This is a new author to me, brought back into print by Agora Books. It seems as though Hamilton was not a prolific mystery author, as Agora list her other titles as: The Two Hundred Ghost (1956), Death at One Blow (1957) and A Night to Die (1959). Her tales feature ‘crime-solving husband and wife duo, Sally and Johnny Heldar.’ Jamie Sturgeon was also able to provide me with further information on this writer and the Hamilton name was a pseudonym for Hester Denne Shepherd. According to Jamie she was born in 1920 in Dundee and went to St Hugh’s College, Oxford, where she studied modern languages. In War World Two she served in the wrens and after the war she worked in a London bookshop for a while. She died in 1995.

Hamilton’s time working in a bookshop makes its way into her stories, as her Johnny Heldar is an antiquarian bookseller, (with Commando experience), who lives with Sally and his three children, (plus a nanny), in Bloomsbury. One evening the couple are visited by Toby Lorn. He suffers from the effects of polio and Johnny was able to support in his time of need, when as a teenager he lost his father and brother, (the latter due to the war). He now works in the National Press Archive, which has been recently established. Toby wants Johnny to help him with a poison pen writer who seems to be targeting a colleague called Frank Morningside. The rude rhymes and pranks began small and were in juvenile taste, but the later epistles and poltergeist activity have become more destructive and unpalatable. Two days into the job and already Johnny has identified that more than one person has been involved in this literary attack and he decides to have a conference with Frank and two others in the know at Frank’s office on Wednesday evening. But you will probably have already guessed that by the time they arrive Frank is dead, the victim of a booby trap involving a heavy box of glass negatives…

Overall Thoughts

Although this is the second to last novel from Hamilton, the reader quickly finds their feet with her series characters. Interestingly in this story we get a reference to a dead body which was found in Johnny’s shop. Perhaps that is when the pair got involved in amateur detection? We are given an interesting array of suspects to consider in this mystery: a love rival, a fastidious spinster, a young reprobate, an ex-fiancée. The disappearance of certain files at the archives also adds to the case, as does the growing anxiety that someone close to the Heldars might be involved. Johnny and Sally work their way through the suspects methodically, providing the reader with plenty of data in alibis, criminal timetables and more. Consequently, I was quite taken back that Hamilton managed a very neat surprise at the denouement, which works very effectively and does not come across as far fetched or out of the blue. This is indeed a rarity.

Despite being told that Johnny and Sally are a crime sleuthing couple, I think it is advisable that readers go in with a slightly altered expectation. Namely that Johnny is the investigator and Sally is his able assistant. Whilst they equally divide surveillance work, Johnny has very firm lines dividing what Sally can and can’t do in an investigation. The narrative at one point says that, ‘Johnny seldom gave her orders, but when he did, she had no choice. If she disobeyed him, she would be left out of it next time.’ Moreover, he is far from pleased when Sally decides to tail a suspect off her own bat and ultimately this is an action she feels she needs to apologise for. In the main she is more of an encourager for Johnny, as well as a sounding board for his ideas, also taking part in some of his re-enactment experiments at home. However, it was a relief to see Sally adopt the principle of being honest with the police, believing that she ‘had got to freely’ communicate with them in order for the guilty to be found.

So all in all this was a pleasant introduction to the work of Henrietta Hamilton and I am interested to read more by her. Thankfully it seems Agora will be reprinting more by this writer as my copy includes a snippet from another title: Death at One Blow.

I would say more like 3.5 stars, but only because I pegged the killer very early on. I was also puzzled as to why the distribution of cigarettes was featured in every social situation. I realize that smoking was more common and acceptable, just found the repetitive mentions a little odd. The only other criticism I have is the mention of Johnny’s commando training several times, even though he was never in any situation where he used it. Show, don’t tell, or least tell once and let it lie.

For the positive, I really enjoyed reading it despite knowing who because I didn’t know why. I also found the characters to be quite likable. There are apparently a few books in the series before this one, but not having read them did not hamper any understanding or enjoyment of this one. I would gladly read the others if they became available.

Thank you to NetGalley and Agora Books for providing a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.

I had never heard of Henrietta Hamilton before being offered an ARC of Answer in the Negative in exchange for my honest review. The publisher, Agora Books, seems to make a business of re-issuing older British mysteries in e-book, and Answer in the Negative is one of these – the blurb indicates that it was originally published in 1959.

I tend to like the sort of mysteries where the detectives, whether amateur or official, work through a case, discovering clues, tracking down witnesses, trying out theories, dealing (perhaps) with additional corpses, and eventually figuring out whodunnit. Answer in the Negative is a nice example of this, and it kept me reading late into the night.

I also enjoyed the window into a time/period where the family antiquarian book business still left ample time for Johnny to do some amateur detecting, where Nanny took care of the kids so Sally also had ample time to do some amateur detecting, and where Sally and Johnny seemed to do the cooking together by choice rather than fighting over who had to do it. Although I’m not sure whether this time/period ever really existed as it’s portrayed, it sounds nice, at least! Sometimes older books can be a bit off-putting if their values and mores are too out of sync with today. Answer in the Negative avoided this though, and instead, at least to me, came off just as “gosh, wouldn’t this be nice”.

Along with a look at a different society, I also enjoyed a look at how photographs and newspaper clippings were handled in an era before computers came along. Overall, I am a big fan of historical mysteries, and really, Answer in the Negative turns out to be sort of an “unintentional” historical mystery, given that it was written more than six decades ago. So many of the same things I like about “normal” historical mysteries – the sense of a different time and place and society - were things I liked about this book.

All-in-all, I liked Answer in the Negative a lot and hope that Agora produces more e-books from Henrietta Hamilton titles. My thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. And also please keep in mind that I try to fight “star-inflation” a little bit. I reserve 5 stars for a very few of my most favorite books, ones I’m likely to read and reread time-and-again, and 4 stars is a great rating from me.

"Answer in the Negative"-I love punning titles, but this almost gives too much away- was first published in 1959 and features a married couple, Sally and Johnny Holder as amateur detectives. The plot is fairly straightforward, with a couple of murders associated with the fictional National Press Archives, a newspaper cuttings and picture agency.

The prose is flowing and easy, making for a very agreeable read. Henrietta Hamilton is a new name to me but I hope to read more of her output soon. I take it that Agora Books intend to publish more, as there is a taster of "Death at One Blow" given at the end of this volume.

Highly recommendable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Agora Books for the digital review copy

This is an enjoyable vintage mystery by an author that is totally new to me. I would characterize it as a cozy mystery with a lot of traditional touches. The plot is well thought out, and moves at a good pace, the characters are interesting and the somewhat unexpected ending was plausible. The husband and wife team of sleuths, Johnny and Sally Heldar, seem a bit unusual for the times. Although Johnny does seem to be the leader, Sally often acts on her own initiative. There is mention of Johnny preparing dinner and helping with the washing up. It seems to me that this must have been somewhat unusual 60 years ago.

Hamilton did a good job developing her characters. Each one was individual enough to keep them straight. In some cases you can almost picture them.

Detective methods have changed, but this book remains very readable. I hope that we will be seeing more books by this author.

Thank you to Agora books and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review.

Another worthwhile title from Agora Books, this time reproduced from the 1950s. Set in a Fleet Street archive, it provides an engaging insight into a pre-digital publishing and research world, dependent on both visual and oral recall. The focus is on detection, in this case, private detection by married couple Sally and Johnie. The police investigation progresses competently in the background and is accorded due respect by the author and our private sleuths.

We are given enough information about Sally and Johnie to want them to succeed and to empathise with their dilemmas. I didn’t develop the same sense of the other players, who we see largely through the eyes of Sally and Johnie. This was a bit of a limitation - they came and went a bit like minor players in a stage melodrama. Sally and Johnie are also sufficiently Middle Class to employ a nanny who keeps their children safely occupied and invisible for all but an hour or two a day. Sally appears to do all the cooking and there is presumably an invisible cleaner.

The plot was engaging and well-paced. The details of time and place could have been more succinctly presented, but I enjoyed following the logic and fact-checking. The husband-wife partnership is an interesting emerging perspective by the 1950s and, although there are inevitable attitudes of protection displayed, the partnership is more equal than most and the writing stands the test of time.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy - and I’m interested enough to look forward to reading more in this series.

I hadn’t heard of Henrietta Hamilton. Nor, it appears, have many people. Agora simply state “Henrietta Hamilton was an English writer known for her crime-solving husband-and-wife duo, Sally and Johnny Heldar. She was previously published by Hodder and Stoughton.” Julian Symons didn’t mention her in Bloody Murder. Martin Edwards is similarly silent in the Golden Age of Murder. However, Allen J. Hubin’s brilliant crimefictioniv.com tells us that Henrietta Hamilton was a pseudonym of Hester Denne Shepherd, 1920-1995. She published four novels between 1956-1959, all featuring a husband and wife team, Johnny and Sally Heldar. That’s all I can discover.

So kudos to Agora Books, then, for offering this novel by a little-known author, over sixty years after it was first published. Was it worth the wait?

Yes, I think so. Hamilton evokes a world that must have been disappearing even then, with Nanny looking after the children all day and Sally Heldar simply popping up to kiss the children good night. There are bombsites in Central London and characters’ war service is mentioned as they are introduced. There is the famous London smog. Everybody smokes. As I type this in 2020, even the typists have trodden the path of the dodo. However, I enjoyed this glimpse of a bygone world. And I did snigger at the name of the organisation: “Feelthee Peex” (Filthy Pics?!).

Although it wasn’t difficult to guess who the murderer was, the plot development was done nicely with a couple of interesting sub-plots centring on missing negatives and a possible IRA sympathiser. I’m not sure about the characters of the Heldars, though. Whilst they were pleasant enough, I felt they were almost cardboard cut-outs of a wholesome couple and they didn’t live in my imagination. I’d like to try another of Hamilton’s novels to see if they improve upon further acquaintance.

This is a very good classic crime story with amateur but excellent detectives.

Toby Lorn calls on his friends, Sally and Johnny Heldar to help. He works at the National Press Archives, and an archive assistant, Frank Morningside, is getting nasty letters and having tricks played on him. Someone has gotten the key to his office so they can leave the messages easily with no one seeing.

Sally and Johnny agree to help, and begin watching the office in the guise that they are doing research on the archives. They are being helped by Brigadier Camberley, who has been doing some research in the archives. When Morningside is found dead in the doorway of his office (from a box of glass negatives falling on his head), Scotland Yard is finally called. Chief Detective-Inspector Lindesay arrives on the scene. However, he lets Sally and Johnny continue to help. There are many suspects to watch - young Teddy, the errand boy who is somewhat unruly; Michael Knox, the hot tempered Irishman; Serena, Morningside's former fiance, the boss Silcutt, as well as possibly Toby, himself.

Then, Miss Quimper, the woman who was in charge of the negatives, is found in a bombed out cellar hole right across from the Archives building. Things get really dicey. They check everyone's alibis again and set up time tables, but are still stymied. Sally and Johnny have a meeting in their apartment, and suddenly they realize the killer is someone they never suspected, and figure out how and why.

Answer in the Negative by Henrietta Hamilton was a great read about a husband and wife sleuthing team in 1950's London. The plot moved swiftly, there were many intriguing suspects and the ending was satisfying. Besides the mystery, it was really interesting to get an insight into the way newspaper cuttings and photos were handled before computers and to get a peek into class warfare going on in Fleet Street

I hadn't hard of the author before so I was glad to rediscover a lost gem. I hope the publisher will republish some of her other works as I became quite fond of Sally and Johnny.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found the book a bit slow moving for my liking; however it is a good mystery from that era.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.