| Title | : | Death Walks the Woods |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 215 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1954 |
Death Walks the Woods Reviews
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I would judge this book to hover betwen 3.5 and 4 stars. Cyril Hare is a fine writer, and his mysteries are usually good reading. This one takes place in a small town with Mrs. Pink being the focal point. Several characters mention what a good person she is. Unfortunately, that is not the adjective I'd use about that woman. Francis Pettigrew is called out of retirement to preside at a County Court, and of course becomes involved in a case of murder, much to the chagrin of DS Tremble. This is an enjoyable day's read abut a time when there was no Internet nor up-to-the minute forensic capabilities.
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Always searching for mystery writers who can hold a candle to Agatha Christie. Cyril Hare falls short
Plot was decent. Characters flat and predictable. -
This is the fourth book in this series, and like those before it Hare manages to mislead the reader. In this Pettigrew has to stand-in for a local judge. Doing this he is introdueced to many of the local residents, as a number of them are in court answering claims for debts. Among them is a Mrs Pink, who rents a small cottage in the village, owned by a local garage owner, a Mr Todman. The owner wants Mrs Pink to vacate the cottage, as his family has grown in numbers and need the dwelling. Mrs Pink maintains that without the cottage she would be destitute. Mrs Pink is a woman who does a lot of work for the comunity and the church and Pettigrew's decision, based on the law, allows her to stay in dwelling. This causes a lot of bad feelings, and when Mrs Pink is found dead in the local woods, more information is learnt about the lady's past. As the holiday season has started, the village attracks a huge number of trippers and siteseers, which means that the any clues are very difficult to find.
I enjoyed this book, and was so pleased that the suspect I was considering was a completely wrong, although the ending was not an ideal happy-ever-after for everyone. -
I consider Cyril Hare as one of my very select pantheon of perfect crime writers. He’s not got the biting wit of Berkeley or the playfulness of Crispin or Mitchell or the showiness of a Dickson Carr or the all round brilliance of an Allingham, but what he always does have is an unerring sense of elegance and simplicity. He’s a writer of small scenes and some can find him a bit dry, but Pettigrew and his wife and lovely little creations and Hare is a master of creating a vignette without forcing the elements into place.
Christie, for her many talents, often just created types for her novels who never remotely felt real. Hare seems to create his puzzle and then populate it with characters who are mostly vivid and interesting. The weak link in this is the angry landlord, Todman, but even then Hare really turns him into a festering ball of frustration and anger and bitterness so that the sense of cliche is minimised. Far more vivid is the still pretty relevant Humphrey Rose, a caddish financier and the slightly gauche and self important teenager, Godfrey, who actually feels like a slightly pretentious teenager with delusions of grandeur whilst also being deeply sympathetic (but while also believably annoying almost everyone in the book other than Pettigrew and a couple of others for his slight priggishness)
But Hare’s real genius is his solutions. Some people find them a bit of a cheat because they rely on some pretty arcane legal knowledge (although, to be fair, this is probably the most easy to grasp solution yet for someone with no experience with the law), but I find them really elegant little solutions. There’s no sense of a plot circling itself wildly or going through insane arcs of coincidence to make it work. For me, a Hare book is like a jigsaw puzzle whose solution is that last puzzle piece that finally makes the previously obtuse and difficult to fathom images around it make sense. He’s not failed me yet and he hasn’t failed me here. Wonderful -
Highly readable but somewhat straightforward classic mystery. Full review soon at classicmystery.wordpress.com
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3.5*
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You jump right into the story, Pettigrew and wife are still getting the hang of living in their new town and they are getting to know more and more of their neighbors. Meeting all these people are done so well, they each have something that lurks below in a quiet way. Pettigrew, who is asked to be a substitute judge, gets to see just how dismal life gets for a brief stint. It also gives him some glances a bit deeper into some of the people than they would like to have.
The surroundings even have a present day desperation marked by past elegance and interest. The murder takes place in a "beauty spot" where people come to see the area a past writer lived and wrote. But today the place where the writer lived; though a historical spot, is also crumbling.
Great story to try and figure out who did it and to also watch how desperate people conduct themselves to retain scraps of self-importance. (Truly a story of- deep waters.) -
I really enjoyed this book which I found quite a gentle leisurely read of the murder of a village woman at a local beauty spot. The hero of the book is the lawyer (with a very unfortunately surname for Harry Potter fans) Francis Pettigrew who has moved with his younger wife to a picturesque village in Markshire where he discovers the difficulties of writing when there's a lovely scene to look at out of the window, although whether he thinks the view so lovely after he is the last one to see the victim as she walks down the hill. The victim was Mrs Pink, a village woman and widow who helped out by doing a lot of the arranging, secretarial work for the local events and committees. Early on it is proved, during a court case presided over by Francis Pettigrew when he is called to sit as a county court judge due to illness, that Mrs Pink has a very limited income with virtually no savings so is unable to move as she has no money to go anywhere else, but it is then discovered that the cottage she rents unfurnished is actually full of good quality furniture and pictures.
I think the small cast of characters are well described and a very interesting group of people.
First there's the victim Mrs Pink who seems to be a universally liked woman, being described by those she work's for on committee's as 'a good woman', which Pettigrew agrees with but also adds obstinate, whilst to the villagers she is considered to be mean, someone who hoards money and is generally disliked in a non-violent sort of way. I really like the way these two different viewpoints are shown and absolutely love the village constable who is able to give the villagers' take.
Then there's the lady who lives at The Alps who divorced her husband when her son was small, was more happy to have left her son in her ex-husband's custody and may or may not have lived/been living in sin, but was certainly never visited by the 'gentry' Lady Furlong. Described as easy going why is she so hostile to Mrs Pink, when she discovers her son invited the lady in to have some tea she turns icy cold with rage. Also at The Alps is her 17 year old son, who's father having died is experimenting with living with his mother during the Easter holidays, who likes Mrs Pink and feels sorry for her. Then the 'gentleman' small-holder who was at Harrow with Lady Furlong's nephew but lost his money and now spends his time and very limited resources buying equipment which is ultimately useless and providing black market pork (set in the early 1950s rationing is still in effect), and who may or may not be considering a romance with Mrs Pink after he's seen the inside of her cottage. There's the garage man who owns the cottage Mrs Pink rents and is desparate to get her out of the cottage so his very pregnant daughter and her husband can move in. A hot tempered man who, when he is unable to legally evict Mrs Pink, resorts to not-quite-but-nearly knocking her off her bicycle as she bikes up the hill on which she is later murdered. And finally the politican swindler who having served his time in prison comes to stay at The Alps, does he know Mrs Pink?
What makes this so interesting is the time period it's set in when along with rationing goes a lack of housing, something relevant to today. The court case involving Mrs Pink being a case in point. Mrs Pink has a very limited income and virtually no savings and wishes to stay in or around the village she grew up in, although she moved away when she married, but there is nothing available or certainly nothing affordable, whilst the landlord Mr Todman needs the cottage back as his very pregnant daughter and son-in-law who was just out of the army are having to live in one room over his garage. I usually find that murders involving lawyers can be quite dry and go on about points of law, but I found the chapter where Pettigrew is acting as judge having to make some difficult housing decisions contrasting with his more humoros job of dealing with those in trouble for non-payment of debts absorbing. -
4.5 stars - Hare has become a favorite - his reluctant amateur sleuth Francis Pettigrew, retired solicitor, substitute judge at the opening of this mystery, is smart, funny, decent, self-deprecating. The Golden Age series is very enjoyable and entertaining and based in the author’s own experience as a lawyer and judge.
A judge is ill and Pettigrew is asked to sub; Hare writes humorously, effectively and wryly of the cases before him, citizens falling on hard times, disputes between landlords and tenants, collections. One case is between a nasty little landlord, Todman, and Mrs. Pink, a truly good widow who does all sorts of good works in the village, and rents a cottage from him. He wants her out, as his daughter has just had a baby, and the grandparents want the young couple and child out of their crowded home. Mrs. Pink says she has no where to go. Pettigrew decides according to the law, but there are hard feelings. When Mrs. Pink is found dead in the woods, the police are stumped - who would do this to such a good woman?
Hare writes with his usual wry humor about the hassles of living in a picturesque village like Yew Hill, with day trippers tramping about; village gossip; rationing; housing shortages, many aspects of post-war British life. There’s always more than a mystery, which always has a sensible solution, usually found in the inner workings of the law. Hare writes about human nature, and imbues his characters with quirks, faults, and believable motivations. I really enjoy his books! -
Interesting and well-written mystery, featuring Francis Pettigrew, Detective-Superintendent Trimble and Chief Constable MacWilliam.
The investigation is into the murder of the worthy Mrs Pink who is described as:-
"Not only exceptionally good, of course, but also more than ordinarily obstinate. And rather stupid as well. Isn't it lamentable, by the way, how often those three adjectives go together?".
The characters are well-drawn and there is some light humour and social satire.
Recommended and very readable. -
I'm reading my way through the collected works of Cyril Hare, and this has been my least favourite so far. Not because of the story itself, which is, as always, well-written, peopled with believable characters and involving an obscure point of law. I just felt it got bogged down in the interminable "who could see whom walking up and down the hill" part.
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This is a mystery in the classic English style which is just what I was looking for. It takes place in the early 1950's. I am old enough to have memories from that time so the differences between life in England and life in the midwestern USA jumped out at me. Meat was rationed and it appeared to be routine to offer sherry to teenagers.
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Only an average mystery, but I loved the writing and the characterization employed. A bit of a twist on the procedural, with an emphasis on the legal aspects of the case. Gently humorous and an enjoyable read.
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Francis Pettigrew is hauled out of retirement to deputise for a sick judge, and has to arbitrate a dispute between two residents of his local village. A few days later, one of them is dead, and Pettigrew is drawn into the investigation.
A golden age crime novel, first published in 1954. -
Solid, straightforward classic mystery.
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classic detection story
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A fun read.
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3.5 stars but decidedly not a 4 star mystery.
On the positive side,it is an elegantly written cosy mystery with wonderful characterization and sense of place(imaginary) and time .On the negative side,the mystery is simple and could have been made into a short story as well.I guessed the murderer and half the motive at about two thirds of the way. The other half of the motive hinges on a now arcane piece of knowledge unlikely to be in possession of any modern reader.
The denouement is a bit haphazard and I don't think the case could be proven in court unless the murderer confessed.
However,I liked the book very much because of its wonderful prose,dry humour and funny characters .I never felt bored or disinterested either .
So , it's a pretty entertaining read and provides a nice snapshot of life in post war England but it is not a great puzzler.An English Murder was better on that front. -
Francis and Eleanor Pettigrew have moved to the country at Yew Hill. Francis substitutes for the local Court Judge, and allows Mrs. Pink to stay in her rental even though the owner wants it for his step daughter. The Mr. Pink is found dead in the woods - hit on the head by a heavy post. There are several suspects - Humphrey Rose, found to be Mrs. Pink's husband; Mr. Todman, the landlord; Mrs. Ransome who lost an earring near the body; and Mr. Wendon, who wanted to marry her. Francis does a little detecting, and helps out the local police. The book is amusing and a good yarn.
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Francis Pettigrew is such a well-drawn character that I am continually surprised by just how few stories there are in which he figures. Too bad there aren’t a deal more. For that matter, too bad there aren’t a deal more Cyril Hares…
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One of those books where I always remember who the murderer is, although not how or why the murder happened.
