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Mrs. Bradley #3
The Longer Bodies: A Mrs. Bradley Mystery
At ninety, the screeching, still lively Great Aunt Puddequet devises a novel means to determine which of her young nephews stands worthy of her inheritance: she will award her fortune to the relative who shows the greatest promise on her homemade Olympics field. Assisted—and occasionally bullied—by the trainer, Kost, the five men of the family take up the sports of the discus throw, the long jump, and the shot put with competitive and varied results. Although no one is publicly pursuing the javelin toss, that sharp instrument nevertheless has a way of turning up on the field, the blade's tip stained with blood each time. Mrs. Puddequet watches her relations' training with great interest, though the old lady's constant companion—a nervous young woman once promised her share of the inheritance—and only grandson (now surrounded by rivals to the estate) survey the scene with considerably less amusement.
The tournament gets thrown off-track once the body of a tenant and Little Longer villager is found on the training grounds. Specifically, the luckless man is tied (with gymnasium rope) to a mermaid statue and submerged in the small mere. Inspector Bloxham tries to make sense of the tableau, and soon has a second death to investigate. Irritated at these mortal intrusions, Mrs. Puddequet tries to chase the police away from her Olympics, but finds a psychiatrist named Bradley (who has taken an interest in the Longer bodies) less easy to deter. While the inspector jumps from one suspect to another, Mrs. Bradley uses logic and psychology to identify the murderer from among the hopeful athletes and inheritors.
The tournament gets thrown off-track once the body of a tenant and Little Longer villager is found on the training grounds. Specifically, the luckless man is tied (with gymnasium rope) to a mermaid statue and submerged in the small mere. Inspector Bloxham tries to make sense of the tableau, and soon has a second death to investigate. Irritated at these mortal intrusions, Mrs. Puddequet tries to chase the police away from her Olympics, but finds a psychiatrist named Bradley (who has taken an interest in the Longer bodies) less easy to deter. While the inspector jumps from one suspect to another, Mrs. Bradley uses logic and psychology to identify the murderer from among the hopeful athletes and inheritors.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1930
84 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
Gladys Mitchell
93 books130 followersAka Malcolm Torrie, Stephen Hockaby.
Born in Cowley, Oxford, in 1901, Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell was the daughter of market gardener James Mitchell, and his wife, Annie.
She was educated at Rothschild School, Brentford and Green School, Isleworth, before attending Goldsmiths College and University College, London from 1919-1921.
She taught English, history and games at St Paul's School, Brentford, from 1921-26, and at St Anne's Senior Girls School, Ealing until 1939.
She earned an external diploma in European history from University College in 1926, beginning to write her novels at this point. Mitchell went on to teach at a number of other schools, including the Brentford Senior Girls School (1941-50), and the Matthew Arnold School, Staines (1953-61). She retired to Corfe Mullen, Dorset in 1961, where she lived until her death in 1983.
Although primarily remembered for her mystery novels, and for her detective creation, Mrs. Bradley, who featured in 66 of her novels, Mitchell also published ten children's books under her own name, historical fiction under the pseudonym Stephen Hockaby, and more detective fiction under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie. She also wrote a great many short stories, all of which were first published in the Evening Standard.
She was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger Award in 1976.
Born in Cowley, Oxford, in 1901, Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell was the daughter of market gardener James Mitchell, and his wife, Annie.
She was educated at Rothschild School, Brentford and Green School, Isleworth, before attending Goldsmiths College and University College, London from 1919-1921.
She taught English, history and games at St Paul's School, Brentford, from 1921-26, and at St Anne's Senior Girls School, Ealing until 1939.
She earned an external diploma in European history from University College in 1926, beginning to write her novels at this point. Mitchell went on to teach at a number of other schools, including the Brentford Senior Girls School (1941-50), and the Matthew Arnold School, Staines (1953-61). She retired to Corfe Mullen, Dorset in 1961, where she lived until her death in 1983.
Although primarily remembered for her mystery novels, and for her detective creation, Mrs. Bradley, who featured in 66 of her novels, Mitchell also published ten children's books under her own name, historical fiction under the pseudonym Stephen Hockaby, and more detective fiction under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie. She also wrote a great many short stories, all of which were first published in the Evening Standard.
She was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger Award in 1976.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 26, 2017
As far as I can see, the only good reason for reading "The Longer Bodies", other than forgivable ignorance of what you're letting yourself in for, is the kind of curiosity that leads you to read "The Life & Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gentleman". Just as Tristam Shandy shows you what a novel looked like before people really figured out how to write one, "The Longer Bodies" shows you how early crime fiction flopped about like a recently landed fish on a dock before the modern genre emerged.
The first half of the book, a long, long, oh-God-am-I-not-yet-through-this, 150 pages or so is a complete mess: scrappy exposition, cardboard characterisation more suited to a farce, an investigative method that was explained at length and yet was both ineffective and implausible.
When Mrs Bradley finally flies in on her broomstick, the novel flares brightly for a while, like a cheap candle with a bad wick and then starts, all too slowly, to gutter and die. The denouement is protracted, clumsy, implausible and would, in any book less dull than this one, have been anticlimactic but here simply sustained a level of when-will-this-end tedium.
There were some stray shafts of sunlight in this cloudy waste of a day novel. Mrs Bradley weaponises eccentricity by bringing to bear high levels of insight with very low levels of empathy and absolutely no need or desire to be liked by anyone. The improbably named Great Aunt Puddequet turns tyranny into an amusement in the way only a very old person, who has been wicked by the standards of her day but now wishes she'd been a great deal more so, can. The "children" in their late teens and twenties are a curious mix privileged prig and abuse survivor.
The depictions of the German trainer and the Scottish cook are so patronising and xenophobic that they could be the stuff of a Brexit campaigners' fantasy except for the hint of self-mockery.
This is a book that I endured rather than enjoyed. I assume that some of the sixty-six Mrs Bradley books must be worth a read. I went to this tribute site for guidance and was disappointed to see that "The Longer Bodies" is consistently listed in the top third. I think I'll restrict myself to trying one of the top three before I decide that Gladys Mitchell just isn't my thing
The first half of the book, a long, long, oh-God-am-I-not-yet-through-this, 150 pages or so is a complete mess: scrappy exposition, cardboard characterisation more suited to a farce, an investigative method that was explained at length and yet was both ineffective and implausible.
When Mrs Bradley finally flies in on her broomstick, the novel flares brightly for a while, like a cheap candle with a bad wick and then starts, all too slowly, to gutter and die. The denouement is protracted, clumsy, implausible and would, in any book less dull than this one, have been anticlimactic but here simply sustained a level of when-will-this-end tedium.
There were some stray shafts of sunlight in this cloudy waste of a day novel. Mrs Bradley weaponises eccentricity by bringing to bear high levels of insight with very low levels of empathy and absolutely no need or desire to be liked by anyone. The improbably named Great Aunt Puddequet turns tyranny into an amusement in the way only a very old person, who has been wicked by the standards of her day but now wishes she'd been a great deal more so, can. The "children" in their late teens and twenties are a curious mix privileged prig and abuse survivor.
The depictions of the German trainer and the Scottish cook are so patronising and xenophobic that they could be the stuff of a Brexit campaigners' fantasy except for the hint of self-mockery.
This is a book that I endured rather than enjoyed. I assume that some of the sixty-six Mrs Bradley books must be worth a read. I went to this tribute site for guidance and was disappointed to see that "The Longer Bodies" is consistently listed in the top third. I think I'll restrict myself to trying one of the top three before I decide that Gladys Mitchell just isn't my thing
July 19, 2014
I have a new "if I become rich" daydream, thanks to this book: I want to make various charming young relatives carry out insane schemes while I decide which one gets my money.
February 16, 2018
The Longer Bodies, first published in 1930, is the second of Gladys Mitchell’s Mrs Bradley novels to be published by Vintage. Mitchell, a contemporary of Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie, was an incredibly prolific crime author, publishing one book each year, and bringing her total of Mrs Bradley novels to over sixty.
One of the protagonists of The Longer Bodies is Great Aunt Matilda Puddequet, who is ‘enormously wealthy’ and ‘enormously mean’. Mitchell describes her as ‘a very old lady, parrot-beaked, shrill-voiced, and imperious’, who will happily hold a grudge for decades. In effect, she is the catalyst who brings the rest of the characters together, deciding to summon her grand-nephews ‘to perform in a games tournament in order to secure their inheritance’.
The Yeomonds are the first family whom we meet in this respect. Francis, Malpas and Hilary are pitted against one another to ‘win’ the inheritance, and the boys are only interested in doing so in the hope that they might beat their cousins. The father of the three Yeomond boys, Godfrey, who believes Great Aunt Matilda to be a ‘vinegar-tongued old hag’, says this of her when he learns of her proposed tournament: ‘The only thing she seems inclined to give away without stint… is unasked for advice’. He tells the boys: ‘Of course, the idea itself is absurd, but then, what are the old for, if not to impose their absurd ideas on the young?’
As one might expect, the family rivalry between the different branches of Great Aunt Puddequet’s family abounds. A second layer of the story is introduced when something ‘queer’ about the house begins to make itself known, causing a few of the young characters to begin to worry. The novel’s crime comes when a man named Jacob Hobson goes missing from the local village, and is reported to have fallen into the lake on Great Aunt Puddequet’s estate. When marks of murder are found upon his body, Mrs Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, a part-time detective and psychoanalyst, is asked to find his killer.
The story follows the same witty and acerbic pattern which is introduced with Godfrey, and the entirety of The Longer Bodies is filled with marvellously memorable characters in consequence. Mitchell’s writing is intelligent, and her plot is crafted meticulously. The novel is very of its time – we have ‘talkies’, mention of one cousin being in disgrace for running away to join the Bloomsbury set, and such language as ‘jolly good!’ and ‘splendid’. Whilst this novel is not as gripping or as intriguing as the story within Speedy Death, The Longer Bodies is sure to delight any fans of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, and Mitchell’s work comes highly recommended.
One of the protagonists of The Longer Bodies is Great Aunt Matilda Puddequet, who is ‘enormously wealthy’ and ‘enormously mean’. Mitchell describes her as ‘a very old lady, parrot-beaked, shrill-voiced, and imperious’, who will happily hold a grudge for decades. In effect, she is the catalyst who brings the rest of the characters together, deciding to summon her grand-nephews ‘to perform in a games tournament in order to secure their inheritance’.
The Yeomonds are the first family whom we meet in this respect. Francis, Malpas and Hilary are pitted against one another to ‘win’ the inheritance, and the boys are only interested in doing so in the hope that they might beat their cousins. The father of the three Yeomond boys, Godfrey, who believes Great Aunt Matilda to be a ‘vinegar-tongued old hag’, says this of her when he learns of her proposed tournament: ‘The only thing she seems inclined to give away without stint… is unasked for advice’. He tells the boys: ‘Of course, the idea itself is absurd, but then, what are the old for, if not to impose their absurd ideas on the young?’
As one might expect, the family rivalry between the different branches of Great Aunt Puddequet’s family abounds. A second layer of the story is introduced when something ‘queer’ about the house begins to make itself known, causing a few of the young characters to begin to worry. The novel’s crime comes when a man named Jacob Hobson goes missing from the local village, and is reported to have fallen into the lake on Great Aunt Puddequet’s estate. When marks of murder are found upon his body, Mrs Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, a part-time detective and psychoanalyst, is asked to find his killer.
The story follows the same witty and acerbic pattern which is introduced with Godfrey, and the entirety of The Longer Bodies is filled with marvellously memorable characters in consequence. Mitchell’s writing is intelligent, and her plot is crafted meticulously. The novel is very of its time – we have ‘talkies’, mention of one cousin being in disgrace for running away to join the Bloomsbury set, and such language as ‘jolly good!’ and ‘splendid’. Whilst this novel is not as gripping or as intriguing as the story within Speedy Death, The Longer Bodies is sure to delight any fans of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, and Mitchell’s work comes highly recommended.
September 22, 2020
Great Aunt Puddequet gathers her nieces and nephews together at her country pile. She wants to observe closely, for her twisted amusement, as they compete to be the designated inheritor of her enormous wealth - compete literally, in fact, because Great Aunt Puddequet has a thing about excellence and sport and some other stuff, and so will determine the most worthy by having them compete in a sort of mini-Olympics amongst themselves. She's had an entire track and field set-up built on the grounds for this very purpose. And there are a lot of javelins flying about...
Another hilariously mad quasi-spoof from Gladys Mitchell, this one was possibly my favourite for a while (the setup is brilliantly eccentric, the characters appealing and well-drawn) albeit it did tail off towards the end. One is always nervous approaching the denouement of a Mitchell novel - never mind "will it make sense?" How about, "will it make ANY sense?" Will I even be told clearly who done it, never mind why or how? Here, as with the others I've read so far, she just about keeps the plates spinning and I think I mostly followed who, why and how, tho I can't remember now a few weeks later (except that it was complicated and utterly ludicrous) but it doesn't matter. One reads Mitchell's novels as novels - as brilliant comedies and unending parades of straight-faced eccentricity - not in order to reach the end and be dazzled by the solution (except perhaps her chutzpah in delivering such a thing to us with an apparently straight face.) The setting here is marvelously done, and Mitchell, a lifelong teacher, is particularly good at creating well-rounded and distinctive younger characters. Moreover the whole thing is just off-kilter enough to be funny and always-intriguing, but not so much that things descend into farce: it's a brilliant balancing act, which appears to have come to Mitchell naturally.
I loved The Longer Bodies. And Mrs Bradley is on hand, hideous as ever, 'eyeing the unconscious girl with what was intended to be a whimsical smile but which approached more nearly to the kind of grin with which an alligator on the banks of the Nile might view the coming of a chubby but careless baby.'
Another hilariously mad quasi-spoof from Gladys Mitchell, this one was possibly my favourite for a while (the setup is brilliantly eccentric, the characters appealing and well-drawn) albeit it did tail off towards the end. One is always nervous approaching the denouement of a Mitchell novel - never mind "will it make sense?" How about, "will it make ANY sense?" Will I even be told clearly who done it, never mind why or how? Here, as with the others I've read so far, she just about keeps the plates spinning and I think I mostly followed who, why and how, tho I can't remember now a few weeks later (except that it was complicated and utterly ludicrous) but it doesn't matter. One reads Mitchell's novels as novels - as brilliant comedies and unending parades of straight-faced eccentricity - not in order to reach the end and be dazzled by the solution (except perhaps her chutzpah in delivering such a thing to us with an apparently straight face.) The setting here is marvelously done, and Mitchell, a lifelong teacher, is particularly good at creating well-rounded and distinctive younger characters. Moreover the whole thing is just off-kilter enough to be funny and always-intriguing, but not so much that things descend into farce: it's a brilliant balancing act, which appears to have come to Mitchell naturally.
I loved The Longer Bodies. And Mrs Bradley is on hand, hideous as ever, 'eyeing the unconscious girl with what was intended to be a whimsical smile but which approached more nearly to the kind of grin with which an alligator on the banks of the Nile might view the coming of a chubby but careless baby.'
January 9, 2022
I was thoroughly and wickedly lost - and loved it.
September 9, 2016
Very strange for first half and all over the place until Mrs Bradley arrives. Then lovely twists and turns and surprises.
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March 2, 2020I’ve just finished The Longer Bodies, by Gladys Mitchell. She was an English mystery writer in the 30’s whom I’d not heard of before. This is the second book in the Mrs. Bradley series (Mrs. Brandley is her detective). This was written in 1937 and I didn’t have much hope of it, actually, but as it turned out I enjoyed it very much! It is a country house murder, and the characters are all somewhat ‘types’ but she uses that for sly humor while still managing to take the mystery part seriously. I’d say it’s a fine example of ‘Golden Age’ writing. Mrs. Bradley is delightful - a psychologist who seems to operate on ‘the psychology of the individual’ combined with a razor-sharp eye and powerful deductive reasoning for solving crimes, rather like a Hercule Poirot/Sherlock Holmes combo. However, she is not a show-egotist like Poirot; like Holmes, she enjoys dropping sly hints and letting others bumble along while she figures it all out. She reminds me of a college professor I had who made you feel 100% smarter just because she assumed you were as smart as she was. The premise of the book involves a very elderly and eccentric lady, Aunt Puddequet (LOVE the name!), with one adopted grandson and eight nieces and nephews from three different family branches. Since the grandson is turning out to be a rotter, and because she is angered by the deplorable showing of the English athletes in an international sporting track and field event (a la Olympics), she decides to leave her fortune to the first nephew who can win an ‘Olympic’ medal in track and field. She has her property redone as a venue for shot put, high jumping, racing, and other events; hires a Swedish trainer and makes all the nieces and nephews come down and spend the summer training (the girls will be given a set amount and are not involved in the training). As you can see, this is a pretty absurd and delightful plot! There is also a companion, Miss Chaddick, always referred to by the aunt as Companion Chaddick. Aunt Puddequet is a great character on the page and a sort of mirror opposite of Mrs. Bradley. It is a fine example of very dry British humor. I think i’d grow tired if I read to many at once, but for when I need something intelligent but light it is perfect and there are 66 (!) of them so they will last me a while. Mrs. Mitchell herself seems to have been a very interesting person. She also wrote as Stephen Hockaby and Malcolm Torrie. She went to college and university, taught in various schools for most of her life. I’ll quote from the Wikipedia article: “She was a member of the Middlesex Education Association, the British Olympic Association, the Crime Writers’ Association, PEN and the Society of Authors. Her hobbies included architecture and writing poetry. She studied the works of Sigmund Freud and her interest in witchcraft was encouraged by her friend the detective novelist Helen Simpson. Mitchell never married.” She actually reminds me quite a bit of her detective.
July 17, 2018
Uhhhhh....this is an odd book. What I like best about it is how strange it is to have an amoral detective as the lead. Mrs Bradley is a unique figure to hinge a detective series upon. Not likable & frankly creepy, I can see why Mitchell's creation of Mrs Bradley is not as well known as her peers' creations of Hercule Poirot or Lord Peter Wimsey.
As for the story itself, this is the weakest of the 3 books I have read so far. It's a traditional closed circle mystery & in a rural setting. However, the rural setting is barely described so there is no cozy, traditionally British feel. It's a closed circle of characters but all the characters are basically alike - just a gaggle of upper class British twits in their early twenties. Seriously, there are like a dozen of them in this story, all alike. I gave up attempting to keep the cast of characters straight. Usually, one gets an assortment of types so it's easy to keep them straight. Not here. That was annoying.
The local police are not fleshed out at all and I have already forgotten all about them. Only Mrs. Bradley is strongly developed.
There is no way for the reader to solve the mystery since Mitchell does not give us well really any clues that would be helpful. Instead we get a long detailed confession of the crime at the end. Huh. Seems like a cop out.
I will read the 4th in the series just because I am so fascinated at how crazy this Mrs Bradley character is. It's so odd having an unreliable narrator as the detective.
As for the story itself, this is the weakest of the 3 books I have read so far. It's a traditional closed circle mystery & in a rural setting. However, the rural setting is barely described so there is no cozy, traditionally British feel. It's a closed circle of characters but all the characters are basically alike - just a gaggle of upper class British twits in their early twenties. Seriously, there are like a dozen of them in this story, all alike. I gave up attempting to keep the cast of characters straight. Usually, one gets an assortment of types so it's easy to keep them straight. Not here. That was annoying.
The local police are not fleshed out at all and I have already forgotten all about them. Only Mrs. Bradley is strongly developed.
There is no way for the reader to solve the mystery since Mitchell does not give us well really any clues that would be helpful. Instead we get a long detailed confession of the crime at the end. Huh. Seems like a cop out.
I will read the 4th in the series just because I am so fascinated at how crazy this Mrs Bradley character is. It's so odd having an unreliable narrator as the detective.
August 5, 2021
Gladys Mitchell books are both classic detective fiction and unusual examples of the same.*
The Longer Bodies was a satisfying read, one of the most overtly funny and with some absolutely unforgetable characters, noticeably the mad Great Aunt whose eccentricity leads her grand nieces and nephews to vie for their inheritance. A very enjoyable read. Would have been 5 stars except for the rather jarring notes, where highly unlikely explanations are given for clues.
*It takes a while to adjust to the style of the Mrs. Bradley series; certainly I find them unlike most of the other golden era offerings. The writing is superb, the settings range from melodramatic to classic (country house, quiet village etc.) but there are elements of gothic fiction not just in the plotting but in the characters. Mrs. Bradley is a grotesque if likeable figure. Her infuriating habit of explaining the crime away one way, only to renounce that explanation and explain it another way, coupled with her rather ungenerous habit of holding the cards too close to her chest for even the reader to see, can be irritating but the compensation of the witty, and atmospheric writing helps.
The Longer Bodies was a satisfying read, one of the most overtly funny and with some absolutely unforgetable characters, noticeably the mad Great Aunt whose eccentricity leads her grand nieces and nephews to vie for their inheritance. A very enjoyable read. Would have been 5 stars except for the rather jarring notes, where highly unlikely explanations are given for clues.
*It takes a while to adjust to the style of the Mrs. Bradley series; certainly I find them unlike most of the other golden era offerings. The writing is superb, the settings range from melodramatic to classic (country house, quiet village etc.) but there are elements of gothic fiction not just in the plotting but in the characters. Mrs. Bradley is a grotesque if likeable figure. Her infuriating habit of explaining the crime away one way, only to renounce that explanation and explain it another way, coupled with her rather ungenerous habit of holding the cards too close to her chest for even the reader to see, can be irritating but the compensation of the witty, and atmospheric writing helps.
December 8, 2024
I did not finish, for the very good reason that I wasn't enjoying this. I liked the old lady, and the premise (wealthy old woman promises to leave money to whichever young relative first qualifies for the Olympics) is hilariously unusual. But unfortunately the cast was composed of almost entirely young people, with very little distinguishing characteristics, such that they might as well have been called Young Man 1, 2, 3, etc., and Young Woman 1, 2, 3, etc.
With 3,000 already lined up in my to-read column, I'm going to stop this one. I'll try the next, because I always feel like Gladys Mitchell is a promising young writer and this is only her third, and I know she writes almost as many as Agatha Christie and lives to a ripe old age. I won't stop now. But I will stop this particular book.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
With 3,000 already lined up in my to-read column, I'm going to stop this one. I'll try the next, because I always feel like Gladys Mitchell is a promising young writer and this is only her third, and I know she writes almost as many as Agatha Christie and lives to a ripe old age. I won't stop now. But I will stop this particular book.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
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April 7, 2024Originally published 1930. This author wrote 60 - odd books in this series. OMG! Apparently there's also a TV series.
After about 150 pages of boring, trite, cliched rubbish, I gave up before even meeting Mrs. Bradley, psychoanalyst sleuth. The character of Aunt Puddequet was an appalling cliche of the tyrannical wealthy relative. I did recognise that there was a certain amount of tongue in cheek humour in the story, but it was heavy handed, and did not balance out the boredom.
At 330 paperback pages, this book was over long for that era, and did not have the fine sense of pace and balance of an Agatha Christie.
I suppose I could have pushed on a bit more, but I just couldn't stomach any more of the tyrant, and her pathetic relatives. They would have done themselves a great favour by serving the old bag a Movicol pudding every now and then, keeping her on her "throne" and out of their hair.
DNF, no rating. I won't be looking for any more from this author.
After about 150 pages of boring, trite, cliched rubbish, I gave up before even meeting Mrs. Bradley, psychoanalyst sleuth. The character of Aunt Puddequet was an appalling cliche of the tyrannical wealthy relative. I did recognise that there was a certain amount of tongue in cheek humour in the story, but it was heavy handed, and did not balance out the boredom.
At 330 paperback pages, this book was over long for that era, and did not have the fine sense of pace and balance of an Agatha Christie.
I suppose I could have pushed on a bit more, but I just couldn't stomach any more of the tyrant, and her pathetic relatives. They would have done themselves a great favour by serving the old bag a Movicol pudding every now and then, keeping her on her "throne" and out of their hair.
DNF, no rating. I won't be looking for any more from this author.
February 15, 2021
The weakness of the first three Mrs Bradley mysteries with Gladys Mitchell nailing her colours to the theories of Sigmund Freud. The plot takes place in a large house in Upper Longer where the eccentric 90-year-old Mrs Puddequet who runs number athletes. When the body of Jacob Hobson is found in the grounds Superintendent Bloxham believes a number of people are lying. When one of housemates Timmen Anthony is also murdered he is completely stumped. When celebrated psychologist Mrs Bradley arrives in Upper Longer she is invited to visit the murder scene and proclaims she has solved the murder. The book seems to struggle with a decent ending and instead finishes with the dreaded letter by the murderer filling in all the missing pieces.
December 11, 2018
This is a very early work of the prolific writer Gladys Mitchell. It is a cozy mystery in the classic British country house setting. I find the plot somewhat fantastic. The first half of the book was all right. However, it gets more interesting when Mrs. Bradley shows up in the second half. There were quite a fair amount of description of Mrs. Bradley. including how brilliant she is, the fact that she looks like a vulture and has clawlike fingers. and has abnormally acute hearings.
April 3, 2020
I read it in almost one sitting. It’s enormously entertaining and sometimes wickedly funny, but as a crime story it’s playing a bit too fast and loose with genre conventions (for my tastes). The case seems to be solved by a sort of narrative fortune teller trick : which seems to me a bit unfair towards the reader as sleuth ;). But it’s really fun to read & has a memorably wicked old lady as one of the protagonists.
July 27, 2019
Too ridiculous for my taste. I'm a fan of books written during the wars years in England, but have yet to find one written in current day about that time to come even close to the real thing. I'll keep reading the old stuff until someone proves they can write about life in the U.S. and western Europe without appearing either over the top ridiculous or just plain silly.
November 3, 2022
Love these stories
These are some really interesting characters. The mystery kept be reading. If you want an enjoyable reading experience then start reading Mrs Bradley mysteries. You'll love them.
These are some really interesting characters. The mystery kept be reading. If you want an enjoyable reading experience then start reading Mrs Bradley mysteries. You'll love them.
May 10, 2017
Kindle Unlimited | Pretty terrible, struggled through the first half, walked away from it for over two months, then forced myself to complete it. Giving the series one more try.
July 10, 2019
Utterly ludicrous, but fun. Having read a couple of them now, I find myself becoming quite a fan of Mrs Bradley and her sarcastic methods of solving crime
November 16, 2016
This reads almost like a mystery farce, and thus has a great deal of humor. Unfortunately, the plot was flimsy and drawn-out, and the solution was a bit dark for me. I will try this author again, as this is my second attempt; I liked the first more than I liked this one.
September 26, 2016
Want to read a story in which one outrageous old lady sets off a chain of events that culminates in murder, at which point another outrageous old lady steps in and solves the mystery? Sure you do!
I always buy this author's books when they go on sale and this was a new one to me. Now that I've finished it, I'm having a hard time deciding what I think about it. It was the third of Mitchell's many books featuring psychologist/detective Beatrice Lestrange-Bradley and was published in 1930. Usually, the older the mystery the better I like it, but this got off to such a slow start I almost quit early on. Mitchell was so prolific that several of her fans have "ranked" her books and I was surprised to find this one near the top of most of those lists.
And so I persevered and found myself coming to like it. It's not in the same class as THE RISING OF THE MOON and others of Mitchell's best, but there's some good stuff in it. The premise is bizarre even by Mitchell's standards and she was a gal who never minded going out on a limb. Mrs. Matilda Puddequet is a vile old biddy who's hated and feared by all her relatives. Unfortunately, she's wealthy and it's harder to ignore a rich relative than a poor one. I'm sorry to have to report that she is NOT one of the victims.
After seeing an Olympic-type athletic competition and being enraged that the English are soundly defeated in all events, she takes it into her head to become a patron of English athletic training, starting with her reluctant young relatives. She builds a training camp on her estate and hires a laconic Scandinavian trainer to run it. Then she sends word out that whichever of her male relatives succeeds in becoming a competitive athlete will be the heir to her fortune.
Her nephew persuades his three sons to give it a go and their sister comes along for entertainment. Her niece's son practically has to be chloroformed, but HIS sister wants to come and the females in this family are all as strong-minded as Great-Aunt Puddequet herself. Then there are two mysterious young "cousins" who'd like a nice inheritance, too. The brother of that duo doesn't seem up to much, but the sister is capable of anything. And Mrs. Puddequet's step grandson has his nose out of joint about the whole thing. He had hoped that the old lady's money would fund his acting career, but she has other plans.
Typically, Mrs. Bradley doesn't appear until halfway through the book, but she dominates the stage from that point on. It's difficult to take your eyes off an elderly woman who drops out of a window (eight feet to the ground!) to avoid a boring acquaintance. I can sympathize, but I'd have to find another solution.
In the end, after a number of red herrings and some twists and turns, she ties it all up and identifies the murderer. Also typically, the young detective who thought HE was in charge is both irritated and admiring. It's hard to stay mad at Mrs. Bradley for long.
I could point out improbabilities and inconsistencies, but why bother? I read Mitchell for her delightful humor and off-the-wall characters. Purists may object to the fact that a lengthy explanation must be tacked onto the end to explain the murderer's unusual motive, but I'm not a purist. To me, the value lies in watching the relationships unfold as the young folks pit their wits against their awful old aunt. This family has enough loose screws to outfit a hardware store and they're all the more interesting for it. You'll have to be patient, but it's worth your time.
I always buy this author's books when they go on sale and this was a new one to me. Now that I've finished it, I'm having a hard time deciding what I think about it. It was the third of Mitchell's many books featuring psychologist/detective Beatrice Lestrange-Bradley and was published in 1930. Usually, the older the mystery the better I like it, but this got off to such a slow start I almost quit early on. Mitchell was so prolific that several of her fans have "ranked" her books and I was surprised to find this one near the top of most of those lists.
And so I persevered and found myself coming to like it. It's not in the same class as THE RISING OF THE MOON and others of Mitchell's best, but there's some good stuff in it. The premise is bizarre even by Mitchell's standards and she was a gal who never minded going out on a limb. Mrs. Matilda Puddequet is a vile old biddy who's hated and feared by all her relatives. Unfortunately, she's wealthy and it's harder to ignore a rich relative than a poor one. I'm sorry to have to report that she is NOT one of the victims.
After seeing an Olympic-type athletic competition and being enraged that the English are soundly defeated in all events, she takes it into her head to become a patron of English athletic training, starting with her reluctant young relatives. She builds a training camp on her estate and hires a laconic Scandinavian trainer to run it. Then she sends word out that whichever of her male relatives succeeds in becoming a competitive athlete will be the heir to her fortune.
Her nephew persuades his three sons to give it a go and their sister comes along for entertainment. Her niece's son practically has to be chloroformed, but HIS sister wants to come and the females in this family are all as strong-minded as Great-Aunt Puddequet herself. Then there are two mysterious young "cousins" who'd like a nice inheritance, too. The brother of that duo doesn't seem up to much, but the sister is capable of anything. And Mrs. Puddequet's step grandson has his nose out of joint about the whole thing. He had hoped that the old lady's money would fund his acting career, but she has other plans.
Typically, Mrs. Bradley doesn't appear until halfway through the book, but she dominates the stage from that point on. It's difficult to take your eyes off an elderly woman who drops out of a window (eight feet to the ground!) to avoid a boring acquaintance. I can sympathize, but I'd have to find another solution.
In the end, after a number of red herrings and some twists and turns, she ties it all up and identifies the murderer. Also typically, the young detective who thought HE was in charge is both irritated and admiring. It's hard to stay mad at Mrs. Bradley for long.
I could point out improbabilities and inconsistencies, but why bother? I read Mitchell for her delightful humor and off-the-wall characters. Purists may object to the fact that a lengthy explanation must be tacked onto the end to explain the murderer's unusual motive, but I'm not a purist. To me, the value lies in watching the relationships unfold as the young folks pit their wits against their awful old aunt. This family has enough loose screws to outfit a hardware store and they're all the more interesting for it. You'll have to be patient, but it's worth your time.
December 24, 2023
Another brilliant sojourn into the comic and queer world of Mrs Bradley, this time focusing around an ancient and bossy Victorian Matriarch with a penchant for everything track and field. The plot begins when she disinherits her adopted ne'er-do-well grandson and decides to award her vast property to whomsoever among her scores of grandnephews wins the most athletic events organised on the purpose built olympic grade field in her estate. This results in the presence of numerous characters mostly the staff and her grand nephews and nieces but also a Scandinavian coach specially hired to train them. Still one may be excused for fumbling between different characters owing to their excess but it is no fault of Ms Mitchell who did her utmost by assigning all characters with individual peculiarities and mannerisms.
It all comes to head when the aforementioned ne'er-do-well grandson is bumped off and Mrs. Bradley fortunately in the neighbourhood volunteers to investigate. The mystery is further convoluted by the fact that virtually every character is lying and sans and alibi. As it goes on further layers of intrigue are piled on by the end, and when finally after the conclusion of various false solutions and cycle chases the solution is revealed one is just left awe struck at the clever tale containing dollops of misdirection, Mitchell constructed. Overall, the mystery and characters were the best part, both of which were greatly helped by the wonderfully eccentric setting.
It all comes to head when the aforementioned ne'er-do-well grandson is bumped off and Mrs. Bradley fortunately in the neighbourhood volunteers to investigate. The mystery is further convoluted by the fact that virtually every character is lying and sans and alibi. As it goes on further layers of intrigue are piled on by the end, and when finally after the conclusion of various false solutions and cycle chases the solution is revealed one is just left awe struck at the clever tale containing dollops of misdirection, Mitchell constructed. Overall, the mystery and characters were the best part, both of which were greatly helped by the wonderfully eccentric setting.
July 18, 2023
Another weird book from Gladys Mitchell! The set up and characters are so peculiar that I rushed through the end desperate to find out the solution to the puzzle instead of savouring it and enjoying the characters.
June 13, 2012
The premise for this country house murder mystery is bonkers: a rich old lady sees how badly England is beaten at an athletics meet and decides to leave her fortune to the first grandson to become an international champion in the event of her choosing. She hires a German trainer and transforms her estate into an athletics training facility. But they all hate athletics and are really bad at the events she's assigned them to. Then someone dies. The structure of the book is pretty bonkers, too. The murders and mysterious events occur at seemingly random intervals, the amateur detective (an eccentric lady psychologist) doesn't show up until about two-thirds of the way through the book, and the eventual solution comes out of the blue (although she keeps nodding smugly because it's all quite obvious to her) and makes only moderate amounts of sense. Still, I give the book three stars for the sheer bonkers fun of it.
June 16, 2020
These grow on one with repeated readings.
5 stars not for the mystery and its solution, but for the sake of Mrs Puddequet! And to be fair. The initial idea, that of a rich old lady who plans to leave her estate to the nephew who manages to bring glory to England in track and field - the daily training - the awful staff (I'll see masel drooned first!) and the sheer joy roused in my bosom by the truly ridiculous and unlikely love affair of Kost and Companion Caddick, all of these elements of story which seem to have been tossed in a blanket and come out as a more or less coherent story - it's truly inventive.
I also enjoyed the passages of arms between Mrs Bradley and Mrs Puddequet. Pippa Passes!
5 stars not for the mystery and its solution, but for the sake of Mrs Puddequet! And to be fair. The initial idea, that of a rich old lady who plans to leave her estate to the nephew who manages to bring glory to England in track and field - the daily training - the awful staff (I'll see masel drooned first!) and the sheer joy roused in my bosom by the truly ridiculous and unlikely love affair of Kost and Companion Caddick, all of these elements of story which seem to have been tossed in a blanket and come out as a more or less coherent story - it's truly inventive.
I also enjoyed the passages of arms between Mrs Bradley and Mrs Puddequet. Pippa Passes!
July 19, 2014
Good characters, solid murder, interesting twists. The third quarter was unfortunately weak -- the constant re-working over the facts just got boring for me, unfortunately, and neither Mrs. Bradley and the Inspector were strong enough to make up for the regurgitation of fact, especially since so much of it was misdirection. The ending had a few twists that redeemed the story, but I have to confess, I think Mrs. Bradley used a pretty cheap trick to solve the crime. Still, she's not known for playing by the rules!
March 9, 2016
Gladys Mitchell ditches fair play in the detective novel, in favour of an entertainingly random motive for a murder.
The book is let down by the publisher's inability to proof-read, however, with a variety of ghastly, jarring errors that make the book extremely difficult to enjoy. But still, considering the rarity of many of Mitchell's books, better than nothing...
The book is let down by the publisher's inability to proof-read, however, with a variety of ghastly, jarring errors that make the book extremely difficult to enjoy. But still, considering the rarity of many of Mitchell's books, better than nothing...
October 22, 2015
Rather more fun than it ought to be, and Justice is served in a way quite wilfully amoral. Anyone like me who finds themselves feeling slightly cheated by the penultimate chapter should carry on reading: you'll know why when you get to the end.
May 30, 2021
Some of Gladys Mitchell's books are TOTALLY amazing, but this isn't one of them. Doesn't stop me wanting to own the full set though.
October 23, 2015
Worth reading but I recommend starting with another book.
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October 12, 2017Ludicrous, but beguiling.
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