Elizabeth Lemarchand (1906–2000)

The rural community of Twiggadon (2 cottages,a"manor"house,a farm and a car dump) is startled by the discovery of a skeleton in the boot of a car. Scotland Yard is called in and D.I. Pollard and Sergeant Toye are sent to Northamptonshire to assist the local constabulary. The main problem is the identification of the victim (this was written in the sixties so no DNA,no digital database...) and the determination of the cause of death. After some solid detection work,with the help of the local show more constables, landlords and other inhabitants of the surrounding villages, one after the other suspect is cleared. Finally there is only one left but most of the evidence is circumstantial so they have to find a creative solution to capture their culprit...
Although written in the sixties, it has a Golden Age aura. Probably village life, small police stations and any absence of coarse language or behaviour (barring murder) ensures this atmosphere but that is fine by me! show less

The main character, Virginia Gould, is a drip, worried about being blackmailed by her cousin when she hasn't even done anything. She wants to avoid unpleasantness. The cousin, Nigel Kerslake, is a shifty art dealer. He expected to inherit absolutely everything from his uncle, but the old man leaves the money to the Nigel, and the house to Virginia. Virginia sells up and moves to an idyllic village, but Nigel finds her there. There's a murder. Did Nigel do it? I didn't much care. This book show more was dull. show less

Death of an Old Girl is the first cosy mystery in the Pollard and Toye crime series; an intricate police procedural set in rural England. Originally published in 1967 it has been rereleased by Sapere Books.

The story is set during the Meldon Girls School’s annual festival and Old Girls reunion. A time of year when previous students (old girls) come together, reunite and catch up on the latest school developments.

After the weekend-long festivities are over and the school is about to be show more closed for the summer the body of an Old Girl is found hidden in the art room.
DCI Pollard and DS Toye from Scotland Yard are called in to help with the investigation. Pollard clearly sees this as a chance to impress his superiors.

Death of an Old Girl is a slow paced and lengthy police procedural as Pollard and Toye piece together snippets of information from numerous interviews to develop an intricate time line.

There are a few good twists as Pollard digs deeper, murder isn’t the only crime being committed. He also uncovers one family’s long held secret and an eavesdropping busy body causes the perfect crime to come asunder.

I found Pollard’s sexist remarks a little grating but I suppose they were probably par for the course in the era the story was set.

The language of the characters came across as more 1930’s than the late 1960’s and it did take me a while to work out when the story was set. Also the old English slang was hard for me to understand so I was a bit lost there.

A classic cosy mystery from a master of the genre! Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, M C Beaton, Sophie Hannah and Faith Martin.
* I received a copy from the publisher to read. show less

"An unpretentious country art exhibit turns into a frightening episode of theft, murder and blackmail in this classic puzzler set in an affluent English farming village. What is the secret Katharine Ridley is keeping from her granddaughter? And what does it have to do with the death of popular Francis Peck, the Heritage Trust caretaker at Fairlynch, former manor of the Ridleys?

"The Yard's Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Pollard and Inspctor Toye are hard put to unravel the tangled doings show more among the gentry of bucolic Wellchester."
~~back cover

This is definitely my kind of mystery! Lovely dialog, well written, well plotted, no violence, no blood. And I was totally wrong about whodunit.

I love this author, and have almost all her books. They're definitely keepers! show less