A Brush with Death: Sheila Pim

 

Between 1945 and 1952, Sheila Pim, an Irish crime novelist and horticulturist, published four mysteries set in Ireland and with a focus on gardening. A Brush with Death was the third of those mystery novels, published in 1950.

The story involves two families. Paul and Hester Fennelly and their daughter Barbara live in Dublin. Hester's brother, Fergus Gandon, is a well-known artist who lives in an isolated rural area with his wife, Nell, and their three young children. They live in the Dower House of Castle Kiskour, and act as caretakers for Lord Kiskour when he is away, which is much of the time.

The first thing that happens in A Brush with Death is that Hester Fennelly gets a letter from Fergus, with whom she has had very little contact for the last 10 years. He asks her if he can come and stay with her and her family while he recovers from the aftereffects of arsenic poisoning. He suspects that someone may be trying to poison him deliberately, and wants to isolate himself for a while. Hester agrees to his visit, after discussions with her husband and their doctor, who is a family friend. 

Per the summary on the back of my copy of this book, Fergus "quickly installs himself  as the Irish version of The Man Who Came to Dinner, much to the dismay of Hester's husband, Paul." That is a perfect description of events that follow. With his "irascible" behavior and argumentativeness, he alienates some of the servants and disrupts the family.

The possibility of deliberate poisoning has not been raised with the police because the doctor who is treating Fergus thinks it is possible that the poisoning is accidental. Both Fergus and his wife are very reluctant to get the police involved. Why?

My thoughts on Sheila Pim's mysteries in general

• The  four mysteries written by Sheila Pim are grouped on Goodreads as The Irish Gardening Mystery Series. So they may be considered a series, but I don't think that they share any characters. At first I was disappointed, since I liked the characters in the first book a lot. 
• When I first heard about this series, I was interested more in the focus on gardening than the Irish setting. However, I have to say that this book describes Ireland in the post-war years very well. The primary setting is in Dublin, but some of the characters live in a small isolated village, on the grounds of a castle, so the reader gets a broad picture of Ireland. In Common or Garden Crime, the first book in the series, the setting in Ireland during the war was very interesting, since Ireland was neutral during World War II. I liked especially that the author was writing the story based on her own experiences at the time. In that book the war is referred to as the Emergency and many items were restricted.

Thoughts on this book in particular

• This story starts out a bit slow; most of the first 30 pages (maybe more) is just dialogue and I was not impressed. But once the police get involved (around page 50 of a 150 page novel), events move faster and the story and the characters get more interesting. Along the way, the reader learns more about all of the characters, about their way of life, and why they do the things they do. 
• There is a good deal of humor; gentle, subtle humor for the most part. Some of the characters are quirky and entertaining. Fergus has a general factotum at the Dower House who is an ex-convict, and very proud of his trusted position in the family. Even the meetings of the police in Dublin with the police in the area where Fergus lives have plenty of humor, even though they are very serious about solving the crime, once they decide for sure that if it is a crime.  
• The two books that I have read both have gardening aspects but the first book was focused on garden club members in a small village. This one has more emphasis on art, artists, and the galleries that sell the art. Gardening and producing plants for food definitely comes into this one also, and it was all very interesting. Lord Kilskour, Fergus Gandon's landlord, carries on a lengthy discussion on the importance of organic farming (in 1950!), which is tangentially related to the arsenic poisoning plot.

These other reviews of this book provide more detail:

• At crossexaminingcrime
• At Clothes in Books
• At Peggy's Porch

Common or Garden Crime: Sheila Pim

 

This is the perfect book for me. A beautiful skull on the cover, the theme related to gardening, published in 1945 and set in 1943 in Ireland. It is a very cozy mystery and I enjoyed it very much. I like the characters and the village setting, and the story was told with subtle humor.

On the cover of Rue Morgue Press edition that I have, the book is described as "An Irish village gardening mystery set during World War II."  A lot of the action in the book centers around a flower show that all the characters are involved with in some way. The setting is a village called Clonmeen, situated on the outskirts of Dublin. 

There is, of course, a murder... and the protagonist, Lucy Bex, is instrumental in finding the solution to the crime, but the mystery plot does not have as much prominence as in most mysteries. That did not bother me but it could be considered a negative for some.

The setting in Ireland during the war was very interesting, since Ireland was neutral during World War II. I liked especially that the author was writing the story based on her own experiences at the time. In this book the war is referred to as the Emergency and many items were restricted. Lucy's nephew was an officer in the British military and comes home to stay with Lucy when he is on leave. 

I mention that this is the first book in a series. Sheila Pim's four mystery novels are referred to as of the Irish Gardening Mystery series both on Fantastic Fiction and Goodreads, but it appears that each book really works as a standalone and the cast of characters is different in each. They mainly share the Irish setting and the theme of gardening.

I rediscovered this book (and others in the series) when I saw a post at Moira's Clothes in Books blog. I had seen reviews years before but it had slipped my mind. Moira's post sent me immediately to investigate how to get copies of the books. I bought the first three books in the Irish Gardening Mystery series before I even read the first one. (That might have been because of the skulls on the covers.) 

Other reviews for this book: 

• At Furrowed Middlebrow
• At Clothes in Books
• At Dead Yesterday
• At Happiness is a Book

Below is the cover of the first hardcover edition of Common or Garden Crime. It is lovely, and also features a skull.

The 76th Annual Santa Barbara International Orchid Show

 

On Friday, March 8th, we attended the 76th annual Santa Barbara International Orchid Show.  It was a fantastic photography opportunity and most visitors were taking photos as they visited the exhibits. The show is extremely popular but we hoped that Friday would be less crowded. My husband and I and our son all took pictures and I included some of my favorites in this post. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

From the website:

The Santa Barbara International Orchid Show is one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious orchid shows in the United States, reflecting the rich agricultural and orchid-growing history of Santa Barbara County. Visitors from all over the world return each March to delight in our grand orchid displays installed by local, national and international artisans and orchid enthusiasts. Exhibits of orchid art, photography and floral arrangements, in addition to a comprehensive workshop and demonstration schedule, provide visitors with a rich and unique orchid experience.

 

Plants and Animals at the Plant Nursery

Last week we made our second visit to the plant nursery this year. I have been trying not to overbuy, so as not to put too much pressure on myself to get things planted while I am still working on cleaning up the yard. But we always enjoy looking at what they have and my husband takes photos. This visit it was overcast, the lighting was perfect and he got some great shots.

 

This was the first time that we saw this cat and the chickens.

 

                      

                                      Note:  Click on an image for best viewing quality.

Visits to the Plant Nursery

In the last few weeks we have felt safe enough to go out to our favorite plant nursery. The shop had been open as an essential business from the beginning but we were not ready to go out beyond the grocery store before.

Colorful tomato cages

We have been to the nursery three times to get plants and potting soil for our small, neglected back yard, and each time it has been a good experience. Everyone is wearing masks and social distancing. The parking lot is tiny but people come and go and we had no problem getting a parking space.

I am sharing a few of the photos my husband took at those visits.

On the first trip we left the nursery with geraniums, dusty miller, and succulents and large bags of potting soil. We have since added verbena bonariensis, agastache, yarrow, cuphea, and begonias. And many more succulents.