Dead March for Penelope Blow

by George Bellairs

In the wake of Mr William Blow's death, his surviving relatives find themselves tangled up in family secrets and financial mystery.
So when Miss Penelope Blow suddenly dies by falling out her bedroom window, suspicions are raised.
With Scotland Yard under pressure to determine the widow's fall was really accidental, Inspector Littlejohn is called in to get to the bottom of the case.
But the deeper Littlejohn delves into the case, the more secrets he finds.
From malice to madness, there is one possible cause. Can Littlejohn uncover the truth before another tragedy befalls the Blows?


First published in 1951, Dead March for Penelope Blow is a darkly comic mystery from one of Britain's best crime writers.

• ISBN10: 191309913X
• ISBN13: 9781913099138
• Publish Date: 13 August 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Agora Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 294
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Dead March for Penelope Blow is the 18th Inspector Littlejohn mystery by George Bellairs. Originally released in 1951, this reformat and re-release by Agora is 278 pages and available in ebook format (earlier 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 is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is an engagingly written and well constructed silver age mystery. Full of Bellairs' well rendered characters, this one sees Littlejohn trying to sort out a convoluted "maybe" murder/accident along with poisoning and skullduggery and subsequent winnowing of a whole stable of potential murderers. The dialogue, though admittedly a product of its time, is well written and urbane, lightly witty and humorous. Although I have enjoyed all the Littlejohn mysteries, this one does work quite well as a standalone, and it's not necessary to have read the other books.

It's really lovely to see these gems being dusted off and re-released to new generations of readers. Bellairs (Harold Blundell) was a gifted writer and a technical master of construction.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.