Death of an Old Girl

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 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 show more 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

At the annual festival at Meldon School for girls how does a person get killed without witnesses and without the prerequisite time. What could be the possible motive to kill old Meldon girl Beatrice Baynes. Chief Detective Inspector Pollard and Detective Sergeant Toye are send from Scotland Yard to find the answer.
This is the first book (published in 1967) of this police procedural series.
I enjoyed this somewhat slow paced old-fashioned story, with its lack of reliance on modern forensics. So it becomes a matter of discerning the liars with opportunity and motive.
I look forward to the next in the series to see how the main characters develop
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

British-detective, procedural, murder-investigation, historical, sly-humor, reprint

The victim has a long history of perpetrating nastiness on others and this is set up very well at the beginning, so it is no surprise that she ended up murdered. Enter Inspector Pollard and Sergeant Toye as well as the inspector's wife, Jane, each of whom is the antithesis of that nasty biddy. The characters certainly are and if you enjoy old style British police procedurals, you can't help but admire the exacting due diligence of the police. Lots of wit, red herrings, and a look back at what hampered police work even then!
I responded to an offer by Saperebooks.com, but then discovered that a copy was hiding in my TBR pile!

Classic mystery. There are enough ideas in here for ten mysteries (boarding school, overbearing aunt, charming scoundrel nephew, more that I can't say without spoiling the story.)