[Mrs Bradley 41] - Three Quick and Five Dead

Laura Gavin's walking companion along a country road situated at the edge of the New Forest isn't her employer, Dame Beatrice Bradley, but a newly acquired Irish wolfhound named Fergus. The young dog belongs to Laura's son Hamish, who's away at school, so Fergus has been staying at the Stone House and has become especially devoted to Dame Beatrice. On the walk, Fergus behaves strangely, then bolts into the woods. An early morning search uncovers dog and something unexpected: the wolfhound is guarding the body of a young woman, Karen Schumann, who has been strangled, and pinned to her chest with a knitting-needle is a piece of paper reading: In Memoriam 325. With the investigation still ongoing, another woman's body is discovered in the woods, also strangled, another cryptic note attached ( In Memoriam 380 ).
With Dame Beatrice's input, the police concentrate on three suspects: Edward James, a theology and divinity student engaged to the first victim; Mrs. Schumann, Karen's mother and, briefly, landlady to Maria Machrado, the second victim; and Otto Schumann, Karen's quick-tempered sailor brother and Maria's ex-boyfriend. When a third woman's body is discovered, her death occurring under similar circumstances, Scotland Yard's Inspector Maisry works to prevent another tragedy, but he is unable to disrupt the pattern: there is a fourth murder, then a fifth.
Dame Beatrice works with Gavin and Maisry to make sense of the facts. For one thing, each victim, while sometimes not a foreigner, had a different national association: Karen Schumann was German, Maria Machrado, Spanish; other victims were an Italian maid, a French-language schoolmistress, and an Irish nanny. Then there are the notes attached to the bodies, whose numbers may have a historical significance, either as a year date (a.d. 325?) or as day, month and year (3 February, 1905?). Dame Beatrice, who has deduced the murderer's identity but lacks proof, explains her theory to the police, and the group begins to strengthen its case. Ultimately, it is Dame B. and George who apprehend the killer, thanks to the old lady's forethought and her chauffeur's proven reliability in matters of life and death.
**Review
"Richly quirky books, full of dramatic plotting, vigorous behavior and ironic opinions" — Glasgow Herald
"Mrs. Bradley and her dapper chauffeur, George, drive about the countryside in a midnight-blue Rolls-Royce with full bar, and wherever they go, they find murder" — New York Times
"I hope Vintage will keep on bringing them out—she's just such an interesting writer" —Desperate Reader
About the Author
Gladys Mitchell was born in the village of Cowley, Oxford, in April 1901. She was educated at the Rothschild School in Brentford, the Green School in Isleworth, and at Goldsmiths and University Colleges in London. For many years Miss Mitchell taught history and English, swimming, and games. She retired from this work in 1950 but became so bored without the constant stimulus and irritation of teaching that she accepted a post at the Matthew Arnold School in Staines, where she taught English and history, wrote the annual school play, and coached hurdling. She was a member of the Detection Club, the PEN, the Middlesex Education Society, and the British Olympic Association. Her father’s family are Scots, and a Scottish influence has appeared in some of her books.