This is the second, out of the four Lady Lupin mysteries written by Joan Coggin in the 1940s. In recent years Galileo Publishing have been reprinting these stories, which has given me a great excuse to re-read this fun series. You can see my thoughts on the other books here:
- Who Killed the Curate? (1944)
- Penelope Passes or Why Did She Die? (1946)
- Dancing with Death (1947)
I first read The Mystery at Orchard House back in 2014, and it is the only Lupin mystery which I have not reviewed on my blog. Today’s post is finally remedying this situation.
Synopsis
‘On the eve of World War II, Lady Lupin Hastings, the young, totally scatterbrained but kindly wife to Andrew Hastings, the vicar of Glanville, is off for a bit of a rest cure at a country hotel in Kent, owned and run by her old friend Diana Turner, while she recovers from a bout of influenza. However, no sooner has she arrived when a series of petty thefts – and perhaps even an attempted murder? – requires that she assume her other persona: that of detective. In spite of her best efforts, theft follows theft, and the guests in the hotel all seem to take their eccentricities to new levels. The situation gets even worse when a guest’s car nearly crashes after the steering is deliberately tampered with. Is it attempted murder? And just who set fire to Orchard house? It could be any one of the guests, a very odd assortment who spend most of the time bickering among themselves. As usual, Lady Lupin gets everything wrong yet somehow stumbles to the truth as she runs the hotel in Diana’s absence and tries to conceal her highborn origins from a socialist garage man she befriends.’
Overall Thoughts
The Mystery at Orchard House sees Lady Lupin going off for a rest cure, after she and her family have had a round of influenza. She has gone to a guest house run by her friend Diana Trent, a children’s author, who we first meet in Who Killed the Curate? Lady Lupin is optimistic about her stay: “I foresee a fortnight of absolute peace and quiet in front of me, and I shall go back to Glanville as fat as a pig.” However, even the most novice of mystery readers will know that this is unlikely to be the case…
Chaos and farce have shadowed Lady Lupin rather closely all her life, making her an unexpected choice for a vicar’s wife, but that is what she is, having married Andrew at the start of book 1. We are told that:
‘She could not be called an efficient clergyman’s wife, but was always ready to plunge into any activity that was going on, and her natural gaiety and good humour made a parish bazaar or a temperance meeting an occasion for pleasure for most of the people concerned, although the original purpose of the gathering became frequently somewhat obscured.’
And this is what makes Lupin such a fun character to read about. Her mix-ups are hilarious, although never intended. Moreover, she is always well-intentioned, but never insipid. Her comedy is not something foisted on the reader or other characters but is part of a symbiotic relationship between Lupin and those she meets. She may respond to something in a muddled way, but at the same time foibles and weaknesses in others equally setup these moments. Moreover, Lupin can be a surprisingly misunderstood person, and this novel brings this out well.
This is a great novel to read when you are feeling down or worn out, as there are so many lines or passages which raise a smile, such as this one:
“Even Miss Gibson, the Sunday-school superintendent, is beginning to unbend to me a bit […] she sent me oranges when I was ill and a little book entitled What a Mother Can Do for Her Child. I must read it sometime, it would be nice to know. Oh, and the guides sent me a beautiful illuminated text about smiling and singing under all difficulties. Not a very easy thing to do when you are busy with the basin! I did try it once, but the nurse said: ‘Is the pain very bad, dear?’ which was rather damping. Then the Parochial Church Council sent me some lovely flowers and a card attached, ‘With deepest sympathy,’ which I thought a little premature.”
Coggin is brilliant at conjuring up an engaging social milieu, whether it is a village or in the case of this second book, an ill-assorted house full of guests. We are quickly introduced to all of them, and I felt they were easy to remember. Underlying tensions peek above the surface.
Lupin is often put upon by others, and this soon begins happening in The Mystery at Orchard House, as during her first night she is woken up by other guests, wanting to borrow things, to confide in her or ask for her help – all the while usually insulting her intellect or perceived lack of ambition in life. This accumulates until one guest declares their life, their child has gone missing. Kind-hearted Lady Lupin leaps into action organising a search party, and only then she realises that this lost infant is in fact a missing manuscript.
Unlike the other books in this series, the mystery component is not in the background, but it is not the main priority or the driving force of the narrative. For some this would make it a poor read and if I was judging this story purely on this basis, it would not do very well. But I don’t feel that is the novel’s primary aim. Instead, I think it sets out to be a comedy of errors. There is danger and wrongdoing, but it is more a tale of misadventures and muddled matchmaking. It would make for a delightful TV series or film.
Inept amateur sleuths can be irritating, particularly if their behaviour delays the action of the book or they rush headlong into peril. Nevertheless, despite Lupin reminding me a little of Winnie the Pooh in this novel, she does not annoy me when she gets things wrong. Very often she is being besieged by multiple demands upon her time and attention, and it is not surprising that things get tangled. The incidental characters are a triumph, as they are used really well to maintain the humour of the narrative. The mystery element is slender, but the answers to it are satisfactory. The time to reach them is a little long, but the journey is more than enjoyable.
Rating: 4.25/5
Source: Review Copy (Galileo Publishing)