Yes, there's a country house party, and yes, there is a blizzard, but this Strangeways outing is one of the espionage novels. Strangeways is sent to keep an eye on Professor Wragby, a scientist with the formula for a secret weapon.
Published in 1964, this is very much a product of that era in the Cold War. The Communists, conveniently, are the villains, but are caricatures who just seem to be going through the motions. They blackmail a (predictably) young and gay Englishman to help them kidnap Lucy Wragby to force her father to give them the formula.
The house party guests are a disparate lot, and it's never quite clear how and why they are all there. The true star of the book is not Strangeways, but is Lucy Wragby, whose wit and ingenuity are some of the few bright spots in an otherwise dull novel.
For readers who love 60s spy novels, this might be an enjoyable read. For others, who are wanting a more traditional mystery, try one of the other books in the series first.
I received a free copy from the Crime Classics Review Club in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Nigel Strangeways mystery and I was absolutely thrilled by the writing and the story, itself. The Cold War era and spies has always been a favorite of mine. I'm aware of Nicholas Blake and this is a great first entry to read, for those whom have not read him, yet.

The Cold War era spies were thought to be everywhere and suspicions abounded. This Nigel Strangeways mystery captures that uneasy atmosphere well. Nicholas Blake has the reader, along with our hero, unpeel the truths about a houseful of suspects before finally arriving at the conclusion. Weather adds to this atmosphere, with a blizzard being yet another player in arriving at the solution. Underlying all the state secrets and violent actions there is an understated humor that keeps a breath of humanity and hope alive.

I highly recommend this novel and I want to thank Net Galley and Crime Classics for this digital copy.

I love Nigel Strangeways. Nicholas Blake writes in English; by that I mean the prose is descriptive but not boring: his plotting is very well done: and his grammar is top notch.

OK, so this installment. At first, I was fearful that we might encounter a terrific amount of violence. Not true! Just enough and to make it real. I loved Lucy's character. I loved the twist in the plot. The outcome for all characters was the best that could be expected I thought. Overall, a good story and Nicholas Blake succeeded with this one. Although a little improbable, it is no more improbable than any of the writings of the Golden Age mystery writers I do love.

Set in the epic of the Cold War, Blake spins a tale of espionage. Which side, East or West, will end by commanding scientific secrets of international significance? The clock keeps ticking as the action moves forward.
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I'm not a big Nicholas Blake fan, but I rate this one above the rest. Actually a Cold War thriller, it's a real period piece, with "bear-like" Russian spies, deluded fellow travlers and intrepid defenders of the Free World's scientific secrets. Fun with a bag of cookies.

If this is the 15th Nigel Strangeways book, it is no surprise that the author is bored with his hero. He hardly takes the time to make him or his girlfriend stand out as individuals; they are just two of many investigators/police officials who can't get any detecting done because of a big snowstorm. The criminals are equally incompetent, caricatured nasty bad guys.
It takes Blake forever to get the story started, as we have to plow through endless pages of creaky dialogue as the would-be kidnappers work out the obscure details of their plot. The story takes on some semblance of life when the young kidnap victim thinks about ways to outsmart her captors.
The denouement is more endless description of rescuers plodding through mountains of snow to achieve their goal. The author seems to think drawing out the rescue endeavor adds to the suspense - it emphatically does not; the reader is miles ahead of the whole enterprise and has lost interest long before the last plot strings are ineptly tied together.
If this book had had an editor, the would had been only about 15 pages long.

I had mixed feelings about this book. It began very slowly, and it took a bit of effort to get into it. Generally, I avoid books that bring children into danger, but I decided to give this one a try because I have enjoyed every Nicholas Blake book, I’ve read. Despite my initial reservations, the child Lucy turned out to be one of the highlights of the book.

The Cold War/ spy theme seemed dated and was hard for me to relate to. The book included many of the elements that one would expect in a Golden Age mystery, (amateur detective, British village, manor house, A varied assortment of characters), although I think it might have been written slightly later. I liked this book once I got into it, but I didn’t feel that it was one of the better Nigel Strangeways stories. It seemed a bit more of a spy story than a mystery.

You have spies,you have mystery,you have kidnapping,you have a scientist who holds the key to saving the world,what more could you ask for? Interesting and exciting and what's going to happen next!! Very well written and I did enjoy this book! Will read more from this author!! Net Gallery thank you!!

In the Cold War era spies were thought to be everywhere and suspicions abounded. This Nigel Strangeways mystery captures that uneasy atmosphere well. Nicholas Blake has the reader, along with our hero, unpeel the truths about a houseful of suspects before finally arriving at the conclusion. Weather adds to this atmosphere, with a blizzard being yet another player in arriving at the solution. Underlying all the state secrets and violent actions there is an understated humor that keeps a breath of humanity and hope alive. Altogether this is a jolly good read.

Good writing and very interesting, engaging characters. Unfortunately, there are so many evenly offered characters that I often felt like I had no chance to really get to know them. Strangeways got lost in the mix. The first half of the book was rather slow, but it finally began to pick up. It’s an interesting picture of post-WWII bolsheviks and the Cold War in rural England. The scientist with secrets that he can be blackmailed or threatened to turn over is a bit cliché, but it’s well enough done. Not my favorite of Blake's.

BTW, I am still trying to understand the meaning of the title. Makes no sense to me.

I love the Nigel Strangeways mysteries. They are a bit of a challenge to read; long, complex, and with some antiquated language, but it is worth it. I always learn something with reference to culture at that time: dress, music, plays, etc. This one did not disappoint!

More of a spy story than a mystery, involving the kidnapping of a young girl in order to extract secret information from her father. With the interesting characters I’ve come to expect in this series as well as a fair amount of humor. A fun and satisfying read.

Set in 1962 during the Cold War, Nigel Strangeways has been asked by the British government to watch over a prominent English scientist who is on holiday at a country estate. Professor Wrangby has developed a formula that will give England a military edge over Russia and the British government fears for the professor's safety. Despite Strangeways's presence, Professor Wrangby's young daughter, Lucy, is kidnapped by enemy agents who hold her for ransom in exchange for the formula. It's a race against time to find the child before she is killed. The search is hampered by a blizzard and there's a mole among the guests; but, the agents have under estimated Lucy's resourcefulness.

I love British mystery stories and the classic ones are the best. Very much enjoyed the style of writing and character development. Kept me guessing until the revelation. Surprised. Highly recommend. I received an advance reader copy from netgallely. Opinions are my own.

The Sad Variety is the 15th (and penultimate) Nigel Strangeways mystery by Nicholas Blake. Originally released in 1964, this reformatting and re-release by Agora books published 11th July 2019 is 238 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 Laureate and father of multiple academy award winner Daniel Day-Lewis.

Nicholas Blake's fictive amateur detective Strangeways stars in one of those classic civilized British series that I revisit again and again. I've reviewed a number of the books previously and it's just a very entertaining and meditative read. The situations are outlandish, the characters often caricatures, the dialogue is quippy, but despite all that, they're always fun to read.

This installment finds Strangeways on the hunt for international communist agitators and kidnappers, trapped in a country house with a small stable of potential communist moles. Although the plot (and denouement) are foreshadowed heavily, the characterizations, especially abductee Lucy (clever child) kept me reading late into the night.

The book was written in the early 60s, in the middle of the 'Red Menace' and as such, may be a little dated for modern audiences. As long as the reader keeps in mind that at the time, people were seeing communist agitators under every flower pot, and the dramatic tension in the book makes more sense.

For Kindle Unlimited subscribers; this title, as well as the much of the author's oeuvre is available in the KU subscription to borrow and download for free.


Really entertaining British cold war mystery. Four stars.

This book takes place in the 1960’s mostly in the English countryside. Professor Wragly has just made a breakthrough in nuclear physics. Petrov, a ranking Communist in London would like to know what it is. He figures the best way to get information out of Wragly is through his daughter Lucy, who he loves very much.

Nigel Strangeloveis hired to watch out for Wragly while they take a holiday at the Guest House. Meanwhile, Petrov sends Annie, a communist worker, Paul, who is being blackmailed to participate, and Evan, an 8 year old boy to a remote house not far from the Guest House. Folks at the neighboring farm see Evan several times and are told he is the sickly nephew of Annie and Paul. Soon Annie and Paul kidnap Lucy, and Paul is brought to the train to London. They cut Lucy’s hair and die it to make her look like Evan.

The book gets very exciting as Lucy begins to plot to get away, Wragly disappears, and Nigel isn’t sure where where Wragly went, and whether or not either Wragly or Lucy are still alive.

Nicolas Blake is a fine writer. His characters, bad and good, act in realistic and often endearing ways. The story is of its time with nasty Russian communists doing evil deeds. Who is the household guest who betrays the professor? I was unable to figure out the answer. A happy, articulate romp through the English countryside.

I was so excited to read this book and it fell short for me. It was easy to figure out and a bit tedious.