the fact Chesney over-populates the book with far too many characters for this rather short story.

Still, as with the Agatha Raisin series, I beg for more, more, and more!!