This novel takes place over a year, a short while after the end of WW2, and begins very light-heartedly and comically with Penelope Stevenson, her brother Dick and her pregnant sister-in-law, Betty worrying about the guests they have coming - Lady Lupin and her husband, Andrew Hastings. Many jokes are had about the guests, with the usual stereotypes clouding their perceptions of them. However, this is soon debunked by the young and vivacious Lady Lupin, who quickly warms to Betty and Dick. The seemingly idyllic country village, country house and family begin to crumble further as the weird power and role Penelope possess are revealed. For example, Betty may have just given birth, but the congratulations from well-meaning villagers (including from the admiration-struck local vicar Mr Baker) go to Penelope, a woman who slept through the entire event. She is a fascinating character in the novel, whose initial helpful nature and unselfishness start to peel away, with both Lady Lupin and Andrew beginning to see a much darker side to her. It is therefore not a surprise when Dick and Betty find Penelope shot in the garden. But was it suicide or murder? In life Penelope caused a lot of grief and pain, which the investigations by the police, Lady Lupin and her private detective friend Mr Borden expose, despite being viewed by the general populace as saintly and the epitome of the unselfish woman. But in death Penelope also causes further trouble as guilt-ridden, defensive and unreconciled to one another, Dick and Betty do not present a picture of innocence. Additionally, Penelope's death creates a vacuum, with many individuals acting out of character at her funeral, which also draws several annoying distant relatives that are comic genius on Coggin's part. With a pile of possible motives, multiple people confessing to murdering Penelope, and the suspiciously absent Colonel being nowhere to be found - despite the fact he went for a walk with Penelope on the fatal day - this is a mystery which will keep you guessing until the very end.

It is the aftermath of the Second World War and the country is in the grips of post-war austerity. Tommy and Duds Lethbridge have inherited a manor house in Buckinghamshire and plan on a weekend-long celebration to keep their minds off the drabness of the times. After a disastrous evening, in the early hours of New Year's Day, one of the guests is found dead, an apparent suicide. Duds realises that as well as the police, it might be a good idea to call in the services of her good friend Lady Lupin. The Coroner seems convinced that it is indeed suicide. But Lupin is not so sure...

Meet Lady Lupin Lorimer Hastings the young, lovely, scatter brained and kind-hearted newlywed wife to Andrew, the vicar of St Marks parish in Glanville, Sussex. When it comes to matters clerical, she is rather at sea. Nevertheless, she is determined to make her husband proud of her or at least not to embarrass him too badly. When, on Christmas Eve, Andrew's unpopular, blackmailing curate gets himself murdered, things all get a bit (hilariously) overwhelming for poor out-of-her-depth Lady Lupin: 'Who was in your sitting room during that interval? Say four-thirty on Tuesday, and ten or eleven yesterday morning?' 'If you had ever lived in a vicarage you wouldn't ask questions like that; people just walk in and out all day long. When Andrew asked me to marry him, he said he was afraid I should find it very quiet here, and what he meant I can't imagine! If I wanted quiet I'd rather retire to the Tower of Babel with a saxophone.' Lupin enlists old society pals Duds and Tommy Lethbridge, as well as Andrew's nephew, a British secret service agent, to get at the truth. Lupin refuses to believe that Diana Lloyd, 38-year-old author of the children's detective stories, could've done the deed and casts her net over the other parishioners. But all the suspects seem so nice - very much more so than the victim. Who Killed the Curate was first published in 1944 and was the first of four murder mysteries penned by Joan Coggin (1898-1980). Dancing with Death (1947) was reissued most successfully by Galileo in 2022. Her works have very strong plots and are written in a stylish and humorous manner which delighted critics at the time, and will surely equally delight the growing audience for Golden Age Detective fiction.

This novel takes place over a year, a short while after the end of WW2, and begins very light-heartedly and comically with Penelope Stevenson, her brother Dick and her pregnant sister-in-law, Betty worrying about the guests they have coming - Lady Lupin and her husband, Andrew Hastings. Many jokes are had about the guests, with the usual stereotypes clouding their perceptions of them. However, this is soon debunked by the young and vivacious Lady Lupin, who quickly warms to Betty and Dick. The seemingly idyllic country village, country house and family begin to crumble further as the weird power and role Penelope possess are revealed. For example, Betty may have just given birth, but the congratulations from well-meaning villagers (including from the admiration-struck local vicar Mr Baker) go to Penelope, a woman who slept through the entire event. She is a fascinating character in the novel, whose initial helpful nature and unselfishness start to peel away, with both Lady Lupin and Andrew beginning to see a much darker side to her. It is therefore not a surprise when Dick and Betty find Penelope shot in the garden. But was it suicide or murder? In life Penelope caused a lot of grief and pain, which the investigations by the police, Lady Lupin and her private detective friend Mr Borden expose, despite being viewed by the general populace as saintly and the epitome of the unselfish woman. But in death Penelope also causes further trouble as guilt-ridden, defensive and unreconciled to one another, Dick and Betty do not present a picture of innocence. Additionally, Penelope's death creates a vacuum, with many individuals acting out of character at her funeral, which also draws several annoying distant relatives that are comic genius on Coggin's part. With a pile of possible motives, multiple people confessing to murdering Penelope, and the suspiciously absent Colonel being nowhere to be found - despite the fact he went for a walk with Penelope on the fatal day - this is a mystery which will keep you guessing until the very end.

It is the aftermath of the Second World War and the country is in the grips of post-war austerity. Tommy and Duds Lethbridge have inherited a manor house in Buckinghamshire and plan on a weekend-long celebration to keep their minds off the drabness of the times. After a disastrous evening, in the early hours of New Year's Day, one of the guests is found dead, an apparent suicide. Duds realises that as well as the police, it might be a good idea to call in the services of her good friend Lady Lupin. The Coroner seems convinced that it is indeed suicide. But Lupin is not so sure...

Meet Lady Lupin Lorimer Hastings the young, lovely, scatter brained and kind-hearted newlywed wife to Andrew, the vicar of St Marks parish in Glanville, Sussex. When it comes to matters clerical, she is rather at sea. Nevertheless, she is determined to make her husband proud of her or at least not to embarrass him too badly. When, on Christmas Eve, Andrew's unpopular, blackmailing curate gets himself murdered, things all get a bit (hilariously) overwhelming for poor out-of-her-depth Lady Lupin: 'Who was in your sitting room during that interval? Say four-thirty on Tuesday, and ten or eleven yesterday morning?' 'If you had ever lived in a vicarage you wouldn't ask questions like that; people just walk in and out all day long. When Andrew asked me to marry him, he said he was afraid I should find it very quiet here, and what he meant I can't imagine! If I wanted quiet I'd rather retire to the Tower of Babel with a saxophone.' Lupin enlists old society pals Duds and Tommy Lethbridge, as well as Andrew's nephew, a British secret service agent, to get at the truth. Lupin refuses to believe that Diana Lloyd, 38-year-old author of the children's detective stories, could've done the deed and casts her net over the other parishioners. But all the suspects seem so nice - very much more so than the victim. Who Killed the Curate was first published in 1944 and was the first of four murder mysteries penned by Joan Coggin (1898-1980). Dancing with Death (1947) was reissued most successfully by Galileo in 2022. Her works have very strong plots and are written in a stylish and humorous manner which delighted critics at the time, and will surely equally delight the growing audience for Golden Age Detective fiction.