The Murder at Sissingham Hall

An Angela Marchmont Mystery, Book 1

By: Clara Benson

Narrated by: Tim Bruce

Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

On his return from South Africa, Charles Knox is invited to spend the weekend at the country home of Sir Neville Strickland, whose beautiful wife Rosamund was once Knox's fiancee. But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it? As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery.

This 1920s whodunit will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories.

©2013 Clara Benson (P)2022 Clara Benson

Predictable

I knew very early who the murderer was. The characters are lightly drawn and not well developed for the most part. Dialogue is pretty good though, and the plot holds together even though there are few surprises.

Smashing good read

Steeped in the tradition of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, this is a smashing who done it. Delightful characters and a very engaging narration.

Not bad, but not great

Perfectly fine book to listen to while doing chores. It is well written, I liked the narrator & the story was entertaining enough. I figured out who the murderer was very early on, and the story does plod on a bit unnecessarily. My main pet peeve was the repetition of explanations; almost like the author doesn’t trust the reader to remember what was said in the previous chapter.

Bit of an Odd Duck

In many ways this is a formulaic British cozy (or "traditional" if you prefer): Out of the way country house? Check. Usual collection of suspects? Check. Unimaginative copper? Check. Murderer guessed by mid-book (if not sooner)? Check. Dramatic twist at the end? Check. So why is this book an odd duck? Because the clever amateur sleuth who solves it all is a minor character who takes up virtually no space in the book. In fact, she does not even give the also-formulaic grand sum-up at the end. Instead we get a narrator who is so naive (a fellow reviewer calls him "clueless," another good descriptor) that he's impossible to care about, especially at the end. I suspect that Ms Benson intended an homage to the first Miss Marple book, Murder at the Vicarage, which has a very similar plot line and clueless narrator. But Christie keeps the identity of the murderer much better disguised than does Ms. Benson. And Angela Marchmont is no Miss Marple. Perhaps she'll grow into Marple's shoes as the series progresses. Perhaps not.

This Series Is A Must Binge

Okay so this first book is not quite the thing and clearly is the characters getting their footing but do NOT discount the series. Once Mrs. Marchmont hits her stride in Book 2/3 you will NOT want to stop listening! The related series of Freddy Pilkington-Soames is also a GEM!! Need a million more of both series please!

weak story, annoying characters

The killer was glaringly obvious when she talked to the husband through the locked door and pretended to hear him answer. And why on earth is this series called An Angela Monchmart mystery she is a minor background character?

Always listen to the sample

I did not like the narrator. It always grates on my nerves when a man narrates female characters, it always comes off as if he’s mocking a female character.

I downloaded this as it was recommended based on other books I’ve listened to. Imagine thinking the book is about Angela Marchmont solving mysteries, but we’re not introduced to her until quite a ways into the book. The book is told as if she’s a minor character, nothing from her perspective.

The book is mostly dialogue which, when you’re listening, makes it hard to follow.

I had hoped for a new series, but this one falls completely flat. I’ve listened to a sample of the next book, better narrator, but still too much dialogue.

Dry, slow, and dumb

It took forever to introduce the characters, identify the murder, and set up various rabbit trails. The main character is both clueless and silly. The narrator is appropriately British but uninteresting.