Murder by Death

I would never have given this book another glance had it not been for the fabulous cover on this re-release edition (also, it was on sale).  I'd never heard of Angela Thirkell and didn't know at first if it was someone currently writing historical fiction, or if it was the work of the era in which it took place.  After doing a bit of googling I discovered that Ms. Thirkell was a contemporary of Agatha Christie, Nancy Mitford, et. al. but that she focussed mainly on humorous, satiric fiction that it seems she wasn't really proud of, although it paid the bills.

High Rising is the first of her books that take place in Trollope's fictional Barsetshire.  Laura Morland is a happily widowed author of very successful "good bad books" and the story starts during the Christmas season as she picks her son up from school to spend the holidays at their cottage at High Rising.  Here Laura finds herself involved in the lives of her friends, most specifically a fellow author at Low Risings who has found himself with a secretary ("The Incubus") determined to marry him.

I liked this book; it didn't rock my world, and I suspect some of the satire went completely over my head, but I found myself deeply involved with the characters themselves and interested in what happened and how it all worked out.  It was a cozy read -  that is truly what best describes this book (and I suspect future Barsetshire novels); there's no gripping tension or thrilling climax.  There were a couple of instances of racism that were indicative of the times the book was written, but were seemingly meant with affection (I'm not saying it is acceptable, just that it wasn't malicious).

I have two other works by Ms. Thirkell: Christmas at High Rising and Pomfret Towers. I'm looking forward to starting Christmas at High Rising later today and I'm going to be on the look-out for more of her Barsetshire novels.  I'm not a fan yet, but I'm definitely an admirer.