A Lurking Primrose (2024) by Suzette A. Hill

After reading a couple of non-mystery stories at the start of June, which did not turn out as well as I had hoped, I decided to return to a series I was fond of. On the 2^{nd of} July, A Lurking Primrose, the next book in the Francis Oughterard series is being released, although by this stage Francis is no longer around and his sister, Primrose, has taken over being the series protagonist. However, the main attraction and stars of the series, for me, has always been Francis’ (now Primrose’s) pets: Maurice (a cat) and Bouncer (a dog). The early books of the series see these two directly involved in main events, trying to keep Francis from landing in prison and we often see things from their perspective. Their relationship with one another is great and contains much comedy gold. There is an author’s note at the start of A Lurking Primrose which gives a summary of the series so far, to help get new readers up to speed, but you might prefer to read the earlier books first; I would certainly argue they are the strongest.

Synopsis

‘Erasmus House, a prestigious prep school for boys in Lewes, is in uncharacteristic disarray over a looming visit from Her Majesty’s inspectors. Convinced that inspectors dislike old-established schools, headmaster Mr Winchbrooke devises a cunning plan to drag Erasmus House into modernity – by replacing the rustic paintings of eccentric local artist and amateur sleuth, Primrose Oughterard, with more ‘challenging’ abstract works. But Primrose’s paintings are the least of Winchbrooke’s worries when the school’s assistant matron, Miss Memling, is found dead in a Brighton hotel room, clutching an empty gin bottle. Was there more to dull Aida Memling than met the eye? As one of the school’s trustees, Primrose springs into action. With her late brother Francis’s pets Maurice and Bouncer by her side, can Primrose solve the Memling mystery?’

Overall Thoughts’

This is a series which started in the 1950s, but is now in the 1960s, although as I have said in other reviews, it is hard to notice the historical setting. It took me several books to realise it myself.

The initial drama is not murder, but a forthcoming school inspection for Erasmus House and rumours have it that the inspection will be tougher than previous years. The opening chapter sees the headmaster trying to convince his colleagues of this:

‘“But I can’t see what the problem is,” his deputy persisted. “After all, the school passed the last inspection with flying colours; the chap awarded us praise and ticks all round.”

“Yes, and he has since been dismissed for incompetence,” Winchbrooke said dryily.’

One way the school decides to give the false impression that they are forward thinking and modern is to hire some new paintings for the walls, putting Primrose’s more traditional sheep paintings into storage. This is a minor element of the plot, but it provides an amusing end note and it is also an entry point for other characters within the fictional universe to be linked to main plot.

The majority of the story is narrated by Primrose, which is a shame as I find her voice less appealing, and I preferred the stories in the series where the animals narrated more. Primrose’s chapters are prone to over-the-top descriptions. I really don’t need to know, for example, how the car tyres coped with traversing someone’s drive, in lots of detail. Furthermore, she can come across as quite stuffy and too wordy when she is setting out to do something. There are also moments of irritating over reaction, such as when someone puts sugar in their beverage, she ‘instinctively flinched’, as she dislikes sweet tea.

Dotted through the novel are short chapters which are letters from Emily Bartlett (school secretary) to her sister. These epistles do not add anything new to the plot and tend to regurgitate all the information the reader has just been told. Looking back on the book as a whole I can’t really see the point of them. We must wait until chapters 6 and 7 to get a chapter each from Maurice and Bouncer. These alas are very short and unlike previous entries in the series, these chapters, and the others that follow, add little to the story. At best they become an ineffectual Greek chorus, and it is sad to see the pair in such a diminished role. Aside from the ending, their inclusion in the story seems to lack purpose.

The death of the assistant matron, the main mystery, is not particularly interesting and I don’t think Primrose does a good job of convincing us otherwise. Some facts are told repeatedly from different points of view, which is perhaps due to Primrose struggling to access information, since she cannot openly amateur sleuth. Consequently, the pace of the mystery suffers, as everything takes a long time to emerge and there are aspects of the case which get little attention. The police are in the background of the narrative, and Primrose doesn’t interact with them much.

The solution is thrown out at the reader and despite Primrose being nowhere near reaching the truth, the guilty party think otherwise and invite her round for a drink. The plan is to bump her off, although not without fully informing Primrose about what they have done first. Given the cluelessness of the amateur sleuth in this case, a killer confession is somewhat necessary, although I think the reader will have their eye on the guilty party ahead of the denouement. The rescue party from the animals lacks drama and has annoying elements to it, such as only one animal going to save Primrose, as another canine friend is too busy having a wee. Seriously? Unsurprisingly, the book concludes with a whimper rather than a bang.

Rating: 3/5

Source: Review Copy (Severn House via Net Galley)