This is another delightful visit to Flaxborough – or this time the nearby village of Mumblesby – and another meet up with the quirky characters we’ve come to know and love like Inspector Purbright, Miss Teatime, Detective Sergeant Love and those kooky villagers, and to get to know some new folks, just as quirky and just as interesting.

As always it’s a good, solid, old-fashioned mystery with clues and suspects aplenty and Colin Watson’s trademark masterful use of language and wordplay. Some phrases will make you laugh out loud, some will have you scratching your head, and some won’t sink in for a while until you have the ah ha moment.

Thanks to Prelude Books for discovering and re-issuing these gems. Whatever’s Been Going on at Mumblesby was another very enjoyable read that kept me guessing until the end.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley; all opinions are my own. ( )

When a solicitor named Loughbury passes away in Mumblesby, Detective Inspector Purbright attends the funeral in lieu of his superior Mr. Chubb. While there he hears a woman screaming for help and follows her to the late solicitor's home, finding not only the young widow locked in a bathroom but for some odd reason clothes strewn upon a small heater - smoldering - and a propane tank in a bedroom. He also sees something odd: a small piece of wood trapped permanently inside a steel cage that has been sealed into the wall, labeled the "True Cross". Curious indeed.

He waits until the widow, Zoe, and her mother return from the funeral before questioning her about the attempted arson. While she seems to ignore the implication that someone is attempting to murder her, Purbright decides to seek the truth of the matter and sends his detective sergeant Sidney Love to the village to see if he can discover any clues. What Love finds out is there are many unsavory characters living there, and not a appears to like Zoe, considering her no more than a concubine who was lucky enough to have been given Loughbury's entire estate. But when that estate includes objects d'art that apparently do not belong to Loughbury at all, things become even more curious than before.

When a strange "prank" befalls the widow, Purbright is determined more than ever to come to the truth of the matter, including letting the widow know that he isn't the fool she at first took him for...

This is the twelfth book in the series and I am sad to say, the last, as Mr. Watson passed away soon after writing it. I have read all of the series and have been completely satisfied with every one of them. I have to add in all honesty however, that no matter how much I tried, I could not like the character of Zoe. She seemed harsh and uncaring to me; someone who believes money can buy her an entreé into society, and otherwise will force her way in if necessary. Money can't buy class, no matter who you are or how much of it you have. She's not a person I would care to know personally.

Don't get me wrong; there are many other characters in books who were born low, married into money and were just wonderful. It was more that I thought Zoe was an opportunist, and not in a nice way. She seemed cold and calculating to me, and I don't care for that sort of person.

The rest of the book was, as always, highly entertaining and delightful to read. DI Purbright is as clever as ever, ferreting out the truth as he always does, no matter how well hidden people think they may have left it. He gets to the heart of everything by going over the evidence piece by piece, and watching him connect the dots, as it were, is the best part of each and every one of these books.

When Purbright realizes that a young woman from Mumblesby had not committed suicide as was agreed upon by both her husband and the court, it is exactly as I stated - Purbright takes the information given and parses it to discover who wanted her dead and why; he finds that the death is connected to Loughbury and several of the villagers; and he also learns that each of them have given Loughbury a very expensive item indeed; but for what reason? Is is tied to the death of the woman, who passed over a year ago? It is interesting how Purbright takes a small clue Loughbury had in his possession (along with the fact of those above-mentioned articles) and deduces the truth.

All in all, the ending, as always, leaves us with our own conjectures as to the final outcome; but it is enough to realize that justice has been done. While I am saddened that there will be no more in this series, I am heartened by the fact that I was able to read them. Recommended. ( )

Gentrification takes its toll

Mumblesby used to be a decrepit farming village not far from Flaxborough, but now it has been bought up and polished by a new set of rather tony people. One of their number, a lawyer, has croaked and DI Purbright is relegated to funeral duty. But when the not-quite-wife is found locked into her room and the house set on fire, the tedious official business suddenly changes direction. DI Purbright notices the extraordinary quality of the artwork and begins to suspect some kind of fiddle, as does Miss Teatime who pays a bereavement call to scope out a possible heist. DI Purbright and Miss Teatime are aging into a quiet, chaste flirtation that I enjoy very much. Two sharpies who appreciate each other.

Once again sex and antiques are the center of the plot and once again I've picked up some new 1980s slang. This, #12, is one of the best of the series. Alas it is the last, as Mr. Watson died the year after its original publication.

I received a review copy of "Whatever's Been Going on at Mumblesby?" by Colin Watson (Farrago) through NetGalley.com. It was first published in 1982 by Methuen and has been reissued many times since. ( )

Colin Watson was recommended by a friend whose reading opinions I greatly value. This was the first of 3 books of his she gave me to try. Very Peter Wimsey in style, with a touch of Woodhouse. I kept forgetting it was in the latter part of the 20th century, expecting it to be set in the early 1900's or Pre WWII. On to others in the series. ( )

The English market town of Flaxborough is once again the centre of extremely odd goings on.
It all starts with the funeral of one of the town's most respected citizens. But it seems that the wife of the deceased is not present,but is discovered later trapped in her bathroom.
There is also religious mania about in the area and of course there is murder to be investigated too.
Yes,Inspector Purbright again has his hands full in this remarkably funny crime series. ( )