- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Avalon (February 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0786705159
- ISBN-13: 978-0786705153
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 15.9 x 2.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,523,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Kirkus Reviews
From the perspective of half a century later, Sarah Jane Fearing, the unwilling heiress of Fearing's Bank, tells the slender tale of how her beloved Uncle Frank, eager to pay off his many debts at the same time he accommodated the family frantic for a male heir, entered a bargain in 1893 to marry Mary Coverdale, impeccably pedigreed, coldly attractive, and professionally focused on reigning as chatelaine over Blakemere. The bargain turns into a disaster for everyone concerned when Frank and Mary's firstborn son turns out to be retarded; Frank and his family clash over whether Frank has fulfilled his promise to provide them with a male heir; and a ceremonious family conference erupts in what Sarah is convinced is a murder--followed by the disappearance of Frank (to Australia, so they say) and Mary (back to her older, and now wiser, family), and by the suspicious enrichment of potential witnesses. Robert Barnard, writing in his Bastable guise (Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart, 1996, etc.) adroitly uses his story to point a familiar moral about the poisoned alliance between self-regarding old British families and the money they demand to support themselves, though the moral turns out to have an extra point at the end. A miniature so exquisitely crafted that you almost forget it's really a Robert Barnard short story writ large. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Interesting characters, sharply observed social comedy. Not slam-bang action, but it rewards patience.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Mansion and Its Murder, Sep 24 2011
By David Lutz - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Mansion and Its Murder (Hardcover)
Since becoming a fan of Robert Barnard many years ago, I've read almost every book he published. Now I've begun to collect those works that he published under the pseudonym Bernard Bastable, which includes this book. If you are already a fan of Barnard, then I can highly recommend this book, but if you don't yet know his style, then please start with one of the Charlie Peace or Perry Trethowan series. This book is not as exciting as many of his other works, but what a style!
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