Rachel Buckmaster returns to her small midwestern hometown, Coreyville, from Chicago when her brother, Hartley, calls to tell her that Rose Henshaw, the housekeeper who had lived with them for decades, has died from a fall on the stairs to the cellar. They both hated the housekeeper and their father, now deceased, insisted that she could live in their house until her death. Now they can sell the house and use the money to pay for Hartley's college education. The death is initially considered an accident, but the housekeeper's sister won't accept this. Eventually Hartley is arrested for the murder of the housekeeper.
The story focuses as much on the relationship of two families in Coreyville as on the crime and the investigation. Bix Bovard, a 16-year-old girl, and her father and mother live near the Buckmasters. Hugh Bovard, the local newspaper editor, was a close friend of the Buckmaster's father. His wife, Althea, has never recovered from the death of their son, years earlier. Bix and Hartley are very close and spend a lot of time together. The story has a dark ending, but it is not a depressing story.
My thoughts:
This was Jean Potts' first novel, and she was awarded the Best First Novel Edgar from the Mystery Writers of America for it. It is the only one of her books that I have read so far, but I will be reading more of them.
The characterization was exceptional. It was the younger female characters who pursued the search for the real murderer, Rachel and her young neighbor Bix. Bix is clearly the person most upset by Hartley's arrest.
There is a romance between Rachel and the doctor who took over her father's medical practice, which I would usually consider a distraction. But I liked the way it was handled. Neither of the characters will admit to themselves that there is any attraction between them.
The author was successful at convincing me that anyone could be guilty of the crime. On the other hand, I had pretty much eliminated the person who did it, and was totally surprised at the ending. It was shocking and very well done.
Because two characters use the phrase "go, lovely rose" when talking about the victim, I looked into the source of the title. I assume it was based on Edmund Waller's poem of the same name.
The first few lines are:
Go, lovely rose!
Tell her that wastes her time and me,
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.
John Norris wrote the introduction to the Stark House reprint edition, which also included The Evil Wish, first published in 1962. In fact, my biggest motive for buying the Stark House edition of the book was for John's introduction.
This is the second book I read for the 1954 Club, hosted by Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings.
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Publisher: Stark House, 2019 (orig. publ. 1954)
Length: 152 pages
Format: Trade paperback
Setting: Midwestern small town, US
Genre: Mystery
Source: On my TBR piles since 2019.
25 comments:
I read this a while back and don't seem to have blogged on it: she was a very clever author I think, I really like those of hers I have read, though they are quite dark. I like that she creates memorable characters and keeps the books short. I think John Norris has done a lot to champion her. I must read more of her books.
I can see how this would keep your attention, Tracy. I think for a suspense novel like this, the characterization is especially important, and it sounds as though she got that right here. I need to explore her work.
Moira, I did see that you had reviewed a couple of her books. In one of your reviews you said she was a bit like Margaret Millar and a bit like Helen McCloy. I agree on Margaret Millar but I haven't read Helen McCloy, at least not in the last 3 decades. So I will have to do that and see what I think.
I am eager to read more by Jean Potts to see what her other novels are like.
Love the sound of this one! I'll have to see if I can get a copy of it. :)
You are right about the characters, Margot. If you don't have convincing characters in a suspense novel, it is hard to take it seriously. No wonder Rachel had moved away to Chicago, to escape. Yes, you need to try this author.
Lark, I hope you do manage to find a copy of this one or another one of her books. I had been reading reviews of her books for several years and am glad I finally tried one. And glad that some of her books have new reprints so that they are more easily available.
I've only read The Diehard by Potts which was published in 1956, I really enjoyed that one and intended to read more by the author but haven't got around to it - yet.
Katrina, besides The Evil Wish that was published with this book, I have two others in a Stark House edition -- Home is the Prisoner and The Little Lie. It has been hard to motivate myself to read more serious books in the last two years, but though this was dark, it wasn't sad or depressing, so I hope to read more of her books soon. I like these books set in the 1950s, and read three other books set in other years of that decade recently.
I absolutely love the sound of this and the fact that it's set in the mid-west is an added attraction to me as I like books set out of the big cities. Will check it out.
So glad you liked it Tracy because I find the author very compelling.. However, I do find her books very tragic too and in this one I really wish they had not investigated so deeply.
Sounds great! Yet another author I've never heard of who obviously deserves a place on my reading list - could you please stop adding to my TBR? ;)
Cath, the small town aspects made it particularly believable for me. And I have not read a lots set in the mid-west. My husband was born and raised in Ohio and that state is considered midwestern, although it is on the east of that section. (He was in Dayton, which was a largish city.) I want to read more books set in all of those states.
Neeru, I checked your blog and see that you have reviewed at least five of her novels, including this one. I will check out your reviews. I will definitely have to space out my reading of these due to the darker topics, but I am glad to see she has so many novels available to read. And they are a good length for me.
Oh, now I didn't realise that Ohio was considered a midwestern state, so that means I've been to the midwest. We stayed with friends who live near Columbus and on one day trip we crossed into Indiana so that means we've definitely been to the 'midwest'. I'm not sure why but that pleases me a great deal! I've read a few books for my US states challenge that were set in the midwest but not that many.
FictionFan, this author does deserve a place on your reading list. But I don't feel guilty about adding books to your TBR because you have added so many to my wish list.
Cath, Glen never considered himself a midwesterner. He tells me Ohio has beautiful scenery, and also Indiana. So probably they are not as dry as the more western states in that section. To me, the ways they have defined sections of the US is very strange. I remember reading a couple of mysteries set in South Dakota, some in Michigan and Illinois.
How interesting that Glen never considered himself a midwestener. I did wonder as it's pretty close to the more eastern states of the USA. Yes, I can confirm that Ohio is very pretty. :-) We went down to the Zanesville area to see an outdoor performance of Tecumsah and we were bowled over by how gorgeous it was there. We also drove up to Lake Erie for a couple of days and stayed at Port Clinton, wonderful. I liked Ohio a *lot*.
I was a bit put off when you mentioned that it was dark, but you won me round and it sounds fantastic. Love a surprising and satisfying ending to a novel!
Simon, it is interesting and hard to describe. There are some very dark elements, but overall the tone is not dark and the ending resolves some of the issues. I am sure each reader reacts in a different way.
Cath, your visit to Ohio sounds lovely. I would have loved to have seen any of the Great Lakes. We never have been big travelers, did not like to fly, and did not have time (or money) for longer trips when we were younger. And all of his family had moved to California, so no close family to visit.
I am going to have to look harder for mysteries set in that area.
If Ohio isn’t midwe, what would it be?? It’s certainly not East, or West, nor South.
Rick, Glen thought of Ohio as Eastern, and he lived there until he was 21 or 22. I always considered it Eastern, but I never thought about it until I met Glen in California. Alabama is often called a southeastern state, but Ohio is further east than Alabama. I have no idea where the definitions for regions of the US came from, though. Some maps show Texas as part of "The South". Others divide up the southern portion into Southwest and Southeast.
Sounds good. Not an author I have ever heard of before.
I have read reviews of Jean Potts' books in the last couple of years, Col, but she was new to me too. I was surprised at how many books she had written.
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