The Long Divorce

The sleepy village of Cotten Abbas is woken up very suddenly when a spate of anonymous letters begin to circulate. As tensions rise, the visiting Mr Datchery begins to ask questions - but when the letters are followed by a suicide and a murder, both his investigation and that of the police become urgent and serious. Can the person to whom so much of the evidence points really be guilty? Is there a conspiracy? And who is Mr Datchery really?

Gervase Fen is heavily involved rather than flitting around the edges of the action, the characters and plot are strong, and there are some pleasing conundrums and red herrings. The daft cat Lavender is quite entertaining, and there's the usual humour in the writing. I probably ought to have been able show more to work out the solution, but although I managed to join some of the dots I missed some of the others, so the ending was pleasantly tense and dramatic.

This isn't the best Fen novel that I've read, but neither is it the worst, and for me it scores somewhere between a 4 and a 4.5. show less

Very good mystery - ignore the blurb on the back of the book, as it is completely misleading! Although I managed to work out parts of the solution, I couldn't see how it all went together. Crispin also threw in a suspenseful side plot towards the end which kept me from being able to ponder on the clues.

Fen is incognito for the majority of the book, although for readers familiar with him it was easy to spot who he was on first appearance. Visiting the village of Cotten Abbas to investigate a spate of nasty anonymous letters, he is confronted with a suicide and then a murder within days of his arrival. Are these all linked, or has someone taken advantage of the situation to commit a murder (or two)?

As always Gervaise Fen is whimsical and funny. In this book he enters a tiny English village under another name as he sets out to discover the authorship of some very unlovely poisoned pen letters. Inevitably, these letters lead up to a murder, and Fen is there to aid the local constabulary in their investigation. The funny part in this book is the cat called "Lavender". The book weaves in and around this wonderful cat who is always on the hunt for "Martians" in the house of Colonol Babbington. Although, I figured out the murderer fairly quickly, I still enjoyed the getting there. And Mr. Crispin introduces a parallel storyline that may or may not have had something to do with the initial poison pen letters. That kept me guessing. show more Wonderful characters, and a wonderful, sleepy little village where lots is happening below the radar so to speak. show less

Very good mystery - ignore the blurb on the back of the book, as it is completely misleading! Although I managed to work out parts of the solution, I couldn't see how it all went together. Crispin also threw in a suspenseful side plot towards the end which kept me from being able to ponder on the clues.

Fen is incognito for the majority of the book, although for readers familiar with him it was easy to spot who he was on first appearance. Visiting the village of Cotten Abbas to investigate a spate of nasty anonymous letters, he is confronted with a suicide and then a murder within days of his arrival. Are these all linked, or has someone taken advantage of the situation to commit a murder (or two)?

The village of Cotten Abbas is plagued with poison pen letters. Then one of the victims commits suicide and one of the people suspected of writing them is found murdered.

The usual fun and games with a disguised Fen investigating.

The books are all the same! Fen is outrageous, risks his life, etc. Fun, nonetheless. I have no explanation of the title; there is no epigraph, at least in my copy.

Nice setting - again - for this Fen book. I remember long walks in the English countryside- most evocative. the near suicide at bridge over a scenic river. It's all about poison pen letters and the local watering hole and an attractive gal coming out of her shell.