Say It With Poison
Encyclopedia
Say It With Poison is a whodunnit or mystery novel by Ann Granger
. It is the first in a series of 15 (as of 2004) Mitchell and Markby Mysteries.
Although they feel curiously attracted to each other, the two protagonists who solve the case, Mitchell and Markby, are not a team. Rather, they work against each other. Meredith Mitchell, aged 35 at the beginning of the series, is a British civil servant
who, unmarried and without relatives to take care of, embarks on a career in the diplomatic service
and, at the beginning of the novel, has spent many years abroad, most recently in Yugoslavia
. On her arrival back home, she metamorphoses into an amateur sleuth. Chief Inspector Alan Markby is a 42 year-old divorced policeman working from the fictitious town of Bamford somewhere in the Cotswolds
. The two meet when the police have to investigate a death in a small village near Bamford where Mitchell is staying.
Granger is renowned for writing traditional detective fiction
but also for bringing the classic whodunnit up to date. As opposed to, say, Miss Marple
's St. Mary Mead
, the village of Westerfield is a soulless place with a dwindling population, with all the young people leaving. There is no village shop; no village school; no doctor's practice; no vicarage, with the old church boarded up and only to be opened for special occasions. In spite of all that, the villagers are reluctant to accept, and suspicious of, any newcomers to their rural community.
reveals that it has been a slow death, that Lorrimer has been poisoned over a longer period of time. At first there are no suspects, especially as no one seems to have had a motive
for killing Lorrimer. But when one night Lorrimer's 80 year-old neighbour Bert Yewell is slain in his pyjamas next to his garden shed it becomes clear that Yewell must have known a secret which he was about to give away. In the end it turns out that Eve Owens, her daughter but also one of the guests staying at Owens's house are not as innocent as they seemed at the beginning.
Ann Granger
Patricia Ann Granger is a British crime writer.Granger was born in Portsmouth, England. She took a Modern Languages degree at the University of London, taught English for a year in France, but eventually went to work in the visa sections of British consulates and embassies in Yugoslavia,...
. It is the first in a series of 15 (as of 2004) Mitchell and Markby Mysteries.
Although they feel curiously attracted to each other, the two protagonists who solve the case, Mitchell and Markby, are not a team. Rather, they work against each other. Meredith Mitchell, aged 35 at the beginning of the series, is a British civil servant
British Civil Service
Her Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government - the government of the United Kingdom, composed of a Cabinet of ministers chosen by the prime minister, as well as the devolved...
who, unmarried and without relatives to take care of, embarks on a career in the diplomatic service
Diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...
and, at the beginning of the novel, has spent many years abroad, most recently in Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
. On her arrival back home, she metamorphoses into an amateur sleuth. Chief Inspector Alan Markby is a 42 year-old divorced policeman working from the fictitious town of Bamford somewhere in the Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
. The two meet when the police have to investigate a death in a small village near Bamford where Mitchell is staying.
Granger is renowned for writing traditional detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
but also for bringing the classic whodunnit up to date. As opposed to, say, Miss Marple
Miss Marple
Jane Marple, usually referred to as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie's crime novels and in twenty short stories. Miss Marple is an elderly spinster who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur detective. She is one of the most famous...
's St. Mary Mead
St. Mary Mead
St. Mary Mead was the fictional village created by popular crime fiction author Dame Agatha Christie.The quaint, sleepy village was home to the renowned detective spinster Miss Jane Marple. The village was first mentioned in a Miss Marple book in 1930, when it was the setting for the first Marple...
, the village of Westerfield is a soulless place with a dwindling population, with all the young people leaving. There is no village shop; no village school; no doctor's practice; no vicarage, with the old church boarded up and only to be opened for special occasions. In spite of all that, the villagers are reluctant to accept, and suspicious of, any newcomers to their rural community.
Plot summary
Eve Owens, a British film star who is now in her mid-forties and who has settled down in the small village of Bamford, invites her cousin Meredith Mitchell to her daughter Sara's wedding, which is to take place in a couple of weeks' time in the old village church. But shortly after Mitchell's arrival one of Eve Owens's neighbours, a young artist called Philip Lorrimer, is found dead in his cottage—poisoned. The autopsyAutopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
reveals that it has been a slow death, that Lorrimer has been poisoned over a longer period of time. At first there are no suspects, especially as no one seems to have had a motive
Motive (law)
A motive, in law, especially criminal law, is the cause that moves people to induce a certain action. Motive, in itself, is not an element of any given crime; however, the legal system typically allows motive to be proven in order to make plausible the accused's reasons for committing a crime, at...
for killing Lorrimer. But when one night Lorrimer's 80 year-old neighbour Bert Yewell is slain in his pyjamas next to his garden shed it becomes clear that Yewell must have known a secret which he was about to give away. In the end it turns out that Eve Owens, her daughter but also one of the guests staying at Owens's house are not as innocent as they seemed at the beginning.