From Booklist
Murder and mayhem abound at an Edwardian house party in this debut installment of a promising new mystery series. Physically and spiritually wounded during the Boer War, an embittered Captain Harry Cartwright returns to England with neither a purpose nor any financial wherewithal. The impoverished younger son of a baron, he possesses the proper pedigree but no pocketbook. Through a series of coincidences, Harry becomes known as the sort of man who will "fix things"--if the price is right--for upper-crust clients embroiled in delicate situations. Engaged by the syphilitic marquis of Hedley to investigate a murder in his manor during a weekend of veiled sexual high jinks, he clashes with Lady Rose Summer, the disgraced suffragette daughter of a wealthy earl. The sparks fly as haughty Harry and headstrong Rose reluctantly join forces, creating a charming detective duo driven by both mutual intelligence and attraction. Fans of the author's Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries, written under the name M. C. Beaton, will welcome this new series of historical whodunits. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Fans of the author's Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries, written under the name M. C. Beaton, will welcome this new series of historical whodunits."-Booklist
"Old hand Chesney maintains her charm and sassiness while indicting evergreen pomposity and class-status stupidity."-Kirkus Reviews
"Combines history, romance, and intrigue resulting in a delightful romantic mystery...the who-done-it is well developed and captures reader interest from the outset."
--Midwest Book Review
"Tourists are advised to watch their backs in the bucolic villages where M.C. Beaton sets her sly British mysteries...outsiders always spell trouble for the inbred societies Beaton observes with such cynical humor."--The New York Times Book Review
"[Beaton's] imperfect heroine is an absolute gem!"--Publishers Weekly
"Beaton's Agatha Raisin series just about defines the British cozy."--Booklist
"Anyone interested in...intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin."-Atlanta Journal Constitution
"Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha."--Chicago Sun-Times
"Few things in life are more satisfying than to discover a brand new Agatha Raisin mystery."
--Tampa Tribune Times
"The Raisin series brings the cozy tradition back to life. God bless the Queen!"--Tulsa World
"The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshingly sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likable heroine...a must for cozy fans."-Booklist
Review
"Fans of the author's Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries, written under the name M. C. Beaton, will welcome this new series of historical whodunits."-Booklist
"Old hand Chesney maintains her charm and sassiness while indicting evergreen pomposity and class-status stupidity."-Kirkus Reviews
"Combines history, romance, and intrigue resulting in a delightful romantic mystery...the who-done-it is well developed and captures reader interest from the outset."
--Midwest Book Review
"Tourists are advised to watch their backs in the bucolic villages where M.C. Beaton sets her sly British mysteries...outsiders always spell trouble for the inbred societies Beaton observes with such cynical humor."--The New York Times Book Review
"[Beaton's] imperfect heroine is an absolute gem!"--Publishers Weekly
"Beaton's Agatha Raisin series just about defines the British cozy."--Booklist
"Anyone interested in...intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin."-Atlanta Journal Constitution
"Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha."--Chicago Sun-Times
"Few things in life are more satisfying than to discover a brand new Agatha Raisin mystery."
--Tampa Tribune Times
"The Raisin series brings the cozy tradition back to life. God bless the Queen!"--Tulsa World
"The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshingly sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likable heroine...a must for cozy fans."-Booklist
Snobbery with Violence FROM THE PUBLISHER
"When a marriage proposal appears imminent for the beautiful - if rebellious - Lady Rose Summer, her father wants to know if her suitor's intentions are honorable. He calls on Captain Harry Cathcart, the impoverished younger son of a baron, to do some intelligence work on the would-be fiance, Sir Geoffrey Blandon." "After his success in uncovering Geoffrey's dishonorable motives, Harry fashions a career out of "fixing" things for wealthy aristocrats. So when the Marquess of Hedley finds one of his guests dead at a lavish house party, he knows just the man to call." But when Harry is caught between his client's desire for discretion and his suspicion that murder may indeed have been committed, he enlists the help of Superintendent Kerridge of the Scotland Yard and Lady Rose, also a guest at Lord Hedley's.
FROM THE CRITICS
Booklist
Murder and mayhem abound at an Edwardian house party in this debut installment of a promising new mystery series.
Publishers Weekly
Marion Chesney (aka M.C. Beaton) launches a sparkling new Edwardian series with Snobbery with Violence. Fans of the author's Agatha Raisin and Hamish Hamilton series should welcome this tale of aristocrats, house parties, servants and murder. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
VOYA - Joanna Morrison 031230451X
Lady Rose Summer's wealth and beauty is not enough to overcome the stigma of her suffragette leanings in Edwardian society. When Sir Geoffrey Blandon seems interested, her father asks Captain Harry Cathcart, a respectable but disaffected veteran of the Boer War, to see if Sir Geoffrey intends to propose. Although not a detective, Captain Cathcart quickly finds Sir Geoffrey's intentions to be strictly dishonorable. This investigation begins a promising career for Captain Cathcart. Rose, somewhat unreasonably, blames the captain for her embarrassing experiences as the focus for rakes and roues, and he decides that although she is beautiful, she is a pill. Lady Rose accepts an invitation to a house party in order to reinstate her reputation, but she has scarcely arrived when a fellow guest is found dead of arsenic poisoning and Captain Cathcart is sent for in hopes of subduing the scandal. A maid subsequently disappears, and the captain, convinced that the guest was murdered, reluctantly joins forces with Lady Rose to prove it. Although neither approves of the other, it is clear that they are attracted, and much sparring ensues whilst detecting. The author, who also writes as M. C. Beaton, combines impeccable research with a sly sense of humor to create charming characters in an entertaining mystery that opens a window to the society of pre-World War I British life. Recommend this one to teens who love English historical fiction, including romances. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P S A/YA (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2004, St. Martin's, 256p., and pb. Ages 15 to Adult.
Library Journal
Capt. Harry Cathcart, youngest son of a baron, "fixes" awkward situations for members of the British aristocracy. When he investigates the background of a potential suitor for an earl's daughter, Cathcart proves the suitor to be a cad. In the process, though, the daughter suffers the social consequences of scandal-ostracism. Her parents send her to a "second chance" country-house party, where she's entangled in a murder mystery, which she and Cathcart solve together. This is a delightful costume melodrama, featuring wry humor and sleuthing protagonists with a pesky love/ hate relationship. An easy go for most mystery collections. Fans of Chesney's historical romances will enjoy as well. Under the pen name of M.C. Beaton, Chesney also writes the successful Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
What's an Edwardian lovely to do when potential swains consider her too outspoken for marriage but ripe for more salacious proposals? Lady Rose's papa turns to Captain Harry Cathcart, a discreet untangler of upper-class dilemmas, to protect his daughter from randy intentions, including those of the libidinous king, and the couple soon find themselves hobnobbing at Lord Hedley's house party, where along with his man Becket and her maid Daisy, they must endure upstairs/downstairs prejudices, monocle-popping and corset-tightening, farcical bed-swapping and door-slamming, and-dash it all-the death of Mary Gore-Desmond. Though Detective Superintendent Kerridge is instructed by his betters to close the case, calling it an accidental overdose of arsenic consumed for cosmetic purposes, the captain and the lovely, of course, disagree, and soon she's meeting with a villain in a tower overlooking the moat and he's saving her by diving into the moat, where the body of poor Colette, maid to another double-barreled lady, Miss Bryce-Cuddlestone, has been hidden. When the horses and hounds and heroes have had their fill of hunting, and the puckish author has had her fill of satirizing idlers, all will come right, with every indication that Captain Harry, Lady Rose, and their sidekicks will meet again for more danger and romance. Old hand Chesney (the School for Manners series and, as M.C. Beaton, the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mysteries) maintains her charm and sassiness while indicting evergreen pomposity and class-status stupidity.
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