Monday, July 8, 2013

The Murder at Sissingham Hall by Clara Benson

Whodunit?



The Murder at Sissingham Hall (2013), an e-book by Clara Benson, was an entertaining English country house mystery.

Charles Knox returns to 1920s, or maybe it is 1930s, England after eight years in South Africa where he made his fortune. His ex-fiance Rosamund is now married to the very wealthy, although older, Sir Neville. Rosamund has invited Charles to a weekend houseparty along with Bobs, Charles's long-time friend, and Bobs's sister Sylvia. Also on hand are Hugh MacMurray, a relative of Sir Neville's and his scheming wife, Gwen; Mrs. Marchmont a cousin of Rosamund's; Joan, Sir Neville's ward; and, Simon Gale, Sir Neville's secretary. 

Rumor circulates among the guests that Mr. Pomfret, the solicitor, is also coming for the weekend as Sir Neville wants to change his will. Well, there you have it. Now we know who will become 'the body in the study' and sure enough, poor Sir Neville gets hit over the head with a statue and dies.

The murderer takes great pains to make it look as if Sir Neville fell and hit his head, but the physician and the solicitor are not to be fooled and Scotland Yard arrives.

There are lots of clues and red-herrings and quite a few surprises before the murderer is revealed. I wish there had been more written about the house itself, but I used my imagination and created quite a lovely country estate.

2 comments:

  1. This sounds like a good old-fashioned style read - I'll keep an eye out for it.

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    1. It wasn't quite Agatha Christie, but I enjoyed it. Best of all it wasn't too long...maybe 200 pages. The perfect length to get the murder solved!

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