That Yew Tree's Shade [Paperback]

Cyril Hare (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

'The lie of the land had left a natural hollow beneath one of the main branches. Mrs Pink's head and shoulders fitted neatly into the depression. It was her feet, stuck stiffly out beyond the surrounding leaves, that had told Tomlin that what they had glimpsed at a distance was something more sinister than a heap of rags.' Detective-Superintendent Trimble is soon on the trail. We return to familiar Didford and meet again with lawyer Francis Pettigrew, who is called from retirement to help solve another Markshire murder.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'He is a writer for the fastidious, combining legal cool thinking with a muffled compassion for human nature...' -- The Tatler

About the Author

Cyril Hare was the pseudonym of Judge Gordon Clark. Born at Mickleham near Dorking in 1900, he was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. At the bar his practice was largely in the criminal courts. During the Second World War he was on the staff of the Director of Public Prosecutions; but later, as a County Court judge, his work concerned civil disputes only - and his sole connection with crime was through his fiction. He turned to writing detective stories at the age of thirty-six and some of his first short stories were published in Punch. Hare went on to write a series of detective novels. He died in 1958.

Product Details

• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: House of Stratus Ltd (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842326546
• ISBN-13: 978-1842326541
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,279,614 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Legal, cool thinking, combined with gentle humour., October 5, 2002

By 

John Austin "[e-mail]" (Kangaroo Ground, Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: That Yew Tree's Shade (Paperback)

Those who like their crime fiction to be well written, from yesteryear, and narrated with a wry sense of humour, ought to sample the works of Cyril Hare being newly reprinted by the House of Stratus. Cyril Hare was the pseudonym for an English county court judge, Gordon Clark (1900-1957). He wrote 11 or 12 detective novels during the last 20 years of his life. This one was published in 1954.

Hare's regular sleuth, retired lawyer Francis Pettigrew, solves the murder mystery. Like the author, he knows all about "draughty town halls, where inaudible witnesses compete vainly with the roar of traffic outside, and stuffy police courts loud with the clamour of imprisoned stray dogs". The victim seems to be an unlikely candidate for murder. She is a relatively new arrival in the village. She rents a house. She is killed while delivering notices advertising a forthcoming bazaar. All very English. As Pettigrew, and members of the local police force discover, however, many people had both opportunity and a motive for killing her.

This is recommended for the fastidious reader, not for those seeking thrills, suspense, and excitement.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hopelessly antiquated, April 24, 2010

By 

Rune Rindel Hansen (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: That Yew Tree's Shade (Paperback)

Well I finished "That Yew Tree's Shade" by Cyril Hare (US title: Death Walks the Woods) Apparently this author is one of the classics in the crime/mystery genre. The novel is centered about the investigator Francis Pettigrew. Well I must admit that I was not too caught by this book. To me it's greatest charm was the naivety and innocence of its setting in rural England in the first part of the 20th. century. Things we would normally expect from a crime/mystery book like suspense, thrill, fear, I didn't encounter much of in this book. Honestly the investigator Francis Pettigrew seemed a little stupid and laid back to me, certainly no Sherlock Holmes! Also the plot of the murderer was in no way impressive! It's interesting where in the lifecycle of a genre the classics become born. Well this is one of the founders of the English crime novel, but it seemed quite dull to me.