English Mysteries Club discussion

Are you wracking your brain to remember a book?

If you can remember few things about a book, but have forgotten the title AND the author, why not ask here, and get us all pondering?

We'll try our best to help, but please tell us as much as you can, to give us a bit of a clue. Thanks!

This feels like deja vu. LOL. Because I feel like I have asked about this particular book before in another group maybe. I was at an old book store in an equally ancient building. In fact one of those bookstores where it's dangerous to be in there because everything is stacked precariously & you browsed through a gauntlet of magazines, books, etc.; the building was so mouldy that I had to take a lot of allergy meds just to be in there a few hours. Haha. And I'm pretty sure the proprietress came with the building. Lol. But she knew where every item was. It as a great place. Anyway, the book that I cannot remember the name of or even who the author is because I only read the 1st chapter & knew I'd buy it. I remember it was an hilarious story. It was about a British soldier serving in Egypt in the late 1800s. But it was told from the standpoint of his Egyptian manservant who told about his experience serving that family, working in the British household, etc. I remember it being very humorous. And I remember the cover of the book was yellow. I let one of my friends borrow when she was recuperating from a surgery because I thought it would cheer her up. Well, she moved away, and had the unmitigated gall not to return my book to me! Needless to say we're no longer friends. Over the years I have often thought about that book.

Hmm. It was an old bookstore you say, but how old do you think the book might be, Shannon? Do you have any idea? Early 20th century maybe?

I've a feeling if someone recognises this one it would be straightaway, as it sounds quite unusual!

ShanDizzy, the first thing I thought of for your mystery book was the Ethan Gage series by William Dietrich... Then I thought of Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser, but that doesn't match exactly... Then I thought of Mirage by Ruth McKenney, but I don't think that's humorous... In any case, I hope you find your book!

ShanDizzy wrote: "This feels like deja vu. LOL. Because I feel like I have asked about this particular book before in another group maybe. I was at an old book store in an equally ancient building. In fact one of th..."

I hope someone remembers it because it sounds so good.

Thank you so much Jan & Susan for the attempt. Much appreciated.
Jan, I will look at the ones that you mentioned.
Jean, I think it was printed in the 50s maybe ????

I read a series quite a few years ago, set in England, modern times, about a girl who 'found' things. She lived in a small town, name unknown. She worked part-time in an antique store, (owned by a quite older man), and drove a mini-cooper that was red with, I believe, polka dots on top, because she called it her bug. She started her own business for finding things, because she needed the money, and she had found a cat that had been lost. Later, of course, finding things involved solving murders, of course. There were at least 2-3 books in the series, and then, I just lost track of them.
Hope this sounds familiar to someone, I'd like to re-read the books. Thank you.

Hi Terri,

I've been wracking my brains over this one, but it doesn't ring any bells. Maybe you could try asking "What's the Name of That Book???", a group created specifically for questions like this. LINK HERE and good luck! Let us know how you get on :)

I'm hoping someone can help me find a mystery series that I only read one book from but really enjoyed. I don't remember the author, but it involves a police inspector called Harriet living in London who loved Agatha Christie books. In the book I read, she was solving a serial poisoning case, I think the poison may have been aconite. The books were more modern than the golden age, but not current (maybe set in the 70s or 80s?)This book was quite late in the series, and it seemed like there was a broader character arc for Harriet and I decided to find the series, but then forgot all the necessary information! (LOL) if anyone can help me out, I'd really appreciate it!

Does anyone think this might be Harriet Vane in the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers? It doesn't sound quite right though, as she is a writer.

Kellie - if you look at the post before yours, there's a link to a group which is exactly for this sort of thing :)

Bionic Jean wrote: "Does anyone think this might be Harriet Vane in the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers? It doesn't sound quite right though, as she is a writer.

Kellie - if you look at th..."

No, not Harriet Vane. She did some sleuthing in the Wimsey series, but wasn't a police inspector.

Kellie wrote: "I'm hoping someone can help me find a mystery series that I only read one book from but really enjoyed. I don't remember the author, but it involves a police inspector called Harriet living in Lond..."

Might it be A Detective at Death's Door featuring Harriet Martens by H.R.F. Keating? It mentions poisoning by wolfsbane rather than aconite and Agatha Christie books.

Here's the link: A Detective at Death's Door by H.R.F. Keating

Julie wrote: "Might it be A Detective at Death's Door featuring Harriet Martens by H.R.F. Keating? It mentions poisoning by wolfsbane rather than aconite and Agatha Christie books...."

Wolfsbane is another name for aconite as is monkshood and several others depending on where you live. I think you've cracked it!

Yea, thanks! This sounds right, so now I can go start reading the first book in the series! Thanks so much!

Fantastic! Thanks Julie - and M.J. too :)

Kellie wrote: "Yea, thanks! This sounds right, so now I can go start reading the first book in the series! Thanks so much!"

Glad it was the right book! Hope you enjoy the rest of the series, Kellie!

ShanDizzy wrote: "This feels like deja vu. LOL. Because I feel like I have asked about this particular book before in another group maybe. I was at an old book store in an equally ancient building. In fact one of th..."

I hope you found your book ShanDizzy. It would drive me crazy if this happened to me!

Terri wrote: "I read a series quite a few years ago, set in England, modern times, about a girl who 'found' things. She lived in a small town, name unknown. She worked part-time in an antique store, (owned by a ..."

Is it The Keeper of Lost Things by Jamie Campbell? It is a 3 book series also

This is a really long shot but I'm hoping one of you might be able to help me identify a book which I read the first few pages of in a second hand bookshop a few years ago. I ummed and ahhed before deciding not to buy the book and so naturally have been wanting to read it ever since!

It's set in an English village (possibly in the Cotswolds) and opens at a breakfast table with a husband and wife. The husband is furious because the owner of the 'big house' has agreed to hold a music festival in its grounds. I also seem to recall other villagers had been receiving poison pen letters but I could be mixing that bit up from another book.

I'm 99% certain that it was an Ann Granger novel but I've read the descriptions of all the Markby and Mitchell books and none seem to fit so perhaps it was someone else.

I know this is REALLY vague so I'll probably need a miracle but if anyone has any suggestions then I'd be very grateful. Thanks.

Katie wrote: "This is a really long shot but I'm hoping one of you might be able to help me identify a book which I read the first few pages of in a second hand bookshop a few years ago. I ummed and ahhed before..."

Midsommer murder series?

No, I've read all of those so I'm pretty certain it wasn't one of them. From what I read of it, it definitely had a similar feel to them though.

Katie, could it be Poison on the Levels by David Hodges? I haven't read this series but it sounds quite likely: Glastonbury Music Festival, a young woman disappears, vindictive poison pen writer ....

I think I might have found it actually:

I've gone back through the list of Mitchell & Markby novels and read some of the preview pages. In Murder Among Us it opens with the local manor house being converted into an upmarket hotel much to the disgust of the locals, has a husband and wife argument over the breakfast table and one character reading an unpleasant letter...

...so basically nearly every single one of my vague details in my first post was wrong! 😂

However, thank you both Thomas and Pamela for your replies.

Pamela, the book you mentioned does sound right up my street (and with my namesake as lead detective too!) so I've added it to my want to read list as I think I'd probably enjoy it too.

Thanks again.

I wonder if you could help me find a book of which all I remember is a bit of the blurb. I think it was a contemporary cozy mystery, British or perhaps American. There’s some kind of village festival/crime festival where visitors dress up as their favourite detective (author?). Someone gets killed, but it’s hard to find witnesses as half of the crowd looks the same dressed up in costumes. Any ideas? Thanks

Could that be A Murder to Die For by Stevyn Colgan?

I read it a while back. It was a fun read up until the ending which I was very disappointed with. I'd still recommend it though!

That’s the one! :) Thank you.

Katie wrote: "I think I might have found it actually:

I've gone back through the list of Mitchell & Markby novels and read some of the preview pages. In Murder Among Us it opens with the local man..."

Happy reading, Katie!

These all sound good!

Not much info, I'm afraid, but maybe someone will know regardless. I'm looking for a British mystery novel that is going to be published soon or perhaps it has just been published. The author was a Reverend, I've seen him talking about the book in a video recently. It might be the next book in an existing series, not sure. I think it had a 'jolly' title, but I can't recall it. Almost sure it was a cosy though. Thank you.

Csilla - Is it Murder Before Evensong: A Canon Clement Mystery by the Rev. Richard Coles? He's on the media quite a lot, and this book is going to be published on June 9th 2022.

Bionic Jean wrote: "Csilla - Is it Murder Before Evensong: A Canon Clement Mystery by the Rev. Richard Coles? He's on the media quite a lot, and this book is going to be published on J..."

Yes, that was it! Thank you so much. :)

Great! Happy to help :)

I'm glad you linked to this thread, Jean.

Posting for Celia:

"Help! My memory is not what it was and am going nuts trying to remember the name/author of a certain series of English village mysteries. Eash book had a simple line drawing village map in the frontspiece showing the center village green (with duck pond) and the row of large Georgian houses north of the green, the village post office/grocer on the east side, the village pub on the SW corner and the village church on the NW.
The grocer also ran a mail order foodstuffs business and the post office lady was the village grump. The former great house in the area was turned into a spa/hotel by a very rich outsider with an event venue barn.
There is a murder in the small village every book.jk
I remember all of this pretty clearly, especially the map, but I can't for the life of me remember any of the book titles, character names, nor the author!"

Posting for Jennifer:

"Is it "An English Village Mystery" series by Louise Marley?"

Thank you, Jean! For some reason, I wasn't able to post yesterday.

Not to worry Jennifer 🙂 Thanks for your sleuthing! 😆