Murder in the Falling Snow: Ten Classic Crime Stories (Vintage Murders)

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At Christmas I like to read a good murder mystery, particularly if it has a Christmas theme - I'd not come across Gladys Mitchell before, but I was encouraged by a quote from a Guardian review, likening it to Miss Marple. And the Cotswold setting was attractive, as it's just up the road from where I live. I thoroughly enjoyed Murder in the Snow which is a fun read with a good mystery attached, i.e. I had no idea of the perpetrator’s identity. This is the first novel in the series that I have read but it won’t be the last. I loved that it is told entirely from Lady Eleanor’s point of view as it means that there are no distractions and the reader knows what she knows, nothing more and nothing less. There are plenty of suspects as Canning was not a nice man and plenty of motives as he’s a man with a past. The solution comes out of left field although the clues are maybe there if the reader looks hard enough. I had no idea Christmas Day could be so exhausting… And I thought being a Lady of the Manor was all about languishing on chaise lounges and chiding the tradesmen! Eleanor inherited her title following the tragic death of her uncle and the disappearance of her parents. She’s spent her years on adventures around the world and hasn’t been brought up to be Lady of the manor but she’s endeavouring to fulfil the role with the guidance and protection of Clifford. This isn’t the first time this pair have investigated a murder but they’d certainly never expected one to be committed during the first Christmas Eve party hosted by Eleanor for the local villagers. The police don’t seem to be too interested in what happened though Detective Seldon isn’t totally ruling out foul play. However, the victim doesn’t seem to have anyone who’ll miss him but just who killed him – and why? As more people are poisoned and incriminating evidence planted, can this duo identify the killer and bring them to justice?

Oh the sheer joy of escaping these dark, Groundhog Day times in the company of these wonderful characters (especially Eleanor) and of course Gladstone the bulldog, who frankly steals the show ... and baubles.... and slippers .....! They all feel so vibrantly alive, they’re colourful and the storytelling is lively and entertaining. The period of time is captured well in these above and below stairs times (not that Eleanor places much store in that) and the language used is spot on, what! Oh it certainly is my old fruit. This is very much in the spirit of the mysteries of the era as the great teamwork of the intuition of Lady Eleanor and the knowledge of Clifford solves a twisty mystery. The murder and the plot that spins from it was quite interesting, with lots of unexpected but plausible connections that held my interest while making it impossible for me to solve the whodunnit riddle. Returning characters include Lord and Lady Langham and Lancelot. I do not like Lancelot. He's still too childish for Ellie and as she notes, he doesn't understand why she was so offended by his behavior at the debate. His parents are nice but I think they wouldn't understand either. They spoil him. Their friends are also there at their New Year's party. The Dowager Countess is still nasty, Cora seems OK, Baron Ashley and his wife are sweet but the other couple are still sour. There wasn't much of them in this book. I liked seeing more of the villagers instead.Edited by Cecily Gayford — Murder in the Falling Snow brings you ten festive stories of murder and mayhem by some of the early-20th century’s best crime writers. From country houses to trainlines, rustic pubs to suburban terraces, the stories feature perplexing mysteries solved by canny detectives in environments now synonymous with classic crime fiction. While some of the included tales have been reprinted in recent years in various of the British Library’s Crime Classics anthologies, others have long been out of print, which makes their appearance in this collection a real treat for fans of stories from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

I listened to the audiobook version, which was released in March this year and was narrated with brio by Patience Tomlinson (shame about the cover).It probably will be,’ said the Chief Constable, who, beneath a curmudgeonly manner, cherished an affection for Mrs Bradley’s gifts and was rather put out of countenance at what seemed to be her negative results in this particular case.