The Hangman's Row Enquiry [Mass Market Paperback]

For years cantankerous spinster Ivy Beasley ruled the English village of Round Ringford with a nurturing iron first. The townsfolk respected her, but did not care about her. When her cousin Deirdre asks her to move near her, Ivy agrees and relocates in the assisted living community Springfields in Barrington.

Still filed with vinegar and energy, Ivy needs something to occupy her time. She thinks she may have found just the thing when she meets Augustus "Gus" Halfhide at church. He has recently moved here and seeks something to excite his time too. They along with Deirdre open up an investigative agency. Their first case they choose as it interests them involves the death of a woman in one of the cottages on Hangman's Row. The cottage belongs to Theodore Russell whose ancestors once owned most of the village, but he became a recluse who used an agent Miss Bailey to conduct his affairs.

Ann Purser provides a delightful spin-off from her Lois Meade mysteries starring former series support player the silver haired crabby Ivy, her cousin, and their new friend. Fans will enjoy the dynamic trio as they investigate the murder of Gus' neighbor with zest and vim as they display energy that a person half their age will admire. With Gus adding enigmatic denouements, Deirdre a bit of fear, and Ivy vinegar of course, fans of the Meade English cozies will want to read this senior citizen murderer investigation.

Harriet Klausner

I really enjoyed this book, though I did feel the plot meandered and was basically of little importance. I mean, what did the murdered lady mean to any of the sleuths, really?
But the gathering of these characters was good reading and I liked them all. Especially Roy, the 86 year old who is as lively as any of them. A fun read, and I look forward to more because I would like to keep up my acquaintance with the four in 'Enquire Within'....their village, the retirement home, the background on Gus, Deirdre's romantic future, Roy's crush on Ivy, etc.
A couple of things bothered me; the police were nowhere in the investigation and this seemed unrealistic. Even Miss Marple has her consults with detectives. And the investigation took weeks when in reality, the police would have been all over this murder to wrap it up fast. Maybe if there had been some doubt about it being murder, or if one of the sleuths got personally involved with the corpse or suspects--something to tie them to the need to investigate. If they are for hire, good. But in this they decided not to let anyone know they were investigating, yet people did...and even knew the name 'Enquire Within'.
Still, I really look forward to the next installment. Love her Lois Meade books...and am also awaiting #3 in the second series.

...awaits the discerning readers of this book. Not since "Cold Mountain" have I been so furious at the ending of a book. Well, "furious" was my reaction to "Cold Mountain" because up until the last page I felt I was in the presence of great literature. This book is not great literature by any stretch of the imagination; but that's quite all right because it does not pretend to be. This is a modern day English cozy murder mystery with a cast of characters mostly from the 45 to 85 age range. It had a mundane murder with no real satisfactory motive, but the characters were interesting. It started slowly, but picked up steam and piqued my interest by page 50, so I stayed with it - all the way to its penultimate page wherein I was robbed of a satisfactory conclusion. It is that robbery, in fact one word - "appeared" - that disquieted me, that compelled me to read, re-read, and read for a third time the offending sentence on the page.

***Spoiler Alert*** The murderer and accomplice have been discovered, apprehended and jailed. The accomplice is sitting in his/her cell deciding that the best thing to do is tell the authorities the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Perhaps the court will choose to be lenient. Quoting now, from the book: "'Now then,' said a harsh voice, the door opened with a crash. 'You've not drunk your tea, I see. You must do better with this nice cod and chips. Shall I get you another mug of tea?' -- 'Yes, please," ----- said, and realized it was the first time (he/she) had spoken since answering to (his/her) name and details in the court."

We go on for another half page while the accomplice eats and enjoys the meal. Then, feeling drowsy, the accomplice decides to lie down for a while. Quoting again from the book: "When they came in to collect (his/her) plate, (he/she) appeared to be fast asleep."

So, because of that word "appeared" we must assume that the accomplice is dead. If the accomplice is dead, then he/she died of natural causes or was deliberately murdered by the "harsh voice" that brought the (probably poisoned) food. Since this is a mystery, it would ludicrous to assume that this character died of natural causes without the author telling us specifically that such was the case. It must therefore be that this character was put out of the way by a third, still unknown, character whose identity and motive are yet to be discovered. And that, dear friends, is a cheap shot. It's a blatant attempt to try to sell the next book before it's even been written. "Oh me, oh my, there a murderer still on the loose! Whatever shall we do?" To which my reply is, "Put this book back on the shelf from whence it came and solemnly vow that never again will you read anything written by this cheat masquerading as an author."

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