Heirs and Assigns

I really liked this. The opening chapters see the introduction of the members of the Llewellyn family. We are also introduced to the staff of Bryn Glas and various members of the fictional rural Shropshire village of Hinton Wyvering. These provide the backdrop and setting of this murder mystery.

When Pen, who has invited his family to his 60th birthday party is found dead in bed, the mystery and the questions begin.
Natural causes?
Something more sinister?

As we learn more of the family history which is learned through the investigation by Detective Inspector Reardon and Gilmour, his junior, the questions continue to come.

Can so many have a motive?
A second death, are they linked?

In fact more questions than answers, right up to the twist in the tale. This is a well written and carefully crafted crime novel. I liked the setting and felt that I really knew the community.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Severn House for this early copy. I hope my review is fair recompense?

I'm a huge fan of the Downton Abbey series, and found this book just as compelling! On the morning after his birthday, the host of the birthday party is found death. In comes Detective Reardon that must investigate Mr Llewellyn's death. The book had the quaintness of the 1920's, with the modern input of a show like Midsomer Murders (another one of my favourite shows and books). It is really a compelling read, and highly recommended!

A family gathering followed by the untimely demise of the host all sounds very Agatha Christie and, indeed, there are some similarities in this crime novel by Marjorie Eccles. Inspector Reardon and Sergeant Gilmore are summoned to the rural Shropshire village to investigate the murder and they soon realise that this close-knit community have more secrets than they care to reveal...

A book containing so many characters could have been confusing but the author does a good job in introducing the characters and building up their back stories in order to avoid this. I do feel that the character of Ellen, as a strong woman, was underused and I wonder if she is being saved for a larger role in a follow-up book.

Placing enough red herrings along the way to throw you off track, the ending is satisfying and makes perfect sense. Based on this, I would be happy reading any further books in the series.

This is the first in a new mystery series, set in 1928. Penrose Llewellyn is a wealthy man and invites his family to celebrate his sixtieth birthday celebrations at his family home. Among the relatives who gather at the family home are sister Ida and her daughter, Verity, brother Theo and his wife Claudia and estranged, younger brother, Huwie and local friends and neighbours. When Penrose is found dead shortly after a dinner party in which he gave a surprising announcement, garden designer Anna Douglas is not convinced that it was a natural death and Detective Inspector Herbert Reardon and Sergeant Gilmour are sent to investigate.

Despite the fact that this is set ten years after the end of the First World War, there are still shadows of the conflict lying over many of the characters. Detective Inspector Reardon bears scars from the war and other characters have been widowed because of it. The author cleverly weaves information of how women were treated after the war – losing jobs to men returning from the front and struggling to provide for themselves. The suffragette era has only recently passed and there is a sense that women still have a lot to fight for and are striving for equality. However, this is a not a dark or depressing novel by any means, and there is much comfort and warmth in the characters. Detective Inspector Reardon’s wife, Ellen, is a no-nonsense and sensible lady, who is very good friends with one of the inhabitants of the village near Llewellyn’s house, Bryn Glas, and she is keen to go along with him.

As the book progresses, Reardon and Gilmour attempt to uncover the secrets of Penrose Llewellyn’s family and find the reason why he was murdered. This is an enjoyable beginning to a series, with family secrets, unrequited love and financial problems being unearthed. If you enjoy more ‘cosy’ mysteries, with less violence and a good cast of characters, plus an interesting historical setting, you will probably enjoy this. I look forward to reading more books featuring Detective Inspector Reardon. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

British who-done-it at its best. The characters are real, not cookie-cutter. I felt like I was in the village. Highly recommended!

Downton Abbey fans rejoice! This is a book not to be missed. The writing is so evocative of the time, that one can almost hear the characters speaking. Great read!

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Two of my favorite genres are historical fiction and mysteries, and when these two are combined, I’ll likely enjoy the result. I’m not very particular about historical era- I love Victorian stories, as well as stories set in the 1930s, and just about everything in between.

I received the opportunity to read Heirs and Assigns, the first entry in a new British country house murder mystery series by Marjorie Eccles. The story begins in 1928 with a pilgrimage; the entire Llewellyn clan is descending upon their ancestral home to celebrate the birthday of their patriarch, Penrose. Even the family black sheep/prodigal son Huwie has returned for the happy occasion. At a celebratory dinner the night before the big event, Pen makes an announcement that surprises everyone, and the family’s reaction disrupts the evening’s festivities. The dinner party breaks up, and everyone retires for the evening. The next morning, Pen is discovered dead in his bed.

Pen was not a young man, but he was not a particularly old man either. He was not in good health, but there are enough unanswered questions to warrant bringing in Inspector Reardon and Sergeant Gilmore. The family swears they didn’t hear any signs of a struggle, and that the doors were locked with nobody entering or leaving the house after the party broke up.

The search expands to the small village near Pen’s house. The Great War may have ended ten years before the events of this story, but its effects are almost tangible. Everyone seems profoundly affected; not only by Pen’s death, but also by their own life choices that led them to remain in their small village. Pen’s death serves as a catalyst for secrets to be revealed, but of course, the biggest secret is who hated the amicable Pen Llewellyn enough to kill him?

Heirs and Assigns started rather slowly, but I later realized that this is intentional. The introduction of characters (and there are quite a few) is a methodical process, and no detail should be considered unimportant. From the very beginning, we establish that anyone could be a suspect because everyone has a potential motive. The slow introduction is also indicative of the slow pace of village life. The world is changing around them, but there are only two telephones in the entire village.

I would recommend Heirs and Assigns. This wasn’t as funny or light as some of the other mystery series that I tend to gravitate towards, but this was a satisfying read. Family and loyalty are put to the test as a result of this shocking death. Eccles does a wonderful job of the ennui that the rest of the Llewellyns feel as they wait to see how the case unfolds. They are all suspects, and cannot return to their everyday lives until it has been proven that they are not involved in Pen’s death. I am looking forward to reading more country house mysteries from Marjorie Eccles.

Heirs and Assigns by Marjorie Eccles ****

Both my parents were alive during the year in which this story was set, children granted, but living nonetheless which makes it slightly hard for me when I see this identified as an historical novel! But that’s what it is!! Though as I was drawn into the narrative it became almost timeless. A tale of people and families, of reactions and interactions.

In so much of today’s novel writing, and not just the crime genre, there are so many attempts to be ‘clever’. A little like supermarket brands producing new improved, enriched this and that. I don’t mean to suggest that it’s a bad thing, there have been some incredibly creative and stimulating works produced. But sometimes it is wonderful to pick up and enjoy a straightforward, storytelling whodunit. And with this tale Marjorie Eccles has ‘dun’ it.

A slow, languorous sojourn in the Shropshire countryside in a sleepy little village that conjures Marple and Agatha Christie herself. Passages of descriptive narrative reveal the world we are entering. It’s the work of a writer confident in her own skin. It’s economic but with no lack of relevant detail and substance. And the herrings are pinkish rather than red.

It was a nice little spider’s web of characters and connections that unravelled predictably at times but surprisingly at others. Plenty to satisfy the reader who likes to second guess and be correct and the reader who likes to be thrown a complete curve ball.

The characters seem to fall into two quite distinct camps; those we like and those we don’t like and those we thought we liked until we didn’t like them!!! Sorry, that’s three camps!!! And they were well defined within the story.

This is not a page turner but I don’t think that was the intention of the writer. This is a pleasant, easy, satisfying read, one for the train or the beach maybe.

Whizz

Pen's 60th birthday is coming up but he has a family dinner ahead of that celebration so he can tell them he is planning to marry again. Not everyone is surprised but the majority of them are. And the majority that are thought they'd be inheriting from Pen. When Pen is found dead in bed in the morning, everyone thinks it was his heart. No, it was murder...

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published November 1st.

The police find that while it's a little town, gossip spreads fast. The most viable suspects are those who are in the will. That included almost everyone at the dinner. Some are more desperate than others but were they willing to kill for the money?

If that wasn't enough to keep them busy, they suddenly have another death. It's the bookseller in town. He sold collectible books to Pen. He also wasn't Pen's killer. So why would someone kill him?

Power and money and land ownership created tensions and fights within the family units. There are also personal problems. Trying to sort all this out is slow going for the police. It's not until there is one final death that they cotton to the cause of the trouble.

This was one that kept me in the dark as well as the police. I wouldn't have guessed this ending. I liked how Ms. Eccles tied up the pieces and even got two people who should be together finally there. This was a satisfying read.

In Shropshire, England, in 1928, wealthy Penrose Llewellyn invites his family and friends to his country manor for his 60th birthday celebration. Among them are Penrose’s sister and her daughter, Penrose’s younger brother and his wife, plus his seedy-looking youngest brother, who has shown up after an absence of 24 years. The family physician, Doctor Fairlie, is present, but there is also an uninvited guest, the housekeeper’s nephew, surreptitiously dining in the kitchen. All have their own axes to grind with Penrose.

After dinner, Penrose announces, to the astonishment of his guests, his engagement to Anna, a landscape architect. While most of the relatives are pondering the likely changes in Penrose’s will, the exhausted man is helped to bed by Fairlie. In the morning, Penrose is found dead. Although Fairlie signs the death certificate, Anna is not satisfied. When the autopsy shows indications of foul play, Detective Inspector Reardon and Sergeant Gilmour are called in to investigate. Despite their intense questioning, and the occurrence of another suspicious death, no one seems to be telling the whole truth. It will take the discovery of a buried skeleton of a dog to provide important clues.

Marjorie Eccles has introduced DI Reardon in this new mystery series remarkably well. It is not only set in the Downton Abbey period, but the writing captures the nuances and cultural peculiarities of that era superbly, particularly the language—which includes some delightful slang. Told in the style of a police procedural, the vivid narrative includes the background and idiosyncrasies of the large cast of characters. While engrossed in the murder mystery, we are transported to the post-WWI period, with its sights and sounds, and learn of its influence on the characters. The abundance of red herrings keeps us guessing the perpetrator up to the ending.

This review first appeared in the Historical Novels Review issue 74 (November 2015)

This is a fun English Manor House Mystery. The setting is a small village in England. The family of the owner of the Manor House have gathered at the house for a big announcement. Of course the head of the house is murdered. The not so local police arrive to solve the murder. I really liked the Inspector and he does a good job of interviewing the suspects and solving the crime. The setting and the characters are well drawn. There are lots of suspects and red herrings. The mystery was good with an elegant solution. I am looking forword to reading more in this series. If you enjoy traditional mysteries with a vintage feel you will enjoy this book.