Welcome to Litsy!

Such a fascinating glimpse into parliament, politics and what it was like to be an early woman MP c. 1930s

(The murder mystery is a bit ho hum).

"But, sir, I've often wondered why more people don't get murdered in this place when you think of the opportunities."

Photo: detail of a painting I took a long time ago visiting the H of P. Is that Gordon Brown?

The policeman on duty at the door....explained with a grin that the Home Secretary's League of Women Voters had arrived en masse to be shown round and given tea. The Minister had escaped after assuring them how glad he was to see them, how delighted Mr West would be to show them everything, and how terribly disappointed he was that a Cabinet meeting prevented him from having that great joy himself.

He was angry that the Minister should have agreed to see Annette Oissel alone, an unprecedented action. No Minister ever sees any visitor without an official nurse in attendance. It is recorded that a recent Home Secretary, after laying down office, remarked to his wife, "How nice to be able to talk to you, my dear, without having the minutes taken by a secretary."

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Ah, those pre WhatsApp group times...

Worth reading by virtue of being written by one of the first female members of the British parliament. My enjoyment of this was mostly sociological. Writing was decent, and had a free laugh out loud lines, but the solution to "how" of the mystery was immediately obvious and the "who" entirely superfluous. For serious fans of golden age mysteries or sociology buffs only.

#readathon

“Oissel was a tough customer, West.“
“So I've gathered. Good many enemies too, I should say?“
“Less than there might have been if so many hadn't died first,“ said Kinnaird grimly.

😆 😆 😆

“No matter how exciting the day, the House of Commons loses all interest between the hours of 7 and 9 pm.“

This is a golden age mystery novel published in 1932 by one of the first female members of the British Parliament, Ellen Wilkinson.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Clever and very readable, this mystery didn‘t deserve to be forgotten- especially when you realise it was written by an early female MP so it‘s jammed with insider details about the Houses of Parliament!

Aaaand on to the next one! This is from my Heffers haul today!

Finished, belatedly! Once I had the time to sit down I just tore through it. @rabbitprincess

That ending part was surprisingly sad -- the mystery feels somewhat bloodless, just a puzzle, and often funny (a favourite bit circled above!) and then that ending. "He's gone home..." Annette is such a typical femme fatale in other ways, but those last couple of paragraphs were genuinely sad.

I will say this is a Pick for the authenticity of details about parliamentarians' lives, the steady pace of the story, and the solidly Golden Age feel. I am not really much of a locked-room buff, and I think I read the dénouement too quickly, but the actual ending was interesting.

Chapter ten-ish or so. I want to be nomming this down, but the bunnies are defeating me. (They're fine, but hormones kicked in for Eclair so he now has to be kept apart from Biscuit already. So emergency new cage, lots of reorganising.)

I am rolling my eyes a bit about the very Golden Age typical reaction of West to Annette, though.

Just started tucking into this. I love the description if the author as an MP in the intro! She sounds fascinating. Not really far in enough yet for real thoughts, only chapter one. Work is busy and alas my commute is a five second walk from bed to office. @rabbitprincess

@shanaqui I've reached the end of Chapter 6. The story is going like gangbusters for me! I like murder mysteries where the murder happens right away 😁 And it's clear that Wilkinson knows her stuff about Parliament; there's a good atmosphere. The above quote is my favourite so far.