Love the design by John Fontana and cover art by Alison Jay.
I zipped through this engaging historical mystery, one of those books that you take a chance on because of the enticing cover-art and the warmth of a few online reviews. I'd never read anything by Jill Stuart before.
Though I did still take a look at the first page on amazon just to see whether or not the writing made me wince. I'm not really happy with a lot of what passes for 'cozy' these days: too mechanized, too forced, too precious - know what I mean?
Anyway, Jill Stuart is none of these things. Thank goodness.
Anyway, Jill Stuart is none of these things. Thank goodness.
THE PIGEON PIE MYSTERY by Julia Stuart takes place in Victorian England, in a setting I was not at all familiar with: the vast palace grounds of Hampton Court where the Queen (at her discretion) can offer what is termed 'grace and favor' homes to impoverished gentle-ladies, widows and the like. I'd never heard of this before. Needless to say, it turns out to be the perfect setting for a murder mystery.
Faced with no other choice but to accept the Queen's largess is the newly penniless Princess Alexandrina (nick-named Mink) of Prindur, who, upon the (very) scandalous death of her father, the Majarajah, finds herself not only grief-stricken but destitute and out on her ear, forced to sell her home and worldly goods to pay off her father's mountain of debts. Never one used to economizing, it's a brand new world for the beautiful Princess (born in India, but raised in England), who, nevertheless, is determined to make a life for herself. So she and her devoted but oddly agitated servant, the large-footed Pooki (who spots ghosts and goblins in every shadow of their new abode) reluctantly move into a dark and uncomfortable residence rumored to be haunted.
I know, I know, it all sounds too precious and cute, but believe me it isn't. Julia Stuart is clever and talented, she knows how to handle the permutations of this sort of tale, never once straying into the wasteland of cute for cute's sake.
Being the object of choice gossip doesn't bother the Princess in the slightest and soon she is befriended (out of curiosity more than anything else) by three eccentric elderly widows who take it upon themselves to spread the latest on dits and to warn the Princess against the various pitfalls of 'grace and favor' living. Speaking of 'pitfalls', they will soon witness a death, that of the loathsome and very married Lothario, Major-General George Bagshot - he of the roving eyes and hands.
Unfortunately, the Major-General dies after eating copious amounts of Pooki's specialty: pigeon pie. So when suspicion immediately centers on her servant, it's up to Mink to save not only the only person left over from her old life of royal luxury, but the only person left who still cares about the Princess at all. Speed is of the essence since the Queen is in favor of a quick and tidy outcome. One can't have servants poisoning residents after all.
The denouement, by the way, is a surprise, both for the culprit and the murder method. Not so much the motive.
The real enchantment of this tale lies in Julia Stuart's creation of a colorfully insular world filled with an odd assortment of quirky characters. Among them: the Honorable Dowager Lady Montfort Bebb, the Lady Beatrice Fisher, the Countess of Bessington, William Sheepshanks, the Keeper of the Maze, Mr. Blood the undertaker, Inspector Guppy, the local arm of the law, Thomas Trout, the Keeper of the Great Vine, the Organ Grinder paid by the public to keep quiet, Albert, the Majarahah's monkey resplendent in a red velvet suit, Victoria the hedgehog (brought in to make a feast of the thousands of black beetles which crawl about the Princess's residence - ugh!) and so on and so forth.
It's a delightful, if slightly off-beat world of misfits and eccentrics, among them my favorite character in the book: the hapless Doctor Henderson, bicycling enthusiast and love-struck physician given to bad hair days. He is smitten by the Princess and bent on impressing her if only he could.
It's the quietly awkward love story that wins the day, at least as far as I'm concerned. I was struck with charm and left hoping for a second book featuring these same endearing characters.
Even if you're not a fan of 'cozy', this book will win you over.
I know, I know, it all sounds too precious and cute, but believe me it isn't. Julia Stuart is clever and talented, she knows how to handle the permutations of this sort of tale, never once straying into the wasteland of cute for cute's sake.
Being the object of choice gossip doesn't bother the Princess in the slightest and soon she is befriended (out of curiosity more than anything else) by three eccentric elderly widows who take it upon themselves to spread the latest on dits and to warn the Princess against the various pitfalls of 'grace and favor' living. Speaking of 'pitfalls', they will soon witness a death, that of the loathsome and very married Lothario, Major-General George Bagshot - he of the roving eyes and hands.
Unfortunately, the Major-General dies after eating copious amounts of Pooki's specialty: pigeon pie. So when suspicion immediately centers on her servant, it's up to Mink to save not only the only person left over from her old life of royal luxury, but the only person left who still cares about the Princess at all. Speed is of the essence since the Queen is in favor of a quick and tidy outcome. One can't have servants poisoning residents after all.
The denouement, by the way, is a surprise, both for the culprit and the murder method. Not so much the motive.
The real enchantment of this tale lies in Julia Stuart's creation of a colorfully insular world filled with an odd assortment of quirky characters. Among them: the Honorable Dowager Lady Montfort Bebb, the Lady Beatrice Fisher, the Countess of Bessington, William Sheepshanks, the Keeper of the Maze, Mr. Blood the undertaker, Inspector Guppy, the local arm of the law, Thomas Trout, the Keeper of the Great Vine, the Organ Grinder paid by the public to keep quiet, Albert, the Majarahah's monkey resplendent in a red velvet suit, Victoria the hedgehog (brought in to make a feast of the thousands of black beetles which crawl about the Princess's residence - ugh!) and so on and so forth.
It's a delightful, if slightly off-beat world of misfits and eccentrics, among them my favorite character in the book: the hapless Doctor Henderson, bicycling enthusiast and love-struck physician given to bad hair days. He is smitten by the Princess and bent on impressing her if only he could.
It's the quietly awkward love story that wins the day, at least as far as I'm concerned. I was struck with charm and left hoping for a second book featuring these same endearing characters.
Even if you're not a fan of 'cozy', this book will win you over.
Sounds like a winner, Yvette! I've gotten distracted by way too many new books lately, though. I'll have to mark this down for later. I really need to get back to my teetering stacks of older books....
ReplyDeleteWell, just keep it in the back of your mind, Bev. :) I know it's hard to balance old and new. I have trouble that way myself.
DeleteThe way you describe this book makes me think I read a very different one from you! I loved Julia Stuart's second book, so I eagerly picked this one up and had trouble with it from the get-go.
ReplyDeleteNow here's the thing, I didn't like the one about the tortoise. I just couldn't get myself going with it. Is that the one you mean? Well, no two people read the same book as you well know. :)
DeleteYvette,
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy Easter. Your Grand Children are beauties.
I don't know why I an so crazy about Victorian England.In fact I never miss PBS English movies, They are done so well.There is no mumbling when they speak like American Actors.
yvonne
Thank you, Yvonne. Happy Easter to you and your family as well. We're having wonderful weather and I hope it continues for the Easter weekend. I'm crazy about Victorian England myself - though not so much the reality of it. It comes from reading and loving the Sherlock Holmes stories, I think. I also love the Regency era. I try to catch all the PBS films too. There's nothing like a well-trained British actor....sigh. :)
DeleteDear Yvette,
ReplyDeleteMost of my reading is non-fiction, but like you, I'm still enticed by a well-designed book cover. This one really says, "Who Done It?" And I've always liked that aged, crackled painting effect. I wish book covers had been in my illustration repertoire!
Isn't it a wonderful cover? I simply had to take a look inside to see if the writing lived up to the cover. Happy to say it did. Alison Jay uses a lot of that 'crackle effect' in her work. Don't know how she does it. I did a few book covers (not as many as I would have liked) years and years ago, but mostly for mass market children's stuff. They're fun to do.
DeleteOoh, this looks so fun. Thanks for this review. Adding it to Goodreads now.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun, Picky. I enjoyed it even more than I first thought I would.
DeleteI must admit I don't know the author, Yvette, but you do pique my curiosity. I have visited Hampton Court and negotiated its maze (with help, I confess), and the setting sounds intriguing. Mazes like that one can be terrifying places, by the way - Edmund Crispin set a terrifying scene in a maze in "Frequent Hearses," and so did J.J. Connington in "Murder in the Maze." I may have to look this one up.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the author either, Les. But I took a chance. Once in a while that works out nicely. :) I'm adding the Crispin book to my Vintage list - Not familiar with J.J. Connington's name at all.
DeleteConnington was an English Golden Age author highly praised during his lifetime - T. S. Eliot and John Dickson Carr were readers - but largely ignored these days. Coachwhip Publications has now reprinted a few (with introductions by Curtis Evans), including "Murder in the Maze," which I recommend you consider adding to your teetering TBR pile. It's worth it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip, Les. I will definitely take a looksee. I love the title alone: MURDER IN THE MAZE. I mean, what's not to like?
Delete