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debtat2's review against another edition
3.0
Nigel Strangeway's is back in another with another oddly worldy english detective novel.
Some wonderfully colourful characters set in a golden era of crime detection.
A great different take on a crime procedurals.
Some wonderfully colourful characters set in a golden era of crime detection.
A great different take on a crime procedurals.
deegee24's review against another edition
4.0
With his second Nigel Strangeways novel, Nicholas Blake (the pen name of poet Cecil Day Lewis) matured into one of the best mystery writers of the so-called Golden Age. Though Shell of Death takes up many of the conventions of the genre, such as the gathering of all the suspects into a country manor house, and makes them sing due to the strength of characterization and dialogue. You find yourself engrossed in the human relationships as much if not more than the working out of the solution of the crime. That's not to say that the mystery itself is an afterthought--it is an elaborate con but one that is carefully revealed and just plausible enough to suspend your disbelief. What's more, Nigel S. is a great character. Supposedly based on CDL's friend W. H. Auden, Nigel bears some resemblance to eccentric amateur sleuths such as Lord Peter Wimsey and Hercule Poirot, but his speech and behavior are rendered in a more realistic, closely observed manner so he doesn't come across as an awkward caricature.
annieb123's review against another edition
5.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Thou Shell of Death is a re-release of the second book in the Nigel Strangeways mystery series by Nicholas Blake. Originally published in 1936, this reformatting by Agora books is 266 pages and available in ebook format. Earlier editions are available in other formats. Fun factoid: the author, Nicholas Blake, was the pseudonym of Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureat and father of multiple academy award winner Daniel Day-Lewis.
I've mentioned multiple times that my favorite genre is mystery and especially English country house mystery. This is a superlative example of the craft and art. There's a limited pool of suspects, an 'impossible' crime, a clever and sophisticated semi-professional sleuth and a country stately home murder mystery.
I really enjoyed the characterizations; the house party members really live and breathe and have motivations. The dialogue is beautifully written and never once feels clunky or mechanical. I will say that the book was written in interwar period between WW1 and 2 and does show it in the assumption of cultural familiarity with some language and attitudes. It's laced with unexplained Latin phrases (used very reasonably in context by a schoolmaster). The meanings are self explanatory in the dialogue so it shouldn't detract for modern readers.
It's a wonderful thing to sit inside with a glass of wine on one side, a fireplace on the other side and enjoy a classic book whilst watching snow fall outside the windows. The ritual of reading and relaxing this book filled me with joy. It might have colored my perceptions to a very small degree, but I don't think so. This is a solidly good book. The denouement was really cleverly done.
It's possibly worth noting that (most of) the series is available to download and read for free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. I recommend buying them instead. They're worth it.
Classic. Good stuff!
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Thou Shell of Death is a re-release of the second book in the Nigel Strangeways mystery series by Nicholas Blake. Originally published in 1936, this reformatting by Agora books is 266 pages and available in ebook format. Earlier editions are available in other formats. Fun factoid: the author, Nicholas Blake, was the pseudonym of Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureat and father of multiple academy award winner Daniel Day-Lewis.
I've mentioned multiple times that my favorite genre is mystery and especially English country house mystery. This is a superlative example of the craft and art. There's a limited pool of suspects, an 'impossible' crime, a clever and sophisticated semi-professional sleuth and a country stately home murder mystery.
I really enjoyed the characterizations; the house party members really live and breathe and have motivations. The dialogue is beautifully written and never once feels clunky or mechanical. I will say that the book was written in interwar period between WW1 and 2 and does show it in the assumption of cultural familiarity with some language and attitudes. It's laced with unexplained Latin phrases (used very reasonably in context by a schoolmaster). The meanings are self explanatory in the dialogue so it shouldn't detract for modern readers.
It's a wonderful thing to sit inside with a glass of wine on one side, a fireplace on the other side and enjoy a classic book whilst watching snow fall outside the windows. The ritual of reading and relaxing this book filled me with joy. It might have colored my perceptions to a very small degree, but I don't think so. This is a solidly good book. The denouement was really cleverly done.
It's possibly worth noting that (most of) the series is available to download and read for free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. I recommend buying them instead. They're worth it.
Classic. Good stuff!
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
quietjenn's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this one much more than the first Nigel Strangeways - enough to keep going with the series. Although still maybe a little long?
wirsindgefangene's review against another edition
2.0
Ich habe auf netgalley.de ein Rezensionsexemplar erhalten. Dafür bin ich sehr dankbar, allerdings muss ich leider zugeben, dass mir das Buch überhaupt nicht gefallen hat.
Es hat nicht einmal 300 Seiten und trotzdem habe ich fast einen Monat gebraucht, um es zu beenden.
Ich hatte zu spät entdeckt, dass es sich um die Neuauflage eines Romans aus 1936 handelt, sonst hätte ich es wohl nicht angefragt. Es ist halt sehr altmodisch, was mir persönlich nicht zusagt.
Ich könnte mir allerdings vorstellen, dass der Krimi für Agatha Christie Fans geeignet sein könnte, da mich das Werk von Nicholas Blake immer wieder daran erinnert hat. Ich kann, wie gesagt, mit beiden Autoren nicht viel anfangen..
Schade.
Es hat nicht einmal 300 Seiten und trotzdem habe ich fast einen Monat gebraucht, um es zu beenden.
Ich hatte zu spät entdeckt, dass es sich um die Neuauflage eines Romans aus 1936 handelt, sonst hätte ich es wohl nicht angefragt. Es ist halt sehr altmodisch, was mir persönlich nicht zusagt.
Ich könnte mir allerdings vorstellen, dass der Krimi für Agatha Christie Fans geeignet sein könnte, da mich das Werk von Nicholas Blake immer wieder daran erinnert hat. Ich kann, wie gesagt, mit beiden Autoren nicht viel anfangen..
Schade.
vsbedford's review against another edition
2.0
A promising beginning descends into ridiculous, frustrating madness, endless padding of the narrative that comes off like page watching, and coincidence based flim-flam Also, Nigel Strangeways seems an awful prig in this outing. Of the few novels in the series that I've read, this one is the least successful. No, thank you.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
cmbohn's review against another edition
4.0
My friend Nancy has been reading some Nicholas Blake and after reading her review, I decided to see what my library has of his books. I found an anthology with three books: Thou Shell of Death, The Beast Must Die, and The Corpse in the Snowman.
The first one, Thou Shell of Death, features regular Blake sleuth and private investigator Nigel Strangeways. A famous aviator has been receiving death threats and wants a detective on hand to try to catch the killer during a Christmas dinner party. But come the 26th, Nigel finds the aviator dead in a shed, with only a single set of footprints leading to the building. Suicide? Or murder?
Blake throws in plenty of clues and red herrings, giving the reader a fair chance to figure it out, but I have to admit I got it wrong until last quarter of the book, and even then, there were several twists I didn't anticipate. Overall, a very fun read that has me looking forward to other two books in this collection.
The first one, Thou Shell of Death, features regular Blake sleuth and private investigator Nigel Strangeways. A famous aviator has been receiving death threats and wants a detective on hand to try to catch the killer during a Christmas dinner party. But come the 26th, Nigel finds the aviator dead in a shed, with only a single set of footprints leading to the building. Suicide? Or murder?
Blake throws in plenty of clues and red herrings, giving the reader a fair chance to figure it out, but I have to admit I got it wrong until last quarter of the book, and even then, there were several twists I didn't anticipate. Overall, a very fun read that has me looking forward to other two books in this collection.
rachelmacdonald's review against another edition
3.0
Really enjoyable mystery set in the 1930s at Christmas, by the poet C Day Lewis.