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verityw's review against another edition
4.0
A clever locked room mystery that evolves into a mad chase. I really enjoyed it and hadn’t worked out the solution until very late on, but the ending is rather far fetched.
ssejig's review against another edition
3.0
I quite enjoyed Thirteen Guests and was excited when another Farjeon book came up on Edelweiss as an an ARC of the re-release of this book by Poison Pen Press. Thomas Hazeldean is back again to help solve a mystery when he is, conveniently in the right place to see a burglar tearing out of a house after discovering seven bodies in a room. There is a note that points towards a mass suicide but both the inspector and Hazeldean are suspicious.
The burglar is almost immediately cleared of suspicion but this is a case that will take Hazeldean across the sea. He’ll also get to meet a young girl who may or may not (probably not) have something to do with the deaths. Or maybe her uncle. Or perhaps even the truculent woman who owns the pension where the girl and her uncle fled to after a mysterious cricket ball was lobbed through the living room of their house. The same house where the bodies were found.
The ending was a bit... out of left field. 2/3 of the book was really good and the ending wasn't bad, just weird.
The burglar is almost immediately cleared of suspicion but this is a case that will take Hazeldean across the sea. He’ll also get to meet a young girl who may or may not (probably not) have something to do with the deaths. Or maybe her uncle. Or perhaps even the truculent woman who owns the pension where the girl and her uncle fled to after a mysterious cricket ball was lobbed through the living room of their house. The same house where the bodies were found.
The ending was a bit... out of left field. 2/3 of the book was really good and the ending wasn't bad, just weird.
annarella's review
4.0
A good book that stood the passing of time. Even if it was written in 1939 it is still very enjoyable. It has an unusual plot and it is quite different from the whodunnit of the Golden Age of Mystery. There are very interesting characters and it keeps guessing til the end.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Poison Press.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Poison Press.
abookishtype's review against another edition
2.0
One might think that the worst thing that could happen to a burglar would be getting caught. But, in J. Jefferson Farjeon’s Seven Dead (a rescued mystery from 1939), not only does the burglar get caught, he also gets caught fleeing the scene of a country house with a room full of dead bodies. From there, Inspector Kendell and journalist Ted Hazeldean take the case. Seven Dead has twist after twist; some these may strain credulity, so be warned...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book form the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book form the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
vesper1931's review against another edition
3.0
Ted Lyte illegally enters the remote Haven House only to be seen running from it not long after. Detective Inspector Kendall recruits a yachtsman/journalist Thomas Hazeldean, to help investigate the case of the seven bodies found inside the house.
An interesting and enjoyable mystery. My only irritation was with the character Dora Fenner, and occasionally the style of writing.
A NetGalley Book
An interesting and enjoyable mystery. My only irritation was with the character Dora Fenner, and occasionally the style of writing.
A NetGalley Book
chewdigestbooks's review against another edition
5.0
This was such a unique classic mystery that at times had me laughing, because of the foresightedness of the detective, his total willingness to accept a freelance reporter as a full partner in the search, and the general way they all got their parts of the story/crime and worked them out.
One of the unluckiest burglars I've ever come across breaks into a house only to find 7 people dead in the parlor. As he is running from the house like he's on fire, he runs into a freelance reporter that just happens to have docked his boat on the river nearby and they both go to the police. (The reporter trails him because how often do you see a shabby man running like their are ghosts after him, totally understandable.)
What's odd from there is that Detective Inspector Kendall almost takes on the reporter, Hazeldean as an investigative partner. Sure that happens in cop shows, but we're talking full partners here, like telling him everything and listening to his theories. DI Kendall also subtly sets Hazeldean up to do some of his investigating for him once he sees that the reporter is entranced by the portrait of a girl in another room. (It reminds me of the book/movie Laura.)
Hazeldean doesn't know it, but it is part of Kendall's plan to have him cross the channel in search of the girl, now woman, in the portrait to see what she knows. What he finds is more than he can handle though and eventually Kendall and the local police catch up to save his rear end.
The mystery itself is interesting and complicated, but it's really the wry humor and intelligence of human behavior of DI Kendall that did it for me in Seven Dead. Occasionally, the DI asks Hazeldean if he can trust him not to run to an editor before the mystery is solved and his answers, while not 100% yes, crack me up. Also, I wasn't aware that there were freelancers in 1939 when this was written.
This classic detective novel is a part of a group re-released by the British Library in the UK and Poisoned Pen Press here in the U.S. and I've loved all but one. They've aged well and there is something about the dry or witty British humor that just tickles me to no end.
If you love a good mystery, just about any in this series have been grand, so grab them before they disappear from print again!
One of the unluckiest burglars I've ever come across breaks into a house only to find 7 people dead in the parlor. As he is running from the house like he's on fire, he runs into a freelance reporter that just happens to have docked his boat on the river nearby and they both go to the police. (The reporter trails him because how often do you see a shabby man running like their are ghosts after him, totally understandable.)
What's odd from there is that Detective Inspector Kendall almost takes on the reporter, Hazeldean as an investigative partner. Sure that happens in cop shows, but we're talking full partners here, like telling him everything and listening to his theories. DI Kendall also subtly sets Hazeldean up to do some of his investigating for him once he sees that the reporter is entranced by the portrait of a girl in another room. (It reminds me of the book/movie Laura.)
Hazeldean doesn't know it, but it is part of Kendall's plan to have him cross the channel in search of the girl, now woman, in the portrait to see what she knows. What he finds is more than he can handle though and eventually Kendall and the local police catch up to save his rear end.
The mystery itself is interesting and complicated, but it's really the wry humor and intelligence of human behavior of DI Kendall that did it for me in Seven Dead. Occasionally, the DI asks Hazeldean if he can trust him not to run to an editor before the mystery is solved and his answers, while not 100% yes, crack me up. Also, I wasn't aware that there were freelancers in 1939 when this was written.
This classic detective novel is a part of a group re-released by the British Library in the UK and Poisoned Pen Press here in the U.S. and I've loved all but one. They've aged well and there is something about the dry or witty British humor that just tickles me to no end.
If you love a good mystery, just about any in this series have been grand, so grab them before they disappear from print again!
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