Death at the Opera

The sly Mrs. Bradley solves yet another mystery in hilarious fashion. When a spinster schoolteacher at a forward-thinking co-ed private school ends up dead, the coroner's jury chalks it up as suicide. But the headmaster has private doubts and summons the formidable Mrs. Bradley to investigate.

Mrs. Bradley soon realizes that the victim, Calma Ferris, was murdered, and the psychiatrist-sleuth determines that Ferris wasn't the only one "done in."

The ending will really surprise you. My only quibble with the book was that Gladys Mitchell doesn't really play fair with the reader, as there aren't enough clues for a reader to determine who the real murderer is. That said, the novel is so delightful that I couldn't help giving it five stars anyway.

Death At the Opera by Gladys Mitchell is the 5th book in her mystery series that features Mrs. Bradley. In this outing, Calma Ferris, a self-effacing, meek and not very talented teacher is killed just before she is to go on stage in the school’s presentation of The Mikado. Although the inquest sets a “death by suicide” verdict, the head master of the school believes the woman was murdered and so calls in Mrs. Bradley, an unconventional psychoanalyst and amateur detective to investigate.

Overall I enjoyed this mystery. There were a lot of twists and red herrings to wade through but I found the characters interesting and I enjoyed reading about them. Although I found the side story about a serial murderer at little bit odd, it show more didn’t detract from the final outcome which was both satisfying and surprising.

Apparently Gladys Mitchell had been a school teacher and I believe she has given us a real treat with the school setting, capturing the petty jealousies and strange relationships that exist between the staff. Of course, it is always fun to read about Mrs. Bradley, with her odd appearance, mismatched clothing and cackling laugh. I did think that this book showed a more sympathetic side to the character and I appreciated seeing this softer side. show less

An apparent suicide at a progressive, coeducational school is the setting for this mystery. Mrs. Bradley is called in to determine whether it was suicide, or something more sinister. Gladys Mitchell taught all her life and her descriptions of the teachers, students and atmosphere at the school are not what you'd expect judging only on her author's photograph. A white-haired old lady? Definitely not! I find her progressive, broad-minded attitudes as expressed by Mrs. Bradley are wonderfully frank and modern. The Great Gladys is delightfully bloodthirsty in devising her murders, and describing the motives and sometimes-sordid lives of Mrs. Bradley's many suspects.

I really like Mrs. Bradley as an eccentric sleuth but some of Mitchell's books are just too convoluted to be engaging throughout the whole of the story.

Certainly this one had a great premise - a body is found during a school production of The Mikado and the death is pronounced a suicide, even though the victim apparently managed to drown herself in a sink whilst sitting on a chair.

Circumstances and a whole cast of suspects persuade the schools headmaster to call on the psychological expertise of Mrs Bradley to find out the truth about the death.

I had seen the BBC adaptation of this installment and had rather high expectations, and unfortunately the book did not live up to it. This is one of the few instances where the adaptation show more seems to be better than the book, not only for starring Diana Rigg and David Tennant.


Review originally posted on BookLikes. show less