Veronica Stallwood

Have just read Josephine Tey's A Shilling for Candles and Veronica Stallwood's Death and the Oxford Box. I had one of those once-every-fifteen-year flu's which actually kept me completely horizontal for over three days (very unusual) and anytime I could open an eye, I reached for the nightstand to finish one book or another. No, there's no comparison of authors. My personal feeling is that Tey is a master, fairly unreachable by most writers (I should start with The Franchise Affair if she were new to me).

But Stallwood's Kate Ivory series is enormously engaging and particularly enjoyable after a summer in Oxford (which we did two summers ago - photos are from that extraordinary visit). After the first chapter, I very nearly put the book down; but, by the second, I was hooked and read the remainder inside 24 hours. The main character, Kate Ivory, is a bright, very likable author of romantic historical fiction with a penchant for solving murder and she does it inside and outside of Blackwell's, an Oxford College, pubs and restaurants you all know and love. Now, I am beginning the next Kate Ivory ... good thing I have one more day of sick leave to cough incessantly and read.

Comments

[Rebecca]

I hope you are all recovered by now at least you have not been feeling too sorry for yourself and have been making the most of being bed bound. The Franchise Affair had a huge impact on me when I read it many years ago, I am looking forward to re-reading it soon and perhaps the one you mention too, now that I have had my memory jogged.

[Margaret Powling]

PS Made a silly error in my previous comment: I was led to your blog via Random Jottings!

[Margaret Powling]

This is the first time I've visited your blog, led to it via Cornflower! But this is just to say that I adore Veronica Stallwood's Kate Ivory books (there are currently 12 in the series ... do try and read them in order of publication as there is a continuing back story which develops). The good news is that Veronica's 13th in the series is due for publication this year.
If, also you have enjoyed the academic setting of Oxford, you might also like three novels which are similarly set in academia but this time in Cambridge. They are Christine Poulson's novels entitled Dead Letters, Stage Fright and Footfall.
I visited Avoca four years ago but didn't treat myself to a blanket ... wish now that I had!
Get well soon and Happy Easter.

[carolyn]

Sorry to hear that you have been so poorly, the Veronica Stallwood's sounds just my cup of tea I'll be keeping a look out for her work.

[Alice C]

I am so sorry to hear that you have been ill. Can I recommend the ideal post-flu reading? Do try Georgette Heyer - her writing is a delight - so elegant and fresh. I think that you will be surprised. The characters are wittily drawn and the plots are deliberately playful. Her historical research was immaculate and it makes you want to go and stare at Georgian paintings and absorb every detail. Try 'Arabella' to start with but be careful - you might get hooked! Interestingly enough, she falls into your category of inter-war women writers like Bagnold and Tey.

[tut-tut]

I've read/have Death and the Oxford Box, and thoroughly enjoyed it several years ago. I spent a college year in Oxford, so it made me very nostalgic! Are the others in the series easy to come by?

[Sonia]

I hope you are feeling better, Becca.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!
Many hugs!

[PG]

Ah yes, I enjoy Kate Ivory too, I wish they would turn her into a TV series, but I suppose the ghost of Morse hangs over everything murder-y and Oxford now...

[Cornflower]

Hope you're back to full strength soon, Becca, and thankyou so much for the Tey recommendation. I shall be having a modest book-buying spree in the next day or so and The Franchise Affair will be included.

[mary]

I particularly love the photo of the gargoyles.

I hope you are feeling better.

[tara]

Gorgeous photos! I'm so sorry to hear you've been ill - ugh! But glad you're feeling better. I must try Tey someday.