Nicholas Blake is one of my new favorites! I was introduced to his detective, Nigel Strangeways, several months ago, and I have thoroughly enjoyed each Strangeways story I have read. The cadence and language of the books make them a pleasure to read, and the mysteries are fun to try to solve. This book offered several possible solutions, several possible endings, and the actual ending had such a great twist. If you like mysteries, you won't be disappointed by this puzzler.

>Iread this a bit ago a d forgot to review. I am a big fan of Nicholas Blake and love all his stories. The only thing that bothered me about all of his books was that he killed off first wife. I am glad he provided a new and equally interesting love but I am always disappointed when a favorite character disappears,

I made the mistake of thinking this was a standalone but overall, this book is an interesting murder mystery read. It feels very old timey in a way, which isn't always a bad thing.

I enjoy holiday themed murder mysteries and "Thou Shell of Death". which is set during the Christmas holiday season at a British manor in the countryside is a delightful and intriguing novel. One can compare it to a typical British manor with the normal cast of characters and suspects, but Nicholas Blake adds a little spice to the story, along with a murder mystery plot, which soon develops into a plausible and complicated plot with the complexities of the characters themselves.

Nigel Strangeways is the lead character, a criminal investigator and the main protagonist for several of Nicholas Blake's novels. This is Blake's second novel involving Nigel and it's also where he meets his future wife, Georgia who is among the guests.

Nigel is spending the holidays with his aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Marlinworth, when he is given a task by his Uncle Sir John Strangeways, Assistant Commissioner of Police, who himself arrives at the manor. Apparently, a WWI fighter ace, The Great Fergus O'Brien is staying at the Dower House on the Malworth estate and has received three death threat letters indicating he'll be killed after Christmas. It's Nigels' assignment to find the murder(s) and thwart the plot to kill him. Nigel and Fergus develop a good relationship with one another, as Nigel is trying to find about as much information about Fergus and at the same time a mutual respect for one another is established also

This where the author's writing begins to excel by establishing the characters, the interactions and traits of the characters, as he tries to discover who the alleged murderer(s) are. Nigel goes about meeting the guests and is finding it difficult who would want to have Fergus murdered. He's a WWI hero and the guests appear to be pleasant individuals, but we also have the staff and many servants, which the guest have brought, like Fergus, who brought his cook.

The following morning, the day after Christmas, Fergus is found dead at the kitchen table with a gun next to his hand. Is it murder or suicide? The police at hand are indicating suicide, but not Nigel. There a few things, which Nigel finds difficult to believe it's suicide, but more like murder.

At this point in the novel, we start see numerous twists and turns in the story, with a few clues coming to the surface, the deeper Nigel investigate and than another guest is found murdered. This further compounds the investigation, which adds another twist to it.

A fascinating and well paced novel with several key elements, which shows the complexity of the story. The novel continues along an intriguing and often difficult path, leaving us surprised and conflicted quickly as Nigel follows one path and then a critical turn of events alters Nigel's direction of the investigation more than once. Nigel is steadfast and determined to solve this investigation, which he does in the end, with yet another surprising twist.

*Many thanks to Agora Books and Netgally for providing me with ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
I occasionally read authors who belong to the Golden Age of mystery murders, most of whom are unknown to me. And this was the case with Nicholas Blake, or rather Cecil Day-Lewis. Thou Shell of Death is Book 2 with Nigel Strangeways, a man of means and lots of time on his hands, who becomes an amateur sleuth, and a good one, too! Thanks to the family connections in Scotland Yard, he is allowed to investigate when a complicated problem appears. In Book 2, Nigel is asked by a famous WW1 flying ace, Fergus O'Brien, to look after him as he's received some threats to his life. Unfortunately, he fails to fulfill this task, but the he's determined to find the culprit. The novel is charming in its own way since it's more on the solving the mystery and logical thinking than vivid descriptions of murders as such. Language of the novel was an extra bonus for me, as some phrases are not used in modern English any more and it was fun for me to read some dialogues or idioms.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Agora Books and the author, Nicolas Blake, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of Thou Shell of Death in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I really enjoyed this murder mystery. It was a good, easy read with colourful characters. This is the first time I have read a Nicolas Blake novel, and certainly look forward to read the other books from the series..

Nigel Strangeway's is back in another with another oddly worldy english detective novel.
Some wonderfully colourful characters set in a golden era of crime detection.
A great different take on a crime procedurals.

I loved the twists and turns of this book. Truly a book chuck full of entertainment. Didn't see that ending coming. I received an advance reader copy from Crime Classics. Opinions are my own.

Thou Shell of Death
by Nicholas Blake
Agora Books
General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 01 Nov 2018



I am reviewing Thou Shell of Death through Agora Books and Netgalley:


As Christmas approaches Fergus O’Brien a World War One flying ace who has turned into an Introspective recluse believes someone is out to harm him. After receiving three letters promising he was going to be killed he takes his life in his own hands.



Fergus O’Brien decodes that he is going to invite all the prime suspects over for a Christmas Party at his Grand Country honMe. He also decides to hire private investigator Nigel Strangeways to help lure out the culprit.


As the snow falls and the heavy wind blows a murder lurks at Fergus‘es country home. They must work quickly to draw out the would be murderer before its to late.



I give Thou Shell of Death five out of five star!


Happy Reading!

The twists and turns in this book were riveting. Sometimes Blake's books drag a bit, but not this one! The final "who-done-it" twist was complex and fascinating. A great read!

A golden age Nigel Strangeways mystery written between the wars. The mystery includes depiction of air fight battles during the war and the air ace of the battles is the main character in the book. But our hero is getting threatening letters so he decides to invite all the suspects to a Christmas party at his home and let Nigel sort it out. An enjoyable read for there are just enough suspects to keep you guessing but not to many so you lose track of who is who. It's mentioned n the book that inspiration came from the 1607 play Avenger's Tragedy which has also been made into a British film. They should have filmed this book nstead.

Woweee what a ride! I had not read any of Nicholas Blake's previous works but I will surely seek them out now, especially if they are anything like this story. There were twists and turns that I have never encountered before in my long Cozy Mystery reading history. To have a murder announced ahead of time is just plain good manners.  The character of Fergus O’Brien, a WW1 flying ace, is off the beaten track right at the beginning and things just get better from there. What a well-crafted mystery story! Private Investigator Nigel Strangeways reminds me a bit of Albert Campion, another of my favorites. As I always say, I hate to give away the plot and I don’t like to simply restate the jacket description so take my advice and read this book. You will not be disappointed and if you figure out the ending, you are a better detective than I am. Loved it!!!

A promising beginning descends into ridiculous, frustrating madness, endless padding of the narrative that comes off like page watching, and coincidence based flim-flam Also, Nigel Strangeways seems an awful prig in this outing. Of the few novels in the series that I've read, this one is the least successful. No, thank you.

Another excellent book by Nicholas Blake, one of my favorite authors! Witty and well-crafted, this mystery is an enjoyable read and a welcome diversion. It's a real pleasure to find oneself in midcentury Britain with such entertaining and erudite companions. Highly recommended!

Thou Shell of Death is a re-release of the second book in the Nigel Strangeways mystery series by Nicholas Blake. Originally published in 1936, this reformatting by Agora books is 266 pages and available in ebook format. Earlier editions are available in other formats. Fun factoid: the author, Nicholas Blake, was the pseudonym of Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureat and father of multiple academy award winner Daniel Day-Lewis.

I've mentioned multiple times that my favorite genre is mystery and especially English country house mystery. This is a superlative example of the craft and art. There's a limited pool of suspects, an 'impossible' crime, a clever and sophisticated semi-professional sleuth and a country stately home murder mystery.

I really enjoyed the characterizations; the house party members really live and breathe and have motivations. The dialogue is beautifully written and never once feels clunky or mechanical. I will say that the book was written in interwar period between WW1 and 2 and does show it in the assumption of cultural familiarity with some language and attitudes. It's laced with unexplained Latin phrases (used very reasonably in context by a schoolmaster). The meanings are self explanatory in the dialogue so it shouldn't detract for modern readers.

It's a wonderful thing to sit inside with a glass of wine on one side, a fireplace on the other side and enjoy a classic book whilst watching snow fall outside the windows. The ritual of reading and relaxing this book filled me with joy. It might have colored my perceptions to a very small degree, but I don't think so. This is a solidly good book. The denouement was really cleverly done.

Classic. Good stuff!

Five stars.

Sharala
Golden Age Mystery, Literary Delight
November 18, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
Author was a Poet Laureate and the literary allusions prove it. In fact, the words of a Renaissance play solve the mystery when amateur sleuth and scholar Nicholas Strangeways finally figures it out. Country house Xmas house party, all suspects locked in for questioning, incredibly convoluted developments, blackmail, background Ophelia story, coverup attacks and murder, emerging romance for hero — what more could one want in a classic Golden Age Mystery?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It reminded me of the couple of "mystery club" restaurants we used to have here in SoCal, where a murder mystery was played out by various waiter / actors wandering around while you were eating. Same premise: you know there's a murderer in your midst, but you don't know who it is, and you can't leave. This is an interesting romp through madness, and I highly recommend it for those wet, cold nights where a good book is just what the doctor ordered. Great read!

I generally enjoyed Thou Shell Of Death, but it has its weaknesses.

This is classic Golden Age stuff: a famous War Hero who is now a virtual recluse receives some threatening letters. Naturally, he throws a Country House party for all the people he thinks may possibly be responsible and asks Nigel Strangeways, the private detective, to join the party to try to work out what is going on. Well, of course he does – who wouldn’t?

The whole set-up was like a very laboured Agatha Christie, but with more pretension and condescension toward anyone who is not connected to the nobility and living in an expensive part of London. I found it very wearing. However, after 80 pages or so, there is a death, the plot begins to move and a little wit started to show, too. The development was well done and kept me reading; it is tightly, if not wholly plausibly, plotted and it’s an enjoyable read. I found the dénouement rather a trial as the long slog through repeated convoluted explanations became a bit of a chore.

Overall, this is an enjoyable Golden Age detective novel. Its posh, well-connected detective puts it in a similar sort of genre as Dorothy L. Sayers or Margery Allingham; for me it’s nothing like as good, but much of it makes a diverting read if you can wade through the turgid opening. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

(My thanks to Vintage for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Superbly plotted and beautifully written mystery. Nigel Strangeways is asked to keep an eye on a famous WWI flying ace that has received death threats. These threats indicate the murder will occur immediately after the Feast of Stephen, which coincides with a house party the ace is hosting. He hints to Strangeways that one or more of his guests may want him dead.

Nigel is visiting his aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Marlinworth. His His Uncle, who raised him, Sir John Strangeways, Assistant Commissioner of Police arrives with a job for Nigel. The Great Fergus O'Brien, an ex-flyer in WWI with the most German kills, is staying at Dower House on the Marlinworth's estate, and needs some help. He has received three threatening letters that he will be killed the day after Christmas. Nigel travels to the estate with the Marlinworths and gets to know Fergus some before the others (who might include the man sending the notes) arrive to spend Christmas. Fergus seems to spend a lot of time, including sleeping, in a hut in the front yard. The first guest to arrive was Philip Starling, an expert in Homeric civilisation and literature whom Nigel knows. Then, Lucilla Thrale (a very attractive vain blond) and Knott-Sloman, who owns a pub with a poor reputation. Lastly, Georgia Cavendish, the African explorer and her middle-aged brother Edward arrive. Lucilla has been sleeping with Fergus and used to sleep with Cavendish. After two days, Nigel has noticed nothing suspicious. Also in the house are Arthur, Fergus' servant and the cook.

On Christmas night, it appeared that both Nigel and Arthur might have been slipped something to make them sleep. The next morning, they wake late, see footsteps in the snow going to the hut, and hurry to find Fergus in the hut. Fergus is lying dead in the kitchen, his revolver next to his hand. Nigel calls in police Superintendent Bleakley and his uncle. It appears to be suicide, but Nigel is sure it's murder and finally convinces Bleakley.

Meanwhile, Nigel is falling in love with Georgia, and all the members of the party are possible suspects. However, soon an attempt is made to kill Arthur, and then Knott-Sloman is found dead. The three main suspects are now Georgia, her brother Edward, and Lucilla. Nigel realizes he needs to find out more about old history of what happened in Ireland before the war. He talks to a man who fought with Fergus to find that Fergus never talked about his former life and that he signed up with Fear, who talked a lot about his big house and his sister. Fergus spent a lot of time trying to protect Fear, until Fear was shot down when he was ordered to a different air group. Nigel makes a quick trip to Ireland and learns more history which finally convinces him of the real culprit.

The story ends with another death, and a completely new version of what happened! This book has a very complicated plot and a real surprise ending.