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Jonathan Stagge
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Death's Old Sweet Song (The Doctor Westlake Mysteries) Kindle Edition

by Jonathan Stagge (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
A song holds the key to murder in this Dr. Hugh Westlake mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author who wrote the Peter Duluth series as Patrick Quentin.
 
Patrick Quentin, best known for the Peter Duluth puzzle mysteries, also penned outstanding detective novels from the 1930s through the 1960s under other pseudonyms, including Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge. Anthony Boucher wrote: “Quentin is particularly noted for the enviable polish and grace which make him one of the leading American fabricants of the murderous comedy of manners; but this surface smoothness conceals intricate and meticulous plot construction as faultless as that of Agatha Christie.”
 
The affluent Bray family was known for throwing the most enjoyable picnics, and this one seemed to be no different to Dr. Hugh Westlake and his precocious progeny, Dawn. When their host’s daughter breaks into a version of the old English folk ballad, “Green Grow the Rushes, O,” no one gives it a second thought. Little do they know the song portends death.
 
It begins with the bodies of twin boys found in the river, which connects to a lyric from the ballad. And before anyone can even recover from such a horror, more killings occur—all diabolically tied to the song. With help from Dawn and his old friend, Inspector Cobb, Westlake must sort through an ever-shrinking circle of suspects and stop a murderer from striking another deadly note.
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  1. Book 6 of 6
    The Doctor Westlake Mysteries
  2. Print length
    263 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
  5. Publication date
    August 7, 2018
  6. File size
    7.1 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patrick Quentin, Q. Patrick, and Jonathan Stagge were pen names under which Hugh Callingham Wheeler (1912–1987), Richard Wilson Webb (1901–1966), Martha Mott Kelley (1906–2005), and Mary Louise White Aswell (1902–1984) wrote detective fiction. Most of the stories were written together by Webb and Wheeler, or by Wheeler alone. Their best-known creation is amateur sleuth Peter Duluth. In 1963, the story collection The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow was given a Special Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America.
 

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07CZ9FHZB
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ MysteriousPress.com/Open Road (August 7, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 7, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 7.1 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 263 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

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Jonathan Stagge

Jonathan Stagge

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4.4 out of 5 stars
4 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Patto
    4.0 out of 5 stars Six murders — and not one clue!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    The murders begin on a picnic. A pair of horrid eight-year-old twin boys are drowned in a duck pond. These little terrors were the torment of the village — but surely no one loathed them enough to murder them.

    More murders follow, all made to fit the lyrics of an old ballad sung at the picnic. The craziness of killing to illustrate a song makes Inspector Cobb think the killer must be insane — yet all the suspects are very sane. Cobb works closely with Hugh Westlake, a level-headed doctor with a charming twelve-year-old daughter.

    This is a well-written mystery with many a pleasing turn of phrase. I found one character (the lady novelist) exaggerated, but most of the characters are convincing. The solution of the crime is unexpected and turns out to be fairly rational. The rural New England setting combines with a plot that feels like a classic British Golden Age puzzle.

    Jonathan Stagge is a pen name used by two collaborators — Hugh Wheeler and Richard Webb. Death’s Old Sweet Song was first published in 1946. Dr. Westlake appears in other novels by these collaborators — available on Kindle, but pricey or unavailable in paperback or hardback. I would like to see affordable reprints of this series. Dr. Westlake and his daughter are very appealing.
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  • Rivky Serwatien
    5.0 out of 5 stars Jonathan Stagge is terrific yet again.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    bs'd
    Enjoy my favorite series of the collaboration between Richard Wilson Webb and Hugh Callingham Wheeler. It features Dr Hugh Westlake and his daughter, Dawn. The combination of well written mysteries & the relationship between the two Westlakes is wonderful.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Ken Braithwaite
    4.0 out of 5 stars Darkly amusing tale of murders in the 40s
    Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    This is a hard book to describe. It's another whodunnit organized around a nursery song. Melodrama and a comedy of manors with a simple but well executed mystery. Set in rural Massachusetts in the 1940s, when it was written.
    One person found this helpful
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  • annemaryt1
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good book. I would read again
    Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Good book. I would read again.
    2 people found this helpful
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