Death of a Cozy Writer by G. M. Malliet

Title: Death of a Cozy Writer
Author: G. M. Malliet
Publication: Chivers, paperback, 2008
Genre: Mystery
Setting: Present-day England, near Cambridge

Description: When Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk, a bestselling mystery author, writes to each of his adult children and his ex-wife, inviting them to his wedding, no one thinks he is planning a pleasant family reunion. It has been his pastime for years to draft and revise his will depending on his mood, encouraging rivalry among the children as to how he will leave his fortune. Ruthven, George, Albert, and Sarah dislike their father but travel to Waverley Court to meet their stepmother-to-be, Violet Mildenhall, wondering if they can do an intervention and prevent the marriage – and their possible disinheritance. Violet is a beautiful widow with secrets of her own, and soon the tension in the house has resulted in murder. The well-named Detective Chief Inspector St. Just and Detective Sergeant Fear of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary are summoned to solve the crime.

My Impression: Author Malliet is clearly a fan of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and uses the device of the house party in which the murderer is one of the guests in this series launch.  The title is reminiscent of books from that era and she includes an old-fashioned cast of characters at the beginning of the book; in fact, the book has an extremely dated feel, which must have been intentional to enhance the setting. St. Just’s Sergeant does not know how to mute his cell phone or change the ring. Sir Adrian writes his books with a fountain pen on air-mail paper and hides the manuscript in the basement when it would be much more secure in a computer with password protection or with his lawyer (computers do exist but he leaves them to his secretary). The cook, Mrs. Romano, remembers American servicemen in Italy during WWII, although she is only 67. There is even a reference to Sir Adrian longing to hang out with F. Scott Fitzgerald (died 1940) and Hemingway in Paris. Well, at least Hemingway did not die until 1961! However, Sir Adrian has become a bestselling author without their help:

“Perhaps they formed a pact to do him in, what do you think?”

“Who?”

“The entire household, of course. That was in fact one of my more innovative plots in 12:40 from Manchester, which came out – oh, about ten years ago.”

St. Just was taken aback. Even he, who seldom read mystery novels, had heard of the plot of Murder on the Orient Express.

“But, Sir Adrian . . . Surely Dame Agatha thought of that one first.”

“Of course she did. But my book was better.”

No blushing violet here, thought St. Just.

Although the author is British, according to the bio, she was sloppy about the titles; usually the failing of American authors. Violet’s first husband is referred to as Sir Winthrop but unless his name was Winthrop Winthrop, that is incorrect. On the other hand, she gets Sir Adrian’s title right, although the circumstances of his inheriting the title in the first place are unconvincing. It is also odd that St. Just calls all the men “Sir” with a capital S. And he complains that “modern young women dress as if they were setting out either to sue someone or attend a funeral” when they are merely wearing black suits and starched white shirts, and calls them Miss instead of Ms. He seems a fairly stodgy detective in this book but I accidentally started Death in Cornwall, the fourth in the series, which I liked, so decided to pause and read this first. I suspect St. Just will improve once the author hits her stride.

Source: Library.  And this is my sixth book for the 2022 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge.