Mrs. Malory and the Delay of Execution

Rating:
Summary: Still Struggling
Review: Much as I've enjoyed the Mrs Malory stories as a series, the quality has fallen off badly in the last two books.

"Fatal Legacy" was most definitely the best of the series, with the author steadily gaining in style, pace and interest up to that point.

Then came "Lilies that Fester". I've already reviewed that book so I'll not go into it in detail other than to say it was abyssmal.

The next book, "Delay of Execution", marks something of a comeback, but it still isn't anything much to write home about.

The problems are, basically, in the areas highlighted by the reviewer from Seattle. The characters are thoroughly two dimensional - even Mrs Malory - and the plot is totally sequential with not a diversion or red herring in sight.

This is not to say that the identity of the murder is ever obvious - it isn't, not even to Mrs Malory - and far from our heroine detecting the motive and identity of the "executioner" that person simply owns up on the spur of the moment, even though they clearly are no longer under suspicion.

As a light read about the kind of politiking that goes on in an English private school the story reads smoothly and is mildly interesting. As a murder mystery, however, it is pretty weak, not least because the author never really engages our sympathy for either of the two women who die.

In each case there is considerable ambiguity about whether the death was an accident or a murder, but the ambiguity is never developed upon so as to create any real tension. Still, having said that, at just 212 pages this isn't exactly a major tome, and I personally found the plotting substantial enough to hold my attention for the limited amount of time it took me to read the book through to the end.

In short, the quality of the story telling is still a long way off the author's earlier standard, and whilst it's a pleasant enough time filler, I'd be wary of recommending it to anyone who isn't already a DEDICATED fan of Mrs Malory's adventures, and maybe not even then.

Rating:
Summary: don't waste your money on this one
Review: The only thing cozy about this book is the heat it will provide when burned in the fireplace after you get disgusted with the glacial pace, the two-dimensional characters, and the sheer dullness. I admit that I quit reading 3/4 of the way through, so maybe the excitement finally starts in the last quarter of the book. But I was so bored when I gave up that I didn't care who was murdered, who performed the murders, why the murders happened, or if the murderer was revealed. And I certainly didn't care what happened to the excessively shallow Mrs. Malory, her fellow lame instructors, or her perfectly unbelievable students. There's no one here with whom you can sympathize, nothing to catch you up, and very little to keep the pages turning. I only made it as far though the book as I did because I kept thinking there must be something worthwhile coming. If something worthwhile is in that last portion, it took far too long working its way into the story.

Rating:
Summary: don't waste your money on this one
Review: When seventh level schoolteacher Margaret Hood died from diabetic coma, the English chair at Blakeney, Laura Wilson, asks former Oxford pal Sheila Malory to teach the class. Reluctantly the renowned literary critic and writer Sheila agrees to teach the five brilliant female eighteen-year-olds as they prepare for their exams.

The students are easy to work with as they turn out even more intelligent and motivated than advertised. However, Sheila begins to see a dark picture of Margaret emerge from a variety of sources. Learning further that Margaret perished by not taking her insulin, Sheila notices discrepancies in the account making her wonder if the perfect decorum of her pupils hide something more sinister.

Fans of cozies will enjoy the insightful look at life at the sheltered Birmingham school, sort of a modern day urbanized Miss Read tale. The story line is rich in detail and the key cast members including Margaret are fully developed so that the audience understands their motives. However, the mystery is slow in coming though once Sheila begins having doubts about her predecessor's death, her investigation takes off. Fans of an insular cozy in which the who-done-it begins in the latter half of the novel will relish Hazel Holt's MRS. MALORY AND THE DELAY OF EXECUTION.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: insightful look at life at a sheltered school
Review: When seventh level schoolteacher Margaret Hood died from diabetic coma, the English chair at Blakeney, Laura Wilson, asks former Oxford pal Sheila Malory to teach the class. Reluctantly the renowned literary critic and writer Sheila agrees to teach the five brilliant female eighteen-year-olds as they prepare for their exams.

The students are easy to work with as they turn out even more intelligent and motivated than advertised. However, Sheila begins to see a dark picture of Margaret emerge from a variety of sources. Learning further that Margaret perished by not taking her insulin, Sheila notices discrepancies in the account making her wonder if the perfect decorum of her pupils hide something more sinister.

Fans of cozies will enjoy the insightful look at life at the sheltered Birmingham school, sort of a modern day urbanized Miss Read tale. The story line is rich in detail and the key cast members including Margaret are fully developed so that the audience understands their motives. However, the mystery is slow in coming though once Sheila begins having doubts about her predecessor's death, her investigation takes off. Fans of an insular cozy in which the who-done-it begins in the latter half of the novel will relish Hazel Holt's MRS. MALORY AND THE DELAY OF EXECUTION.

Harriet Klausner