Tag Archives: novels set in 1920s England

#BookReview ‘Murder by Invitation’ by Verity Bright @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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After lots of foreign travel Murder by Invitation, the fifteenth Lady Eleanor Swift cosy mystery by Verity Bright, returns to Little Buckford. As preparations are made to celebrate the King’s birthday, is it really possible that there is a nest of anti-monarchists plotting in the village? Verity BrightWhen the chairman of The King’s Birthday Celebrations Committee is found dead, Eleanor joins her new fiancé Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon in his investigation. At every step, they receive congratulations on their recent engagement. More awkwardly, the victim seems to have made enemies of just about everyone in the small community. As Henley Hall’s staff are working hard with their contributions to the celebrations – food, bunting, flags, costumes for the children, floral displays – news comes in of the death of a missing man, Clanger, Jimmie Dawkins the blacksmith. Frustrated with the lack of progress they are making given the unusually large number of suspects, Eleanor is horrified when a member of her staff is accused.
This is a wide-ranging investigation taking place in a small geographical area encompassing anti-monarchism, trading standards, secrecy, local rivalries and infidelity. As one of the villagers says, ‘you need to know a man’s past before you can judge him in the present.’
After a slowish start, the second half of the novel races towards the end with a manhunt across the countryside. Hugh searches the Chipstone area accompanied by Constable Fry while Ellie and butler Clifford search around Little Buckford. As their pursuit turns into terror, Ellie must once again find the courage that propelled her out of tricky situations in her years cycling solo in China, Persia, Peru and Africa.
The perfect read for a rainy day, this is a perfect combination of a senior policeman reduced to a blushing, bashful beau, and his intrepid, never-say-die, totally unconventional fiancé. The characters are still fresh and the action doesn’t disappoint. A nice addition to the animal family at Henley Hall is Tomkins the cat, a companion for Gladstone.
Next in the series is ‘Murder on the Cornish Cliffs.’

Read my review of other books in the Lady Eleanor Swift series:-
A VERY ENGLISH MURDER #1LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH AT THE DANCE #2LADYELEANORSWIFT
A WITNESS TO MURDER #3LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN THE SNOW #4LADYELEANORSWIFT
MYSTERY BY THE SEA #5LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER AT THE FAIR #6LADYELEANORSWIFT
A LESSON IN MURDER #7LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON A WINTER’S DAY #8LADYELEANORSWIFT
A ROYAL MURDER #9LADYELEANORSWIFT
THE FRENCH FOR MURDER #10LADYELEANORSWIFT 
DEATH DOWN THE AISLE #11LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN AN IRISH CASTLE #12LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON DECK #13LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN MANHATTAN #14LADYELEANORSWIFT

If you like this, try:-
‘Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley’ by MC Beaton #4AGATHARAISIN
‘Death and the Brewery Queen’ by Frances Brody #12KATESHACKLETON
‘Murder in the Belltower’ by Helena Dixon #5MISSUNDERHAY

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview MURDER BY INVITATION by Verity Bright @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8vY via SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Barbara Erskine

#BookReview ‘Mothering Sunday’ by Graham Swift #historical

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The title of Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift refers to the day on which the story takes place, rather to any essay about motherhood. It is March 30, 1924, Mothering Sunday, when servants are given the day off to visit their mothers. A young woman, an orphan and servant, meets a young man from a neighbouring house, who is betrothed to another woman. It is to be their last assignation before his marriage. Graham SwiftThis is a slim book, a novella, beautifully-written. I wasn’t sure at the beginning, I found the first page and the reference to Fandango the racehorse a little odd. But once I got past that, I read it in one sitting on an airplane.
It is a story about telling stories. This story is told by a novelist in her nineties who is used to be interviewed and asked repetitively about her life as a writer: when did she become a writer? The answer lies on Mothering Sunday in 1924. This is a treatise about the class system of the time, about sex and sensuality, about rebellion and about bucking the system. Jane – the housemaid and novelist – is a keen reader and with the permission of her master, she borrows books from his library. She prefers boys’ stories, adventure tales, and then she stumbles on Joseph Conrad and is smitten. Her reading sets her apart from her master, and her lover Paul. The Mothering Sunday on which the events happen takes place at a time of great transition between the wars, as the role of women was widening. Books give Jane a route out of her servile world, away from sex with the master’s son without hope of subsequent marriage, to a job as an assistant in a bookshop.
We only see the story from Jane’s point of view, Young Jane and Old Jane. Is she telling the truth, embroidering the story for fictional effect, layering on the emotions of the tragedy that occurs that sunny March afternoon?
A masterpiece, again by Swift. It stayed with me and will be re-read.
An aside, this hardback edition has the most wonderful cover design: a detail from Reclining Nude [red nude] 1917-18 by Modigliani. It will look well on my bookshelves for years to come.

Here’s my review of Swift’s HERE WE ARE.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty’ by Sebastian Barry
‘My Name is Lucy Barton’ by Elizabeth Strout
‘Lean Fall Stand’ by Jon McGregor

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview MOTHERING SUNDAY by Graham Swift via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1XD