Death of a Cozy Writer (A St. Just Mystery)
A book that follows its subject through conflict, memory, or discovery, with a strong emphasis on character and atmosphere.
Work Information
book that follows its subject through conflict, memory, or discovery, with a strong emphasis on character and atmosph...
A book that follows its subject through conflict, memory, or discovery, with a strong emphasis on character and atmosphere.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Midnight Ink
- Published
- 2008-07-01
- Pages
- 297 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.18 x 1.88 x 20.32 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780738712482
- ISBN-10
- 9780738712482
- Price
- 6921 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Mystery & Thrillers/Mystery/British Detectives
Winner of the 2008 Agatha Award for Best First Novel From deep in the heart of his eighteenth century English manor, millionaire Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk writes mystery novels and torments his four spoiled children with threats of disinheritance. Tiring of this device, the portly patriarch decides to weave a malicious twist into his well-worn plot. Gathering them all together for a family dinner, he announces his latest blowa secret elopement with the beautiful Violet...who was once suspected of murdering her husband. Within hours, eldest son and appointed heir Ruthven is found cleaved to death by a medieval mace. Since Ruthven is generally hated, no one seems too surprised or upsetleast of all his cold-blooded wife Lillian. When Detective Chief Inspector St. Just is brought in to investigate, he meets with a deadly calm that goes beyond the usual English reserve. And soon Sir Adrian himself is found slumped over his writing deskan ornate knife thrust into his heart. Trapped amid leering gargoyles and stone walls, every member of the family is a likely suspect. Using a little Cornish brusqueness and brawn, can St. Just find the killer before the next-in-line to the family fortune ends up dead? Death of a Cozy Writer was chosen by Kirkus Reviews as a Best Book of 2008, nominated for a Left Coast Crime award (the Hawaii Five-O for best police procedural), short-listed for the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery, nominated for the Anthony Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the David G. Sasher, Sr. Award for Best Mystery Novel. Praise: "Fans of English detective work will welcome Malliet's droll debut, the first in a new series." Publishers Weekly "Malliet's debut combines devices from Christie and Clue to keep you guessing until the dramatic denouement." Kirkus Reviews "Malliet's skillful debut demonstrates the sophistication one would expect of a much more established writer. I'm looking forward to her next genre-bender, Death and the Lit Chick ." Mystery Scene "Almost every sentence is a polished, malicious gem, reminiscent of Robert Barnard...the book is perfect for the lover of the classical detective story or the fan of great sentences." Deadly Pleasures "In her series debut, Malliet, who won a Malice Domestic Grant to write this novel, lays the foundation for an Agatha Christielike murder mystery." Library Journal "An affectionate homage to the Golden Age of British crime fiction by a skilled writer rapidly attracting attention." The Sherbrook Record "This tale cleverly adds modern touches to an Agatha Christie style classic house mystery." Mystery Women Magazine "Wicked, witty and full of treats!"Peter Lovesey, recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Crime Writer's Association and Malice Domestic "The traditional British cozy is alive and well. Delicious. I was hooked from the first paragraph."Rhys Bowen, award-winning author of Her Royal Spyness " Death of a Cozy Writer is a romp, a classic tale of family dysfunction in a moody and often humourous English country house setting."Louise Penny, author of the award-winning Armand Gamache series of murder mysteries "The connections made by St. Just are nothing short of Sherlock Holmes at his most coherent. A most excellent first mystery!" Midwest Book Review
G. M. Malliet 's first St. Just mystery won the 2008 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, and was chosen by Kirkus Reviews as a best book of the year. It was nominated for several awards, including the Anthony, the Macavity and a Lefty Award for best police procedural. Her series from Minotaur featuring a former MI5 Agent turned vicar of a small English village debuted in Autumn of 2011. Of the fourth book in the series, Cleveland.com raved: "[Malliet] may be the best mystery author writing in English at the moment (along with Tana French). She's certainly the most entertaining." She attended graduate school in Cambridge and Oxford; she and her husband travel frequently to the UK, the setting for her books. Weycombe is her first book of dark suspense. You can visit her at www.GMMalliet.com.
Reviews
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A great read. I hadn't enjoyed a Max Tudor book by same author but have to say this is a different kettle of fish. Twists and turns with decent characterizations. It is a good cosy crime novel.
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Let us begin this review with a blunt declaration: G.M. Malliet can WRITE. And, more vitally, she can tell a story. The plot of Death of a Cozy Writer revolves around a wealthy, aging aristocrat's will, a storyline harkening back to Kyd's Spanish Tragedy and Shakespeare's King Lear. Ms. Malliet's novel's central conceit is a British detective procedural that gently skewers the Cozy mystery sub-genre within an English country house setting. Familiar ground, brilliantly re-traversed. Moreover, Malliet manages to honor the sacred concord between mystery writer and reader by faithfully observing the requisite genre conventions, but in her own quirky, tongue-in-chic style. The author uses the early chapters to depict the various characters with wit and unusual insight. She then deposits them at the nimbly executed meal en famille, a model of nuanced familial interaction and serial revelation. Once the estimable DCI St. Just and obligatory sidekick are introduced into the mix, the pace quickens and the reader is catapulted into a dizzying vortex of misdirection, surprise, and, echoing Greek tragedies, recognition and reversal. So sure, so authoritative is Malliet's grasp of character, plot, and convention as she propels the intricate plot to conclusion, I felt I had witnessed a display of narrative virtuosity equal to that of any first rate mystery writer's very best work. Appetite whetted, I avidly await the gifted G.M. Malliet's next literary outing. Perhaps she will even include a "Death of an Amazon Reviewer" book in this promising series. Hmmm, I better hide the cutlery......
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Malliet is a superb write,vocabulary is extensive,chatracters are well drawn,plot is complex and the whole book is a fun read,definitely some LOL moments. Very sad to have finished it as I have now read ALL her books.
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Enjoy reading this author's approach to mystery. Good characters and plot. Will of them
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Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk is a well loved cozy writer. His books constantly hit the best seller lists in his native England, and his latest has been there for almost a year straight. However, his children have a different opinion of their father. The man considers it a sport to manipulate them into fighting with each other. He changes his will constantly to slight which ever one has offended him most recently. His latest stunt is a remarriage. His children reluctantly show up at his Cambridgeshire manor for the occasion, hoping to talk him into calling it off. But Adrian has some surprises up his sleeve. However, instead of the normal fireworks, the bodies start piling up. Who among the guests at the manor is a killer? This book delightfully harkens back to the cozies of the golden age. I'm not as familiar with the writers of that time period as I probably should be, but I still got a kick out of watching someone else hit all the conventions of the drama and yet twist them every so slightly. The story is strong; the first murder takes place rather late in the book, but the tension builds nicely up to that point. Once our main character, Detective Chief Inspector St. Just, is introduced, things pick up even more. Unfortunately, the book wasn't quite perfect. While the suspects are all very strong characters, I felt they were much stronger than St. Just. Of course, he didn't have as many pages to develop. Still, it would be nice to feel like I know him better than I do. The climax, while logical, was overly complex. Finally, the writing style, while trying to harken back to the writing of the 30's and 40's, was a tad overly complex. Every time I sat down, I had to readjust myself to the style before truly getting lost in the story. Still, I can see why I've been hearing so much good stuff about this book. I'm already planning my return trip to England to visit St. Just again.
Related Literary Awards
- Agatha Awards Edition 21 (2008) ・Winner