REVIEW: The Manor House Mystery
The Manor House Mystery: Monica Marsden 1950 Brock Books
I enjoyed this more than I expected to - I hadn’t thought much of the last couple of books by Marsden that I’d read (I looked, and I only mentioned them in passing here, I’m thinking more of ‘A Matter of Clues’ than ‘Behind the Dragon’s Teeth’ although this is more similar to the latter than the former), although I’d liked her books a lot as a child. This book is part of the AMPs series - the AMPs being the siblings Angela, Michael and Patricia Thompson.
Sent home on holiday early because their neighbouring schools are in an area suffering from an epidemic (of what is never specified, which I thought lazy, and none of them fall ill), they come across a mystery to do with the Manor House. However, as is admitted, their part in solving the mystery is small, although they give crucial information to the police. It’s just a distraction, with one or two nasty moments, while most of the book is taken up by their affectionate squabbling. For Patricia is 10, hates being called Pattypans by her brother and sister, and is stubborn to the point of bullheadedness. Her brother, sometimes the leader of the family, although they all take their turns in initiating proceedings, takes particular pleasure in teasing her. This bantering patter by Marsden hasn’t always worked for me in the past, but in this context, it did.
Perhaps because this felt like the book was aimed at the right audience and the protagonists acted their age (Michael is 13 and Angela 15). But - perhaps because it’s from the fifties - there’s a bit of bad language from a character that surprised me. It wasn’t even one of the villains!
Having said that, the children aren’t always that sympathetic. They become curious about the Manor House because it has been taken over by someone who has retired the old factotum who allowed them to walk in Bluebell Woods on the ground as they liked. The new chap rightly tells them off for trespassing, although he does it in such a nasty way that Patricia is convinced he’s a crook.
She’s right.
There were shades of the Lone Pines here, which I thought even before I realised the similarity between the Thompson’s home’s name, Witch Tarn, and Witchend. However, this has less interest in characterisation and none of the feel for real landscapes that mark out Saville’s work. The Thompsons moved into one of a number of bucolic villages named Something Green, centred around their village greens, in a made up county. It’s very generic England.
In this edition, some of the many illustrations (by Greta Jones - I had to look it up, I’m not very interested in illustrations generally) were shaded in pink and red, so there’s a police constable in a bright red suit and a scarlet sow to enjoy. Perhaps the children are drawn a little too young.
The story ends with loose ends being tied up just about when the Thompsons’ holidays were about to start and their great friends about to join them. I have the next book in the series, which may perhaps carry on straight after this, although with a new adventure or mystery to part-solve.
This entry was originally posted at http://feather-ghyll.dreamwidth.org/106188.html. Please comment wherever you prefer to.
I enjoyed this more than I expected to - I hadn’t thought much of the last couple of books by Marsden that I’d read (I looked, and I only mentioned them in passing here, I’m thinking more of ‘A Matter of Clues’ than ‘Behind the Dragon’s Teeth’ although this is more similar to the latter than the former), although I’d liked her books a lot as a child. This book is part of the AMPs series - the AMPs being the siblings Angela, Michael and Patricia Thompson.
Sent home on holiday early because their neighbouring schools are in an area suffering from an epidemic (of what is never specified, which I thought lazy, and none of them fall ill), they come across a mystery to do with the Manor House. However, as is admitted, their part in solving the mystery is small, although they give crucial information to the police. It’s just a distraction, with one or two nasty moments, while most of the book is taken up by their affectionate squabbling. For Patricia is 10, hates being called Pattypans by her brother and sister, and is stubborn to the point of bullheadedness. Her brother, sometimes the leader of the family, although they all take their turns in initiating proceedings, takes particular pleasure in teasing her. This bantering patter by Marsden hasn’t always worked for me in the past, but in this context, it did.
Perhaps because this felt like the book was aimed at the right audience and the protagonists acted their age (Michael is 13 and Angela 15). But - perhaps because it’s from the fifties - there’s a bit of bad language from a character that surprised me. It wasn’t even one of the villains!
Having said that, the children aren’t always that sympathetic. They become curious about the Manor House because it has been taken over by someone who has retired the old factotum who allowed them to walk in Bluebell Woods on the ground as they liked. The new chap rightly tells them off for trespassing, although he does it in such a nasty way that Patricia is convinced he’s a crook.
She’s right.
There were shades of the Lone Pines here, which I thought even before I realised the similarity between the Thompson’s home’s name, Witch Tarn, and Witchend. However, this has less interest in characterisation and none of the feel for real landscapes that mark out Saville’s work. The Thompsons moved into one of a number of bucolic villages named Something Green, centred around their village greens, in a made up county. It’s very generic England.
In this edition, some of the many illustrations (by Greta Jones - I had to look it up, I’m not very interested in illustrations generally) were shaded in pink and red, so there’s a police constable in a bright red suit and a scarlet sow to enjoy. Perhaps the children are drawn a little too young.
The story ends with loose ends being tied up just about when the Thompsons’ holidays were about to start and their great friends about to join them. I have the next book in the series, which may perhaps carry on straight after this, although with a new adventure or mystery to part-solve.
This entry was originally posted at http://feather-ghyll.dreamwidth.org/106188.html. Please comment wherever you prefer to.