Death of a Cozy Writer

Author G.M. Malliet kicks off a series featuring Detective Chief Inspector St. Just and his trusty sidekick, Sergeant Fear. Death of a Cozy Writer operates as both a British cozy and an affectionate send-up of the cozy mystery genre. While many compare this novel to the cozies penned by Dame Agatha Christie, there are similarities to several other beloved mystery mainstays.

The self-centered and malicious Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk invites his four dysfunctional children to an engagement party, making them fear that he'll disinherit them in favor of the interloper bride-to-be. When murder results, who can be surprised?

Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk -- and his situation -- resembles no one so much as Sir Henry Ancred in Ngaio Marsh's Final show more Curtain although there's more than a nod to Margery Allingham's Police at the Funeral in Malliet's plot. The rest of the family is straight out of British cozy central casting: the entitled, ruthless eldest son; his icy wife (evocative of Patricia Wentworth's Latter End); the narcissistic, unprincipled son (reminiscent of the adopted daughter in Wentworth's The Listening Eye or the main character in Christie's own Peril at End House); the hard-drinking failed actor (too many to list); the doormat daughter (Wentworth's The Gazebo); the faithful retainer.

The book begins with a bang, but then drags a bit when Malliet allows the characters to become too much of a parody of themselves. (For example, no one -- not even Madonna -- could be as self-absorbed as George Beauclerk-Fisk.) Things pick up once St. Just and Fear finally appear 40 percent of the way through the novel. After that, Malliet doesn't make a single misstep. St. Just reminds me of Michael Innes' John Appleby with a soupçon of Marsh's Roderick Alleyn thrown in for good measure. Fear is none other than Alleyn's Sergeant Fox. Sir Adrian's mysteries feature a Miss Rampling ("the wizened, serene old biddy, who, by rights, should be well over 110 years old by now, living alone in the small village of Saint Edmund-Under-Stowe, its tiny population reduced to one by its mysteriously high crime rate"), who could be none other than Miss Marple -- even had Miss Rampling not featured in a novel titled 12:40 from Manchester.

Mailliet riddles the novel with fabulous bon mots. Who could resist lines like "It wasn't like her father to play favorites: no, he treated all his children abominably"? Not I! I'm betting readers will love Death of a Cozy Writer (especially when priced at $1.99 on the Kindle) and welcome another wonderful mystery series to savor in years to come. show less

Best-selling cozy mystery author Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk might be loved by his readers, but his family? That's a different story. His four children are continually at odds with him and with each other. Sir Adrian loves nothing better than to stir the pot, and his favorite “spoon” is changing the beneficiaries in his will. An invitation to Sir Adrian's upcoming wedding draws the family to his estate in Cambridgeshire. Not everyone who arrived will be leaving...

Mysteries about mystery writers can be fun, and this is no exception. Sir Adrian is described as superstitious regarding his writing. One of his superstitions is that all of his novels have exactly 26 chapters, “regardless of whether or not this served the needs of the show more narrative”. After reading this sentence, I naturally turned to the table of contents to see how many chapters this book has. Exactly 26. The book can be read as a straightforward cozy, or as a spoof of the country house party murder mystery. It works either way.

Other aspects of the book didn't work as well for me. The first murder doesn't take place until a third of the way through the book. St. Just doesn't appear until the police are notified. This is a “St. Just Mystery”, yet St. Just doesn't appear until page 116 of 286 pages. His character is bland in contrast with the colorful cast of suspects. Some of the clues that led St. Just to the murderer's identity weren't shared with the reader until he presented his summation of the case. One of the things I enjoy about mysteries is trying to spot the clues among the insignificant details. I want authors to try to misdirect my attention, not withhold information from me.

I've read the first book in Malliet's Max Tudor series. I liked this one better. The series has potential, and it's one I'll likely continue to read. show less

This is a book which was written with the author's tongue firmly planted in her cheek. G. M. Malliet must have smiled her way through Death of a Cozy Writer. From Sir Adrian hovering spider-like at the center of his web to each of his flies...er...children dancing on the threads, this book is a feast of wit and laughter. When told that the plot of his book, 12:40 from Manchester, was thought of by Dame Agatha Christie first, Sir Adrian replies, "Of course she did. But my book was better." The man has twisted each of his children so that none of them are likable, but their ill-thought plans and venom-laced dialogue are just plain fun to read.

Naturally, what sets this bizarre household to buzzing feverishly is the introduction of a sane show more man-- Detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just. It can be difficult for a rational person to make sense of the completely irrational, and watching St. Just make his way slowly through this house of Bedlam can be a treat. However, I do wish his character had been developed a bit more.

Moreover, an under-developed main character isn't the only problem in this book. The author takes a long time to set up the action. By page 100, there's no murder and we have yet to meet St. Just. It almost makes me wonder if Malliet had a bit too much fun setting her stage. An under-developed main character, thoroughly unlikable suspects, a very long set-up... in most cases these things would be the kiss of death to a book for me. They weren't in the case of Death of a Cozy Writer because I enjoyed the author's wit so much. In case you're wondering if I'm always such a soft touch, I can say honestly that I'm not. There's a lot hinging on the second book in the series. If Malliet can keep the wit, shorten the introductory section, and tell me more about St. Just, I'll consider this a series with which to continue. If not.... show less

Cozy author Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk has asked his children to come to his castle for his wedding. When they arrived, they discover their father has already eloped to Gretna Green. It's not long until the oldest son is found dead. DCI St. Just comes to investigate. Then, as the title implies, the father is also found dead. It's a locked room mystery with plenty of suspects and motives. The detective's character was inadequately developed. The mystery was not spell-binding. The plot was rather stale, seeming more of a recycled plot than something original. However, it is a pleasant way to pass a few hours.

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: From deep in the heart of his eighteenth century English manor, millionaire Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk writes mystery novels and torments his four spoiled children with threats of disinheritance. Tiring of this device, the portly patriarch decides to weave a malicious twist into his well-worn plot. Gathering them all together for a family dinner, he announces his latest blow – a secret elopement with the beautiful Violet... who was once suspected of murdering her husband.

Within hours, eldest son and appointed heir Ruthven is found cleaved to death by a medieval mace. Since Ruthven is generally hated, no one seems too surprised or upset – least of all his cold-blooded wife Lillian. When show more Detective Chief Inspector St. Just is brought in to investigate, he meets with a deadly calm that goes beyond the usual English reserve. And soon Sir Adrian himself is found slumped over his writing desk – an ornate knife thrust into his heart. Trapped amid leering gargoyles and stone walls, every member of the family is a likely suspect. Using a little Cornish brusqueness and brawn, can St. Just find the killer before the next-in-line to the family fortune ends up dead?

My Review: Well! That was nice. I reviewed this author's first entry into a newer series, Wicked Autumn, in 2011, and I was underwhelmed. The identity of the killer and the motive for the killing in that book annoyed me beyond measure. That series isn't one I'm inclined to follow, given how very many there are to sample.

THIS series, however, is a bit more to my liking. I think the character of St. Just, the policeman, is bland, a little uninteresting, but the characters of the bit players were vivid and amusingly overstated. I enjoyed the process of unwrapping the secrets and lies told by the many suspects in a series of nasty homicides, and the golden-age-mystery nature of their interconnections.

Was it fresh, new, and exciting? No, not really, and not even particularly fresh a take on why the victims were offed. But, and this is crucial, the pace is excellently maintained and the cast is well presented...no character is slighted and none is made too much of as a red herring. It's a tough balancing act and Malliet gets it just right.

So just maybe I'll get the next one from my village liberry and see what it has to show me. Pretty darn good work to overcome my annoyance with another series by the same author.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. show less

This was a very fun read. This is my first experience with G.M. Malliet & I thoroughly enjoyed the way the mystery unravelled. With two grisly murders, a manor house, blustery weather & the appearance of some well placed cats, I was completely swept up in this story. I'm a big fan of British mysteries in general and this one kept me page turning & guessing up to the last. Also, there are some truly funny though macabre moments along the way. I often stopped to highlight, laugh & tell myself it was somewhat wrong to laugh at such a thing no matter how insightful or true.

The characters were very well rendered and as there were quite a few of them, I was impressed. DCI St. Just & his assistant, Sergeant Fear take a while to arrive in the show more story to begin their investigation but as the preceding is very much important to telling us who the Beauclerk-Fisk clan are, it's not awkward at all. The connections all came together & I must admit that I was reading agog. Fantatastic. As this is a mystery, I won't give anything plot-worthy away, I will only say that as murder mysteries go, this one is worth reading. It's perfect for a rainy weekend when you're looking for a good yarn. I have another of G.M. Malliet's St. Just mysteries on my Kindle & will be reading it. show less

I bought this a while back because of three things:
1. Cover art included a fountain pen.
2. The word “writer” in the title.
3. The cover blurb sounded good.
There are explanations behind the first two, but they don’t tie to this review.

Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk is a writer of a long series of best-selling cozy mysteries. He is also a pompous, egotistic snob who delights in pitting his children against each other with threats of their inheritance and frequent changes in his will.

Ruthven (pronounced Riv-ven) Beauclerk-Fisk, the eldest, is first in line for the bulk of the inheritance and title. He is also pompous and a control freak. His wife, Lillian, is a social climber.

George Beauclerk-Fisk is number two in line. A narcissistic show more young man of the belief that women can’t resist him, is involved in the gallery scene, is not super sharp and is a bit shady.

Albert, number three son, is the black sheep of the family. An actor with a drinking problem and a string of failed roles in plays, figures he won’t get much of anything, but could use a little money.

Sarah Beauclerk-Fisk is the nerdish daughter. A lump of a woman, unhappy in life, but has published a top selling cookbook of odd, healthy recipes and working on another. She tends to get distracted in details.

These are the central characters, and along with others, they’ve been invited to the family estate to attend Sir Adrian’s wedding to Violet Mildenhall. They are not happy about this change in the status quo as they are worried what this will do the their inheritance.

Ruthven researches Violet’s past and finds her first husband died a mysterious death, which provoked quite a scandal. Ruthven plans to present this juicy bit to their father in hopes of him cancelling the wedding.

During a family meal, Sir Adrian shocks the family by announcing that the actual wedding has occurred a week earlier. Needless to say, the children go into a panic.

When Ruthven is found brutally murdered in the wine cellar, the question turns to who is the next in line for the title and money; never mind the murder. The answer is left in limbo when Sir Adrian turns up dead the following day.

Detective Chief Inspector St. Just is getting ready for a vacation when this case is dropped in his lap. He has quite a list of suspects to choose from and also finds a connection to the earlier mysterious death of Violet’s husband. Seems he has three deaths to resolve.

The style is similar to Christie, Sayers and others of that era. There are humourous snippets and threads can be a bit tangled to follow. I enjoyed the characters and the plot moved along at a good pace. show less