I’m very happy that these classic mysteries are being published again. In Seven Dead, 7 people are found dead in a locked room in a country home. A journalist is nearly first on the scene. As he and the detective exchange ideas, the journalist decides to take his yacht and sail to France to search for the family who own the house. A few days later, after several incidents, the detective joins him. This is a work that harks back to earlier times but it is an interesting story.

A truly diabolical premise with tension crackling off every page. A must-read for all who enjoy intelligently-written stories with great characterizations, and who enjoy surprise twists at every turn. A great addition to this genre, and highly recommended. I'll be reading more from this author!

*My sincerest thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reviewing an ARC at no charge.*

From http://www.bookbarmy.com

Is it possible to have a crush on a publisher?

My heart beats faster, my fingers fondle their book covers, and my wallet giddily opens its arms -- all for The British Library Crime Series by Poisoned Pen Press.

Just look at these beauties, I mean really, what mystery reader could resist?
I first became aware of this series with my first purchase of THIS long lost favorite mystery. Since then I have cultivated a insatiable craving finely-tuned taste for this Poisoned Pen Press imprint.

In 1997, husband and wife founders, Robert Rosenwald and Barbara Peters, who are also the owners of the legendary Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona, saw an opportunity to re-publish the wonderful British mysteries novels of the 1930's and 1940's. They tapped into every bibliophile's secret desire --out of print titles, long lost authors, and beautiful covers to lovingly add to a bookcase:

“We knew that mystery readers wanted complete collections, so we thought we could make a business out of that.”
I've read several of these and, while some are better than others, all are well-plotted mysteries graced with some classic crime writing and completely interesting settings - in short they are pure fun escape reading.

There are locked room mysteries (Miraculous Mysteries), murders in Europe (Continental Crimes), small village settings (Death of a Busybody), and dead bodies in crumbling manors (Seven Dead).
In short, there's a British mystery for you in The British Library Crime Series. You got to love any publisher/bookseller who states this as their mission statement:

We are a community Bound By Mystery.

and who gathers praise such as this:

Hurrah to British Library Crime Classics for rediscovering some of the forgotten gems of the Golden Age of British crime writing.(Globe and Mail)

Might I suggest you support this fine enterprise by buying the books direct from their website ~ just click this logo.

3 1/2 stars. Seven people are found dead in an empty house. Who they are and how they died is the central puzzle of the book. I was riveted by the plot for most the whole book although I thought the ending was slightly bizarre. There are great historical details, the plot is tight, and the central characters are well drawn. Overall a fun vintage mystery.

I have read quite a few of Farjeon's books over the years and some of them were quite good, but there is always something that does not quite work for me and with Seven Dead I finally figured out what it is: He is trying to appeal to too many audiences at once. You know some people like the murder mystery, the puzzle figuring out how a murder was committed, others like the adventure stories chasing an "unknown" villain, hunting them down, others love the suspense type books, that keep you on the edge of the seat whilst another group does love a bit of romance in their books, some like a policeman doing the investigation, others love a bystander becoming the sleuth. In this book you have all of that and more. Whilst for the most part it is enjoyable in a way, the conclusion of the book is just silly and so random that if you lived in my neighbourhood, you would have heard a frustrated sigh. A loud one. Still, these days, I adore these books and these re-issues since the Golden Age has become almost of academic interest to me. It's like a personal research topic for me. So on that note, this one was interesting.

Another fantastic story in the BLC collection, a joy to read. Will be recommending this to other crime fans

J. Jefferson Farjeon wrote pastiches of mystery, horror stories, farce, romance and social satire. He excels in creepy scenes and atmospheres of menace and Seven Dead is his masterpiece in that regard. It begins with a comic discovery of seven emaciated strangers found dead in the house whose owner was abroad.

Few writers could open a mystery with such an over-the-top dramatic scene, and those that could would strive to bring the mystery to some logical solution. Farjeon is just getting started. His convoluted and incredible resolution introduces even creepier elements and even more outrageous happenings. It reminds me of the first [[ASIN:B00GIWIPVA Indiana Jones]] movie, opening with a scene that would be the climax in standard adventure movies, but successfully upping the thrills as the plot advances.

If you're looking for a logical mystery or procedural, keep looking. But if you accept the author's undisciplined energy, there's a lot of macabre fun to be had. Every few pages you get the feeling that you're reading a different genre.

On the downside, the pacing is terrible; the author's interest is in dramatic scenes, not the plot arc. The author pushes his characters around like pieces on a chess board, without regard to plausible motivations or character development. There's a lot of minor maneuvering around that gets tedious, until the author has the board in a position to support a dramatic move. The dialog is pedestrian and the descriptions mundane.

If you have an interest in Golden Age detective stories and have not read Farjeon before, I recommend this book. If you like it, there are many others, although few as wild as this one.

EXCERPT: The woman was in a chair, her head resting against a blue cushion. It would have been easy at first glance to mistake her sex, for she was wearing a man's clothing -- jersey, trousers and heavy boots -- while her features, framed in short dark hair, were coarsened by exposure. She might have been attractive once. She was not attractive now. Her unseeing eyes were open. . .

THE BLURB: Ted Lyte, amateur thief, has chosen an isolated house by the coast for his first robbery. But Haven House is no ordinary country home. While hunting for silverware to steal, Ted stumbles upon a locked room containing seven dead bodies. Detective Inspector Kendall takes on the case with the help of passing yachtsman Thomas Hazeldean. The search for the house's absent owners brings Hazeldean across the Channel to Boulogne, where he finds more than one motive to stay and investigate.

MY THOUGHTS: J. Jefferson-Farjeon is one of my favorite golden age detective story writers. His writing is both atmospheric and compelling, yet at the same time he manages to inject it with an underlying wry sense of humour.

Seven Dead is a locked room mystery. Seven bodies are discovered in a room where the shutters have been nailed closed and the key is in the lock on the outside of the room. Add a note with a cryptic clue and the portrait of a pretty young girl with a bullet hole through her heart, and the mystery deepens.

I first encountered Detective Inspector Kendall in Jefferson-Farjeon's The Z Murders, and then Thirteen Guests, both titles that have been republished by Poisoned Pen Press as part of the British Library Crime Classics series. He is a decisive man, very thorough in his investigative techniques, and a deep thinker. He is, rather unusually for this period, a relatively realistic police detective without any of the affectations so commonly given to characters in this era.

He is aided and abetted in his investigation by a young journalist and yachtsman, Hazeldean, who had inadvertently stumbled upon burglar Ted Lyte fleeing the crime scene, his pockets full of silverware. He becomes obsessed with the painting of the girl and is determined to find her.

There are plenty of twists and unexpected turns in this story, and I became a little obsessed myself with the relevance of the silk trader.

Early on in the book, one of the characters, I think it was Kendall, says 'There's some mighty queer story behind all this. ', and he's right. Not only queer, but compelling. Seven Dead was almost a five star read, but the ending fell a little short for me.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of Seven Dead by J. Jefferson-Farjeon for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Seven Dead has a great premise that is not followed by a good story.

A burglar finds a supposedly empty house filled with seven emaciated dead bodies. The room the bodies were in was locked from the outside with the window shutters nailed shut. An old cricket ball is found atop a vase. A picture in another room has a gunshot through it. A note is found in one of the dead's hands implying the deaths were suicides. If so, why were they locked inside the room and by whom?

Seven Dead starts with such an intriguing mystery. Unfortunately, the rest of the plot is a muddled mess. Coincidences pile up faster than bodies. A romance takes up a lot of time without moving the mystery forward. It is obvious who the murderer is from the first quarter of the book. Characters appear to think their remarks are extremely witty but are not to modern readers. There are large sections of dialog in pidgin French that are impossible for most readers to understand. The conclusion, for some reason, is told in exposition by the inspector, which kills any immediacy.

Seven Dead is strongly not recommended. 1 star. Instead read this excellent golden age mystery, Death Makes a Prophet, by the same publisher, or some Agatha Christie.

Thanks to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Another classic crime novel from the 1930s as released through Poisoned Pen. This is one of a great collection being re-released for a new audience of crime enthusiasts to enjoy.

We are not let down as a hapless burglar decides an isolated manor will make perfect pickings until he stumbles on the remains of seven bodies in a locked room. And so we already have two great mystery themes - the locked room, and multiple victims. And so our wily police inspector (Kendall) and sicekick (journalist Hazeldean) investigate.

Farjeon's well paced tale throws up enough clues (or are they really red herrings) to keep the reader suitably guessing to the end.

Another worthy tome in a series of long-forgotten crime novels that should be sought out by all crime aficiondos.

This was such a unique classic mystery that at times had me laughing, because of the foresightedness of the detective, his total willingness to accept a freelance reporter as a full partner in the search, and the general way they all got their parts of the story/crime and worked them out.

One of the unluckiest burglars I've ever come across breaks into a house only to find 7 people dead in the parlor. As he is running from the house like he's on fire, he runs into a freelance reporter that just happens to have docked his boat on the river nearby and they both go to the police. (The reporter trails him because how often do you see a shabby man running like their are ghosts after him, totally understandable.)

What's odd from there is that Detective Inspector Kendall almost takes on the reporter, Hazeldean as an investigative partner. Sure that happens in cop shows, but we're talking full partners here, like telling him everything and listening to his theories. DI Kendall also subtly sets Hazeldean up to do some of his investigating for him once he sees that the reporter is entranced by the portrait of a girl in another room. (It reminds me of the book/movie Laura.)

Hazeldean doesn't know it, but it is part of Kendall's plan to have him cross the channel in search of the girl, now woman, in the portrait to see what she knows. What he finds is more than he can handle though and eventually Kendall and the local police catch up to save his rear end.

The mystery itself is interesting and complicated, but it's really the wry humor and intelligence of human behavior of DI Kendall that did it for me in Seven Dead. Occasionally, the DI asks Hazeldean if he can trust him not to run to an editor before the mystery is solved and his answers, while not 100% yes, crack me up. Also, I wasn't aware that there were freelancers in 1939 when this was written.

This classic detective novel is a part of a group re-released by the British Library in the UK and Poisoned Pen Press here in the U.S. and I've loved all but one. They've aged well and there is something about the dry or witty British humor that just tickles me to no end.

If you love a good mystery, just about any in this series have been grand, so grab them before they disappear from print again!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

A thief discovers seven dead bodies in a locked room in a house he is burgling and the case is investigated by the police, a journalist/amateur detective Hazeldean , and later by the (extremely co-operative) French police force as the mystery spreads to Boulogne.

The set-up was intriguing and the plot moved on at a good pace. The solution to the mystery, while a little far-fetched, did hold together well. The main female lead, Dora, was a little passive and tended to be treated as a child by the detectives and "protected" from things, but she did toughen up a little by the end.

I was a little mystified and to why Hazeldean was so determined that Dora and he remain at the Pension Paula after Paula had locked him in the attic - I would have grabbed Dora and fled personally. I was not entirely sure why the murderer

SPOILER

returned to the island at the end (nor why the police were so sure he would), although if the detectives had not also gone there (handily arriving before him) they would never have discovered the notebook and read the full story.

This book stars with seven dead people. Then it gets more absurd. Then a plane crashes and then things get really weird. And as reader, you have no way of guessing how the weirdness will manifest because there are no clues beforehand.

So no, this isn’t a typical golden age mystery. No country house party where coincidentally everyone has a grudge against one party-member. I actually was reminded more of Edgar Wallace (especially the German movie adaptations). There’s a Russian nesting doll of dark secrets, mysterious characters (including an ominous –gasp– foreign silk merchant), a beautiful damsel in distress (she gets to have slightly more agency than those in the Wallace-movies but not much), lots of fog and – most importantly – nobody takes things too serious. They all joke around a lot. Especially the conversation between the inspector and his sergeant are glorious.

You will have to suspend your disbelief a lot, though. Even more than “Of course ten people would just accept an invitation from a complete stranger to spend a weekend at a remote island.” More than once per chapter I found myself going Oh come on but – much like in Mystery in White (whose plot looks plain and normal compared to Seven Guests) – I didn’t care. The writing is so fast-paced that that I didn’t have the time to worry about pesky things like logic and realism. But at the same time the absurdity is well-contained. There are surprising coincidences, of course, but they all relate to the crime and the reasons for it; no inspector coincidentally stumbles over an important clue because he happens to be at the right place at right time. There is no bad timing that leads to a side-character betraying important information because they just missed the announcement about who the villain is. The main characters are fairly normal characters who sometimes have bad luck and sometimes good luck.

Still, traditionalists might not enjoy this too much. It really is more Edwardian pulp fiction than golden age mystery.

Ted Lyte illegally enters the remote Haven House only to be seen running from it not long after. Detective Inspector Kendall recruits a yachtsman/journalist Thomas Hazeldean, to help investigate the case of the seven bodies found inside the house.
An interesting and enjoyable mystery. My only irritation was with the character Dora Fenner, and occasionally the style of writing.

A petty thief gets the scare of his life when he breaks into a house that seems to be deserted, only to find one locked room full of seven dead bodies. A passing freelance journalist has docked his yacht nearby and is headed to knock at the house to ask for directions when he comes across the very scared thief. The journalist, a Mr. Hazeldean, makes a good impression on the police inspector and is allowed to join in on the preliminary inspection of the house and grounds, even lending a few helpful observations to the case. Though there is a note in the room with the dead people saying "With apologies from the Suicide Club" Hazeldean suggests that all is not as it seems and Inspector Kendall agrees. How would they have committed suicide and locked themselves in from the outside? The hunt begins for some answers as well as for the residents of the house, an older gentleman and his niece, who aren't among the dead and seem to have left rather hurriedly to the coast of France the day before the deaths occurred.

The mystery in this definitely kept me reading till the end. I started to get some idea of what must be going on, but couldn't predict how everything was connected. I got to pull out and dust off my high school French a bit as there are several conversations that are entirely in French or a bit of Frenglish and aren't translated. This used to be common practice in British publications prior to the 20th century but not as common after French started fading out as a universal language of trade so it was a teensy bit surprising to find in here, one originally published close to WWII. Some modern readers may find this frustrating, though translating apps are now so easily used it shouldn't be too much of a hang up. I liked the unusual friendliness between a police officer and a journalist. Hazeldean was refreshing in that the story was second to the people involved for him. He did drive me a little bonkers with the way he spun out the story for the young lady in such a backwards manner. I have mixed feelings about all of the secondary characters in this. Just about every single one (except 6 of the 7 dead ones) are portrayed as bumbling fools. That got a teensy bit old. I'd still recommend it for the locked room mystery and backstory for that, which gets points for creative thinking (and which it seems many have done versions of since then).

Notes on content: Sporadic minor swearing. No sexual content. A few more than seven deaths (the seven die of a non-gory method) and none of the others are much described.

Review published on Booklover Book Reviews website: http://bookloverbookreviews.com/2018/01/seven-dead-by-j-jefferson-farjeon-book-review.html

A classic locked room murder mystery from the Golden Age of writing. Seven people are found dead in a room that is locked,with the key on the outside of the door,and the window shutters are nailed closed. There is a bright ,intelligent inspector, DCI Kendall and the slightly slow on the uptake Sergeant Wade. The owners of the house are missing,believed to be in Boulogne- sur - Mer,and a hunt is started.
The story is clear and concise,written like a Police report. The right questions are asked and deduction skills are to the forefront . The readership is taken as being literate and well educated, when the French language is introduced,it is offered with no explanation or translation,certainally no dumbing down in this novel. Latin phrases are also used, and the whole experience is delightful, if slightly far fetched and convenient.
I liked this book,it was intelligent and nicely paced. At times a little naive, but that was then, and it's always difficult reviewing with modern eyes and viewpoints. I like this genre and I urge you to approach this with an open mind. Truly days gone by.

This is a terrific British mystery.

Ted is a thief – generally stealing small things. But, he is broke and he sees an empty house. So, taking the opportunity to branch out, he breaks into the house. He can always sell silver spoons.

What he finds in a locked room frightens him so badly he runs out of the home right into a policeman.

He has found a room with 7 dead bodies in it. There are 6 men and one woman and it is a horrible sight.

Detective Inspector Kendall becomes the officer in charge of the investigation and he is a very good detective.

There is a young reporter, Thomas Hazeldean, who inserts himself into the investigation. He is curious, but he also is so shocked by the scope of the crime, he cannot help himself from wanting to find out answers to his many questions.

He also has become attracted to a portrait of a young girl.

Kendall and Hazeldean are a good team. Both of them are cynical enough to not take anything at face value. They are both good observers and both of them are intelligent enough to understand human nature.

This is a very well written mystery.

J. Jefferson Farjeon is a talented author who has created a story that flows along. The characters are well defined. The reader gets a good picture of each person, whether they are one of the good guys or not.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of British classic mysteries. In fact, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a mystery that holds the reader's interest.

I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I am voluntarily writing this review and all opinions are my own.

Seven Dead, originally published in 1939, is the latest release in Poisoned Pen’s British Library Crime Classics series. For those not familiar with the series, it is a republication of English authors’ Golden Age – between the World Wars – detective fiction. Agatha Christie is the poster child for Golden Age authors, but there are many others, in addition to Farjeon, with whom the average crime reader may not be familiar: John Bude, Mavis Doriel Hay, Charles Williams,Freeman Wills Crofts. Some are sterling; others less so. I was delighted by Seven Dead and Farjeon is in the sterling category.

Seven Dead takes place in a countryside town in England and also in Boulogne-sur-mer, France. At the outset, the police have discovered seven bodies in a room locked from the outside, in an otherwise empty English manor house. None of the seven lived in the house or were related to its owners, who happened to leave impulsively for an out of town trip. The lead police detective, Detective Inspector Kendall, and a conveniently placed yachtsman, Hazeldean, are equally prominent in the book, and readers learn many if not most of the key facts as a result of Hazeldean’s unofficial, concurrent investigation. The sum far exceeds its parts, in large part because Farjeon’s writing is crisp, clear and interesting, the period details bountiful and intriguing, and his two lead characters make sensible choices.

Often, when reading novels from the early 20th century – especially those labeled “genre” fiction - - I steel myself against the sexism, racism, colloquialisms and wordiness I frequently encounter. With crime novels, an over-emphasis on motive frequently adds another layer of irritation. I determine not to roll my eyes, no matter how conveniently a key clue or witness falls into the laps of the subject detective. Seven Dead included none of those negatives, and it also wasn’t a search for motive but was focused on the evidence revealed over time. I found it to be blessedly un-dated in its language and style. The motive is disclosed at the end, and it’s not one the reader had the clues to figure out prior to the big reveal, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment. The funny thing is, if I were sharing a beer with another mystery/detective reader who had finished Seven Dead recently, we could probably identify a dozen things that didn’t make sense or otherwise would be flagged as flaws or problems. (view spoiler) But none of them bothered me one wit, because the novel as a whole was so enjoyable.

If you like Golden Age mysteries, Seven Dead is a sure thing. If, like me, you read them from time to time but only the very best, Seven Dead should still be on your short list. I’ll be looking for and reading more Farjeon novels this year.

For a list of British Library Crime Classics novels, topped by another Farjeon novel: Mystery in White, click here: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...

About the author. J. Jefferson Farjeon is a long-forgotten English crime and mystery novelist, playwright and screenwriter, and Eleanor Farjeon's brother. He wrote more than 90 novels and plays between 1924 and 1955. One of Farjeon's best known works was a play, No. 17, which was made into a number of films, including Number Seventeen directed by Hitchcock.

Thanks to Poisoned Press and NetGalley for making an ecopy available for review.

In this intricately plotted mystery from Britain's "Golden Age" of mysteries a petty thief decides to expand his horizons into housebreaking & get far more than some silver spoons. In a seemingly empty house he finds seven dead bodies!

Inspector Kendall & an journalist/amateur detective who helps him follow the trail to France and to an exceedingly strange solution that includes other killings and many mysterious doings.

Farjeon's classic mysteries always have appealing characters and fantastic plots. I love that this series is letting us rediscover him!