Dead March for Penelope Blow

278 pages

4 stars

Mrs. Penelope Blow, recently widowed, lives in a house full of horrible people. When she falls out of an upstairs window, the local constabulary puts it down to an accidental fall. When Inspector Littlejohn arrives on the scene, he notices some discrepancies. He is not so sure that it was an accident.

The reader gets to meet some very colorful and interesting people in this story. As in all of Mr. Bellairs' books, there are moments of humor interspersed in the storyline. This is an old time mystery written with style and panache. I truly enjoy the Littlejohn books, and am always glad to see another come out in reprint. This was a time before forensics and all the technological gadgets that we have nowadays. These cases were solved with foot leather and superb interviewing techniques.

I want to thank NetGalley and Agora Books for forwarding to me a copy of this most delightful book for me to read, enjoy and review.

Inspector Littlejohn is one of my favourite literary characters and George Bellairs always writes him a good yarn. Great characters - many with wonderful names, strong convoluted stories and wonderfully colourful scenes. Good old fashioned policing and fascinating social history unwittingly written seventy years ago. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review an e-ARC of this book.

Dead March for Penelope Blow


My thanks to the publishers for an advance review copy of this book.

A sixty four year old spinster falls to her death while watering a window box of wilted daffodils. A well loved timid soul, she had just been brought back from London where she had made strenuous attempts to speak with Inspector Littlejohn, who was away from Scotland Yard and busy elsewhere as had been reported in the newspapers. She and then her sister’s doctors all suspect her sister is being poisoned. The dysfunctional Blows family in the Bank House are and have always been big in the little world of Nesbury and so provide a perfect setting for another entertaining George Bellairs murder mystery.

Inspector Littlejohn and the ever capable Cromwell are in their element here with a cast of below stairs characters who could have survived from the nineteenth century and old world banking practices with archaic dress codes a delight in themselves.

The early chapters show how much Bellairs admired George Simenon (his pen name pays homage to this) and something of the bleakness of the human condition comes through the writing in them. But we are soon in the more comforting world of cherubic aged clerics and small town religious minorities, laced with gargantuan meals of roast pork and suet pudding followed by fruit cake teas.

Our intrepid detectives nonetheless eliminate suspects in their customarily unhurried way and everything comes to a satisfying conclusion.

This is an enjoyable read and I am happy to recommend it.

In this book, Bellairs returns to a favourite setting and character type - the English town with the quite nasty local bigwig - or, in this case, bigwigs. There's something even more unpleasant than usual going on inside a family which still has some local clout, although the reader, if not the characters, can see that the postwar world is rapidly passing them by. Nevertheless, they are still trying to live as they always have, controlling everything and everyone around them with cruelty and bullying.

Inspector Littlejohn is away on important business when the story begins, and so doesn't receive the message left by the rather dithery old lady up from the country until he returns. By then, of course, matters have reached a crisis, but he is able to work around the local Chief Constable, and with the help of the local officers, and of course his invaluable sergeant, he solves the case.

As usual, Bellairs has produced a well-constructed and entertaining novel. The setting, always one of his strengths, vividly portrays England in the post-war period. In such a period of change, some of the things lost were of value - for example, the kind of service provided by an old-fashioned hotel is almost gone, replaced by immigrant labour, hired by a distant management company, probably to save money on wages. Although the power of the local elite, with their history of underpaying local labour, it also in a terminal decline, it is not quite gone.

All in all this is an enjoyable read for anyone who enjoys novels set in this period.

I always enjoy Bellairs, and more often than not I am able to solve for M before the denouement. Not this time, A lovely little string of twists and turns in the plot as clues were left along the trail sent me down various dead ends. There was a high tension in the first 2/3 or so of the book, and that kept me more on the alert than usual. Character development in this episode also proved more interesting as some surprising dimensions of key players came to light in repeated encounters. Recommend very much for fans of Littlejohn and Cromwell.

Originally published in 1951, this mystery is another in the Inspector Littlejohn series. These books are great reads for vintage mystery fans and anyone who enjoys intelligent writing, wonderful descriptions, and interesting characterizations.

Inspector Littlejohn is away at a trial when a troubled older lady calls in several times at Scotland Yard to see him. She leaves a note, but before Littlejohn can follow up, she dies in an odd accident. When he goes to talk to her family to try and figure out what happened, he finds a suspicious and disgruntled bunch of greedy and unpleasant people and a sad and sordid history. He and his assisting officer Cromwell spend some time nosing around and untangling the confusing stories.

George Bellairs writes well, and his narrative descriptions of the characters are entertaining, astute, and nicely written. Littlejohn himself is an appealing character. The book is nicely paced and there are some humorous scenes well incorporated in the story. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Penelope Blow tries for three days to contact Inspector Littlejohn at Scotland Yard, but he's away at a trial. After the third try, she leaves a message, and her nephew (actually cousin), Harold, comes to London to bring her home to Nesbury. Penelope is one of the Blow family who lives in the old bank building. Her father, William, had run the bank for many years, and had three daughters. One was dead, and the the third was Honoria still living in the home. Others living there are William's nephews, Harold, a lawyer, and Ralph (the current head of the bank), and Ralph's wife Lenore. Honoria has been sick and told Penelope she thought she was being poisoned. Penelope's suitor of many years before, Reverend Claplady, has been corresponding with her, and recommended Littlejohn.

When Penelope returns home, the doctors are ready to take Honoria to a nursing home, and while the men are discussing it, Lenore goes to help Honoria, and Penelope goes to water her daffodils and falls out the window. When Littlejohn gets home, he gets Penelope's message and goes to Nesbury only to find that Penelope had fallen out the window and died. The court called it an accident, but Littlejohn didn't think it was and convinces the local Inspector Paston to work with him.

The case is very complicated. Everyone seemed to have liked Penelope, although the men of the family didn't seem to respect her. Harold and Ralph Blow do not want the police to come into their house. Who was poisoning Honoria? There are a lot of secrets in the Blow family, including financial secrets which the police soon realize may have something to to with the murder of Penelope. Littlejohn interviews a lot of people, and gradually get more and more information about the Blow family and their finances, and their activities.

The plot is very clever, and the denouement is surprising. This is another excellent mystery about Inspector Littlejohn.

Bellairs’ books are always a pleasure to read. Dead March is delightfully atmospheric and a reminder of a more genteel past. And what a good mystery. Such a refined lady to have met such an unpleasant end. Did she know that she knew too much? A most enjoyable read enhanced by a discreet and never vulgar vocabulary.

George Bellairs is a neglected Golden Age mystery writer who deserves more attention. He is a gifted writer and I’ve enjoyed the over 20 Inspector Littlejohn novels I’ve read.

“Dead March for Penelope Blow” is a well-crafted police procedural set in a small town within an influential banking family. Inspector Littlejohn, ably assisted by Sergeant Cromwell, discovers the culprits of both murder and fraud. This novel is a little longer and has more twists and turns than the typical Littlejohn mystery and it kept me guessing until the end.

If you like well-written and well-plotted mysteries in a traditional vane, this one is for you. I found it both entertaining and satisfying.

Dead March for Penelope Blow by George Bellairs is number 18 in the Chief Inspector Littlejohn series.
A frail old lady (Penelope Blow) comes to Scotland Yard several times to speak to Inspector Littlejohn, but he is away on a murder case. She will not speak to anyone else. When Littlejohn returns he hears that Penelope Blow has died in a fall from an upstairs window. Littlejohn is not convinced it is an accident and begins investigating the matter. That is not an easy task. The Blow family denies him access to the house and he and Cromwell must seek help from the servants. A story of family secrets, madness, hatred and jealousy soon unravels.
As always it has been a joy and pleasure to read a Littlejohn mystery. It is a classic British detective story written with wit and interesting characters and settings. Well worth a read!

I got this book to review because I have joined Crime Classics Advanced Readers Club. Thanks - I enjoyed it very much.

You know you’re in for a good time with George Bellairs’ Littlejohn novels, and this book is no exception.

Miss Penelope Blow, an anxious elderly spinster and daughter of the famous Blow banking family, travels to Scotland Yard to see Littlejohn, but he is out of London. She leaves a message, returns home and promptly dies after falling out of a window, Was it an accident or was she pushed? And can Littlejohn find out what she was so desperate to talk to him about?

This is an enjoyable murder mystery with plenty of amusing characters and many plausible suspects. Highly recommended for Golden Age mystery fans.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Over the last 50 years I have read many "types" of Detective books. This one belongs the the type I enjoy best where the murder appears in the first few pages and the book is devoted to solving the crime. I also find this style of writing produces the I must finish this book, I will eat tea when I finish it and 4 hours later food forgotten you are still reading.It can be bedtime reading for the faint hearted as there are no pages of gory details of the injuries to the body just a nice gentle read.

I am not sure how this will be received by modern audiences who expect a fiercer type of murder but looking at the success of some TV and Film detectives there is still very much a market for village crime.and this book certainly transports the reader into a more genteel era but it also exposes the undercurrents and resentments that were found in small close knit communities. The twists and turns of the plot keeps the interest alive and it is only towards the end that you realise things may not be as they seem. In some of this style of book it is easy to guess the murderer early on and you read the whole book wondering how they did it not who did it..

I found George Bellairs books in the mid 1970's and have been a fan since then hunting copies down in used bookshops on my travels. Since I started selling books I have realised that George Bellairs is a sought after author and they are never in stock long.

So I enjoyed the book, would have no hesitation in stocking copies in a physical format and look forward to more of the same.

I am really on a Bellairs kick, so this turned up on NetGalley at just the right time for me. I don't always like sweet little old ladies getting murdered stories (I prefer my victims to be horrible people) but this is a nice twisty family and small town drama with plenty of suspects and obstacles. I enjoyed it.

A great book by the brilliant George Bellairs! His insight into human nature and behaviour is here at its best. In his years as a bank manager he must have seen people at their best and worst and have encountered every different type of human folly. His experiences were put to excellent use. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am greedy for more.

This was indeed a twisty tale about a dastardly murder! I was not able to figure out who did what to who until the very end. Inspector Littlejohn was up against all sorts of roadblocks but managed in the end to get the whole truth in this excellent story by one of my favorite authors! Also, as usual it was a treat to visit another fascinating village in the English countryside with many interesting characters. George Bellairs was a master of the English mystery.

Two spinster sisters, Penelope and Honoria Blow live with their unpleasant, controlling extended family in the small county town of Nesbury opposite the family owned bank.
Honoria confides in Penelope that she thinks she is being poisoned, but it is Penelope who meets her end falling from her bedroom window on returning from a thwarted mission to London to see the ever dependable Littlejohn of the Yard.

The sympathy in this story is very much with the put upon staff of bank and home who are bullied by the family but are pivotal to the police investigation, with the stubborn head of the household having forbidden entrance to Littlejohn on account of the local force’s verdict of accidental death.
The clever, twisting plot trots along nicely with many a pleasing red herring and a satisfying denouement at the end. I was sure I knew the guilty party but was wrong!

I have yet to read a George Bellairs book I have not enjoyed, and I have read quite a few now.
I would definitely recommend this for new and old fans alike.

I've read several of George Bellairs's Inspector Littlejohn books, but this is my favorite so far. Miss Penelope Blow, an elderly lady from a small town banking family, travels to London to seek Littlejohn's help. He is away and Miss Blow won't speak to anyone else at Scotland Yard. She is dragged away from London by one of her male cousins; and, once home, she immediately falls from a window and dies. Simultaneously, her sister Honoria is hospitalized on suspicion of being poisoned. So how is this funny? First, Littlejohn's interview with Mrs. Minshull, a Blow family servant, is conducted at her sister's crowded parlor accompanied by a veritable menagerie: a dog with puppies, a jealous cat, a canary, and a talking budgerigar (parakeet in U.S. English). They punctuate and interrupt the interview by growling, whining and spitting, with the parakeet repeatedly squawking "God Bless Winston Churchill." Second, Bellairs has a gift for dialects and for portraying simple folks attempting to put on upper-class airs and speech. Besides these humorous gems, there are plenty of suspects, red herrings, and secrets to keep a reader entertained. Will Littlejohn and his trusty assistant, Detective Sergeant Cromwell, get to the bottom of Miss Penelope's fall?

What is there to say about this book - written by George Bellairs - story of murder, intrigue and families - I just love this book. Written with a lighter hand than some of Bellairs mysteries, I found it both charming and sad in what human nature does to families. It is a murder mystery with lots of twists and turns and a satisfying ending. Could not put it down till the end

George Bellairs has quickly become one of my favorite writers. His characters are quirky and not always pleasant but add to the story. Penelope Blow is one of those books that remind me of what a wonderful story teller does for a plot. The gentle, timid Penelope who is quite insistent about seeing Inspector Littlejohn leaves her name but the information is never received. A murder occurs...

This books was first published in 1951. Bellairs is often referred to as having dark humor in his books but it is done with a dry twist. I always enjoy his books and I think you will too...