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annieb123's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted to my blog: Nonstop Reader.
The Morning After Death is the 16th (and final) novel in the Nigel Strangeways series by Nicholas Blake. Originally published in 1966, this reformat and re-release from Agora is 229 pages and available in ebook format (other editions available in other formats). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and many other Agora editions) are currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
I hadn't read the Strangeways series for many years until Agora reformatted and re-released them in electronic format and made them easy to find and access for a new generation of readers. The series was released from the 1930s to the 1960s and presents a capsule glimpse into social mores and culture of the time. This entry sees Strangeways visiting an old friend from Oxford at an Ivy League school near Boston (fictive Harvard) when a murder is uncovered and Nigel is dragged unwillingly into the fray to uncover a murderer and clear up a clever crime.
Nicholas Blake's amateur detective Strangeways stars in one of those classic civilized British series that I revisit again and again. I've reviewed a number of the books previously and they're always very entertaining. The situations are outlandish, the characters often caricatures, the dialogue is quippy, but despite all that, they're always fun to revisit. I'm honestly not sure if I had ever read this entry before, because I can't remember a Strangeways novel which wasn't set in Great Britain, but this one is a good addition with a cleverly plotted mystery, well written dialogue and finely rendered characters.
I would recommend this one to lovers of golden and silver age mysteries. There are some bits of dialogue and prose which do show their age, but all in all it's a well engineered and satisfying read. It works perfectly well as a standalone, they all do.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
The Morning After Death is the 16th (and final) novel in the Nigel Strangeways series by Nicholas Blake. Originally published in 1966, this reformat and re-release from Agora is 229 pages and available in ebook format (other editions available in other formats). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and many other Agora editions) are currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
I hadn't read the Strangeways series for many years until Agora reformatted and re-released them in electronic format and made them easy to find and access for a new generation of readers. The series was released from the 1930s to the 1960s and presents a capsule glimpse into social mores and culture of the time. This entry sees Strangeways visiting an old friend from Oxford at an Ivy League school near Boston (fictive Harvard) when a murder is uncovered and Nigel is dragged unwillingly into the fray to uncover a murderer and clear up a clever crime.
Nicholas Blake's amateur detective Strangeways stars in one of those classic civilized British series that I revisit again and again. I've reviewed a number of the books previously and they're always very entertaining. The situations are outlandish, the characters often caricatures, the dialogue is quippy, but despite all that, they're always fun to revisit. I'm honestly not sure if I had ever read this entry before, because I can't remember a Strangeways novel which wasn't set in Great Britain, but this one is a good addition with a cleverly plotted mystery, well written dialogue and finely rendered characters.
I would recommend this one to lovers of golden and silver age mysteries. There are some bits of dialogue and prose which do show their age, but all in all it's a well engineered and satisfying read. It works perfectly well as a standalone, they all do.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
bev_reads_mysteries's review
4.0
In the Morning After Death by Nicholas Blake, Nigel Strangeways has contacted an acquaintance from Oxford days who happens to be the Master of Hawthorne House at Cabot University for permission to come and do some research in the famous Ivy League library. Strangeways is welcomed at the American university and is introduced to a interesting cast of characters. There are the three brothers who are all professors of the university--Josiah (Classics), Chester (Business), and Mark (English) Ahlberg--who have brought their sibling rivalry with them. There is the graduate student John Tate--accused of plagiarizing some of of Josiah's work, but claiming that it's really the other way 'round. Tate's sister, Sukie, who is highly protective of her brother and who has been involved with more than one of the brothers Ahlberg. And then there's Charles Reilly, Irish poet and drunken, would-be rapist.
Strangeways swears that he has come to America for peace and quiet and thoughtful poetic research. All that goes by the wayside when Josiah Ahlberg is found shot to death and stuffed in on of the lockers on campus. Zeke Edwardes, Master of the House, requests that Strangeways use his investigative skills to assist the police and look out for Cabot University's interests. Nigel is reluctant to put his oar in--citing his unfamiliarity with US police procedures, but he can't resist when Sukie bats her eyes at him and begs for his help as well.
There are all sorts of motives--from the sibling squabbles that may have represented something far more dangerous to the possibility that Tate was looking for revenge on the man who blighted his career to the Irish poet hoping to keep his amorous adventures underwraps. Nigel must sift through false alibis and cover-ups in order to help the local police find the culprit--and even when they do, the motive isn't quite as clear as it would seem.
I always enjoy the Blake detective novels. He has quite a flair for dialogue--it's quite like watching a verbal tennis match at times. And the fact that "Blake" is a pseudonym for Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1968-1972, is very apparent in his lyrical style. The best of his books come with terrific descriptions and language as well as the good dialogue. He sets up a pretty twisty plot as well. Four stars.
This review is mine and was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting any portion. Thanks.
Strangeways swears that he has come to America for peace and quiet and thoughtful poetic research. All that goes by the wayside when Josiah Ahlberg is found shot to death and stuffed in on of the lockers on campus. Zeke Edwardes, Master of the House, requests that Strangeways use his investigative skills to assist the police and look out for Cabot University's interests. Nigel is reluctant to put his oar in--citing his unfamiliarity with US police procedures, but he can't resist when Sukie bats her eyes at him and begs for his help as well.
There are all sorts of motives--from the sibling squabbles that may have represented something far more dangerous to the possibility that Tate was looking for revenge on the man who blighted his career to the Irish poet hoping to keep his amorous adventures underwraps. Nigel must sift through false alibis and cover-ups in order to help the local police find the culprit--and even when they do, the motive isn't quite as clear as it would seem.
I always enjoy the Blake detective novels. He has quite a flair for dialogue--it's quite like watching a verbal tennis match at times. And the fact that "Blake" is a pseudonym for Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1968-1972, is very apparent in his lyrical style. The best of his books come with terrific descriptions and language as well as the good dialogue. He sets up a pretty twisty plot as well. Four stars.
This review is mine and was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting any portion. Thanks.
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