1992 mystery; fourth of Granger's novels of Chief Inspector Markby and
non-detective Meredith Mitchell. The old stately home has finally got
an owner who can do something with it: he's turned it into a hotel and
high-end restaurant. But a protest by the local historical society
during the grand opening ends with one of the protesters found stabbed
in the wine cellar.
While I'm still enjoying these books, I really have to demote
them to fluff rather than the solid mysteries that the same author's
Fran Varady series could be at their best. There's nothing wrong
here, and the writing is a pleasure if sometimes a bit stiff; but
there's also no real spark, nothing to elevate this cosy mystery
above many others.
There's so little development of the relationship between the
principals that Granger feels the need to drop in a romance between
two characters who are new in this book. This strand, and another
involving a sanctuary for elderly horses that's about to be thrown out
of its land, both get a lot of narrative time, perhaps because there's
no progress on the murder enquiry for quite a while, and something
needs to take up the intervening space. (Perhaps they'll link back
together. Perhaps not. But while they're happening they still feel
like a distraction.)
Alas we also see the return of one of Granger's stock types, the
self-important idiot who claims to care for someone while insulting
them and everyone else.
These are, I admit, minor niggles, as is a relative lack of pacing to
the point that I was quite surprised (consuming this as an audio
stream) to discover clear signifiers of revelation and ending, because
there really didn't seem to be any sort of escalation of tension up to
that point.
I did enjoy the thing, but I tend to feel positive about a
well-narrated audio book (in this case by Judith Boyd); I suspect I'd
have been less happy had I been reading it and putting up with the
continuing lack of progress. Granger usually manages a sense of fun, a
hint that she knows how mysteries work and she'll play with the
conventions; that's largely absent here.
Not one of the better entries in the series, and it does feel like a
series entry, but I'll carry on for now.
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