This is fun, breezy and engaging mystery book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this book incredibly interesting the author really kept me hooked until the end. very well written I highly recommend.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A great murder mystery novel. Great weekend read.

Henrietta Hamilton is an author I was unaware of until recently. This is now the second book of hers I have read; it is the second in her Sally and Johnny Heldar mysteries which I am happy to say I’ve read in order.

This however can be read out of order for its own merits as it does not demand any knowledge of their first adventure into crime sleuthing.
Sufficient to understand they met at work in an antiquarian bookshop and their relationship blossomed solving a murder close to home.

When Johnny is approached by an old friend and long-standing customer to his home to catalogue his library and make a valuation for him. The couple look forward to a break in Hampshire, a bit of a busman’s holiday.

Matters take a turn for the worse when their host takes a fall but no-one thinks it a serious attempt on his life.
Unfortunately the police believe his subsequent death was indeed murder. With a narrow window of opportunity and a finite number of suspects among the guests and visitors that afternoon, suspicion falls on nearly everyone, servants included. (Did the Butler do it?).

His heir who is aware of the Heldar’s previous dabbling into detective matters asks them to help him find the truth.
In the best tradition of this genre, various motives abound, recent agreements take on more significance and the changing of a will seems to add clarity and point to guilt.
Not quite Agatha Christie but worthy to be read by fans of her work; it was a quick and interesting read full of mystery and suspense.

I liked the characters the general ease, regarding suspects interactions and motivations.
It has almost an historical drama feel, with references to wartime service and stuttering postwar Britain. A genuine attempt to portray life in a stately home in Hampshire with colloquial dialects included.

A gentle paced and much less a stressful book than some action thrillers. However it still will stimulate your imagination but saves you being overwhelmed by adrenalin.
A serious book nonetheless, not just a cosy murder.

Enlightening and a doff of the cap to a less well imagined time in history and an almost forgotten author.

Despite reading these out of order, but I am nonetheless enjoying them. Although this narrative felt more streamlined, it paled compared to the other two (for me). If anyone is working their way through the series, this should be read to see how the husband and wife duo are sharpening their deductive skills.
This is the second book of the series with Sally and Johnny, who are now married. Sally has given up her job, which felt odd to me, given that it is a family establishment. Also, given that Johnny has a prominent role in the unravelling of the case, he does not feature on the cover in some capacity too!
Coming back to the plotline, the wedded couple is tasked with cataloguing a man's library. There has been a few unexpected twists and turns in the fate of the estate in question, and their presence on site is preferable to them popping in and out. While there, they are given the full brunt of the swirling emotions around the current owner. One incident occurs and immediately after another happens, leading to the Heldars now part of a murder inquiry. It was quite refreshing to see the police being level-headed and on the right track. It is only insider information that the Heldars chance upon that leads them to the correct answer before the person in charge of the inquiry.
It was a decent storyline, and although I guessed the culprit quite early on, I was not disinterested in the goings-on in the book. I liked the other two books better than this one, mostly because I enjoyed the rapport and the banter between the lead couple as much as I liked their sleuthing capacity. I, therefore, had to rate this one differently. It is not a big book, and reading it is quite an easy feat. I would not dissuade anyone from picking this up, if on the lookout for an older mystery written by a more unknown author.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my reading experience of this and the other books by the same author.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy. When Sally and John are asked to sort out two family libraries that had got mixed up they ended up in a murder mystery. The family ask John and Sally to do some investigating. A delightful story with loveable characters.

Enjoyable crime/murder mystery recently reissued by Agora Press.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first, however it is still a good read.

As this was originally published in the 1950s, the views of some of the characters can seem sexist and have some prejudices. It has to be born in mind when reading this that times were different back then.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

The amateur sleuths in this story are an antiquarian book dealing husband and wife team. That in itself I liked - quite a good and unusual set up, and it felt authentically described (I’ve since read the author had personal experience in this field). They take on a job to reorganise a library in a country house/ mansion, where someone is subsequently murdered. All in all, a decent mystery, but have you heard of show don’t tell? I felt sometimes it was a tad more on the ‘tell’ side, even though it was via dialogue; a lot of the dialogue consists of long unbroken explanations of what happened, rather than an exchange, or people finding out for themselves. Maybe it was to keep the size of the book down? I notice it is quite short. But the upside of that is it’s a quick read.
I’ve read a few of these rediscovered golden age mysteries and there is nearly always some casual racism/ discrimination/ stereotypes that were prevalent at the time, so be prepared for that. It is set a decade after the second world war has ended, and its repercussions deeply affect each character – although I didn’t feel I got to know any of them in depth; but then this is book two in a series, and I haven’t read book one – so that may have placed me at a disadvantage. Some books age better than others and this one still gives you a good puzzle to solve.

This was a classic golden age mystery. It had a good set of characters and a brilliant setting. The story was set up well with a lot of red herrings to keep up the suspense. And although it seemed a bit slow at some parts, I did enjoy the plot.
The protagonists were interesting, but I had a difficult time connecting with them and the other characters. It could be because this is a series and I have only read this book. Nevertheless that did not work for me.

The style of writing, characters and setting were good. But the plot was a disappointment since I was able to figure out the murderer quite early on. While I understand why none of the characters in the book figured it out It was obvious to a modern reader who would not look at the problem with the cultural and social assumptions of someone living in post-war UK.

I’d never heard of this series before and didn’t realize this is a reprint. I throughly enjoyed the characters, the mystery, and the time period. However I felt extremely uncomfortable and angered in chapter 1 as Sir Mark, and a valet is described in what I consider an anti semitic characterization that was wrong then and now. This is set in the fifties just after WW2 with the Holocaust fresh in everyone’s minds, and still this book is filled with anti Semitic remarks. Sad. Why do you want to reprint a book like this, I’m curious? Id give it four stars but for this. 3.5
I do like it enough as a series to read more of her books as long as her sentiments are not repeated.

Death at One Blow (1957), is the second book in a quartet of novels featuring Sally and Johnny Heldar; a couple who are an amateur sleuthing duo with a background in bookselling.

Synopsis from Agora:

‘Brimming with wartime secrets and family quarrels, Death at One Blow is the second in Henrietta Hamilton’s Sally and Johnny Heldar mystery series. Needing a break from summer in the city, Sally and Johnny Heldar leave London for the countryside. Tasked with sorting out two jumbled personal libraries in a country estate, the couple are looking forward to a holiday break filled with books, fresh air, and reconnecting with long-time friend Sir Mark. But upon their arrival, the Heldars become privy to tensions within the house, and soon the pair find themselves at the centre of another mystery.’

Overall Thoughts

Hamilton sets up the mystery well, establishing an interesting array of possible motives for bumping off Mark Mercator, a successful Jewish businessman. Mark many years earlier had married into the Thaxton family, and it is a great nephew, Richard, on that side who was intended to inherit the Thaxton’s property and wealth. However, a series of deaths in the family, plus his own presumed demise in the Korean war, left his fiancée unable to pay the death duties and Mark stepped into the breach to buy the country house from her. But now it turns out that Richard is still alive, having recently been released by the Chinese as a former prisoner of war. It is his return which propels Johnny and Sally into the plot, as they are old friends of Mark’s and he needs them to use their professional expertise to sort out the books in the Thaxton library, as he had years earlier upon moving in merged it with his own. He also wishes the books to re-valued for insurance purposes. A missing first edition, a dispute over land development and a disgruntled former employee also enter the mix.

Given the nature of the murder an obvious suspect emerges and the amateur investigation, at least, leans more towards proving their innocence. I have read another book in the series, Answer in the Negative (1959), and I had been less keen on Sally’s detective work being derailed and stymied by her husband. That doesn’t really happen here, but this time around, Sally’s does not do any independent detective work. The detective mantle very much rests more upon Johnny’s shoulders, and the narrative itself focuses more upon the information revealed through the suspects and witnesses talking to one another, rather than upon police interviews.

Country house mystery can be seen as bland, generic and formulaic, but I actually think they have a great deal of flexibility and after WW2 I think many crime writers used them as a canvas upon which to paint contemporary issues that arose over WW2. The beginning of Hamilton’s novel sets such issues up, though I don’t think they are as well explored, as they are in other mysteries such as Cyril Hare’s An English Murder (1951). Nevertheless, as the synopsis suggests, WW2 is revealed to cast long shadows upon several of the characters in this story.

As I said earlier, the mystery is set up well, but I feel the subsequent investigation and the ending could have been more tightly plotted, since an info dump is required to bring about the solution. I guessed who the killer might be early on, though I didn’t quite have the motive correct. Nevertheless, Hamilton;s mystery trots along at a quick pace and Johnny and Sally are an engaging duo to follow.

Rating: 3.75/5

Source: Review Copy (Agora Books via Netgalley)

Clever Puzzle At Its’ Heart....
The second in the Sally and Johnny Heldar series of mysteries and the duo are off to the countryside with their latest library assignment whilst hoping to combine the jaunt with a holiday. When they arrive at the country estate it becomes clear that all is not well within the big house. The sometime amateur sleuths, Sally and Johnny, are both likeable and amenable and make an enjoyable duo. Hugely enjoyable classic crime with a clever puzzle at its’ heart, fully entertaining with well drawn characters and an engaging plot. A very worthy reissue from Agora Books (and part of their ‘Uncrowned Queens of Crime’ series). Highly recommended.

This is the third book I’ve read in Henrietta Hamilton’s murder mystery series featuring Sally and Johnny Heldar. The country house setting gives a real Golden Age feel to the story, but there were also unfortunately some hints of paternalistic sexism and anti-Semitism which made this modern reader a little uncomfortable. Otherwise, the blustering colonel, the rare books and characters zooming here and there in cars were quite fun.

A worthwhile read, especially for readers who have enjoyed the previously published Heldar adventures.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Death at One Blow follows married couple Sally and Johnny Heldar, bookshop workers, as they try to unravel the mystery of who killed the owner of the library they were working on in a countryside mansion. With many suspects and motives, the book provides an interesting mystery that will have people turning pages until the end.

This had a classic feel to it of a mystery. It was set up well and was interesting. The plot moved a bit slowly to me at some points, but it was clear that the author was attempting to lay the groundwork for the tale to go on. I found the protagonists' interesting, but a bit hard to get to know. When I realized this was a part of a series, this made sense!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is book two (of four) in the Johnny and Sally Heldar mystery series though the third to be re-published by Agora Books. Johnny and Sally are now happily married and this book is much more focussed on the mystery at hand than ‘The Two Hundred Ghost’ which centred more on their romance with the crime much less to the fore. As such, this novel is much more traditional and, unlike many of its contemporaries from the 1950s, is a straightforward puzzle harking back to the golden age rather than the more psychological type thriller that was becoming increasingly popular at that time.

The author uses the novel to introduce several characters who have been affected in some way or other by war. This is always subtle and never at the expense of the story but we are certainly shown the different ways in which conflict can scar people even if they are physically well. Although the period in which the story is set shows, in many ways, a simpler and less frenzied world than now, clearly damaged souls with greed in their hearts and gentle people who wanted to be good neighbours were just as prevalent as they are today. The setting seems just as relevant and modern in these pandemic-stricken times as it was when it was written.

Although the set up for the plot is fairly straightforward there are twists and turns aplenty and many suspects. I think I pinpointed the culprit at almost the exact point in the story when Johnny worked it out although he had a much better explanation than me! I was quite proud of myself though as I rarely work these stories out prior to the dénouement. The clues are all there though, this is definitely a fair play mystery for those who like to pit their wits against the detective.

This is the book which I have enjoyed most so far from this series so far (though I thought both books one and four were excellent). I look forward to book three being republished in the near future so that this excellent set of detective stories is available once more in its entirety for us to enjoy.

I've now read (all?) four of the Johnny and Sally Heldar series by Henrietta Hamilton, having had them recommended on a Facebook page. Although some of the racial stereotyping (and particularly descriptions of Jewish characters) has caused sharp intakes of breath, that apart, the stories have a fairly modern approach to life for the time (the late 1950s) they were written. Henrietta Hamilton writes with a light touch and her characters are well defined.

Death at One Blow is the second book in the series (Agora are republishing them in an idiosyncratic order.) and takes place in the early months of the Heldars' marriage. Their relationship forms a backdrop to the books without impinging too much on the plots. The couple takes on a job for an old friend at his new country house. Johnny is part of an antiquarian bookselling dynasty in whose shop Sally worked before her marriage and they go to catalogue Sir Mark's library.

Needless to say, there is a murder and the Heldars are asked by the victim's family to make some informal enquiries. For me, the perpetrator was obvious from quite a long way out but this in no way spoiled the book for me as the whys and wherefores were fascinating. There was a strong cast of suspects and bit-part players and I was sad to finish the book.

Death at One Blow is the second book in the Sally & Johnny Heldar series and was originally published in 1957. Agora Books is republishing it as part of their Uncrowned Queens of Crime series and I am so glad that they are!

Sally and Johnny, antiquarian booksellers, leave London for the countryside. Sir Mark Mercator has asked them to sort out two jumbled library collections at his newly acquired estate, Westwater Manor. There is an accident, a murder, and another death.

I really enjoyed this classic mystery! There were a small number of suspects, an intelligent inspector, red herrings, and the type of amateur sleuths that I like - reluctant and smart and aware of the importance of not impeding the police in their investigations. People seem to confide in Sally and Johnny and that works in their favour as they try to distinguish the truth from the lies. The repercussions of World War 2 are a huge part of this story even though it takes place 12 years after the war has ended. I found it fascinating.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I had never heard of Henrietta Hamilton before Agora started republishing her books in 2020 as part of their Uncrowned Queens of Crime library. I had missed a huge treat – Hamilton’s books are (a) so evocative of the UK in the 1950s and (b) well-written mysteries. Death at One Blow was first published in 1957 and is Hamilton’s second featuring the (now newly married) couple of Sally and Johnny Heldar.
I won’t repeat the publisher’s summary of the plot as I always worry about adding spoilers. Instead, I’ll note my thoughts about the book.

Johnny’s family are antiquarian book dealers and handle a lot of rare volumes. In real life, Henrietta Hamilton was a pseudonym for Hester Denne Shepherd. Ms Shepherd was born in 1920; gained an honours degree in Modern Languages at Oxford; and worked in a rare book business just like the Heldar family’s. That knowledge gives authenticity to the books.

I didn’t guess whodunnit and I was impressed with the way we readers were gently nudged one way, then another. But I felt uncomfortable only a short way into the book when we get a description of Sir Mark including “… even the nose, which just betrayed his race, …”. Sir Mark is a true gentle man and his background is relevant to the plot, but I can’t help but feel there is a hint of the author implying “He’s a gentleman and a very good man, even though …”. As I say, it’s relevant to the plot and possibly reflected attitudes at the time at which the book was written (I don’t know, I wasn’t around then), but is very jarring for modern readers.

I think, despite the couple of sentences that could have been quietly edited by Agora, that I would recommend this book to any lover of crime fiction.

#DeathatOneBlow #NetGalley

This is a reissue of an excellent classic crime book. Sally and Johnny Heldar had a long honeymoon in March and April, but now it's a hot summer in London. Johnny has been asked to do a rush job on a private library in the country by Sir Mark Mercator. He asks if Sally would go with him to help, and they could make it partly a vacation. Mercator's wife was a Thaxton, and Mercator had bought the Thaxton family seat Westwater near Fanchester about a month previously. The older generations of owners had died, and the son Richard was shotdown in Korea when he was in the RAF. He had left everything to his girlfriend, Lisa Harz, who had made the sale to Mercator. However, two days before, the Chinese had released Richard. In the mean time Mercator had merged his own library with the Thaxton library.

When Richard and Lisa arrive at Westwater, there were immediate tensions. A pompous neighbor, Colonel Darby comes by and starts to complain about some changes Mercator had been making. The estate agent George Willesdon is usually drunk and not very effective, and he has been fired. On their first day in the library they find a conterfeit book (a later edition has been doctored to look like the first edition which is supposed to be in the library). Then, Mercator has a fall and hits his head. The Heldars are not sure whether it was an accident or a murder attempt. When Mercator is murdered, the police have a lot of suspects. When Willesdon is found drowned by the dam, it is assumed he committed suicide because he was Mercator's killer. However, Richard asks the Heldars to investigate and figure out the real murderer. It is found that Mercator had written a new will leaving everything to Richard; if Richard marries Lisa, then it all goes to charity. This makes Richard the prime suspect. Can the Heldars identify the real murderer before the wrong person is charged?