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rosieclaverton's review against another edition
5.0
Stimulating case with fascinating resolution and a wonderful cast of characters. One of my favourites so far in the series.
greybeard49's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Set in Oxford just after the War this book is very much of it's time - my main reason for liking it. VERY middle class and with outrageous and slightly unbelievable characters, the book does pull you along. As in all such tales, the main protagonists gather for the ingenious denouement at the end - it's all here.
Fun to read and well written.
Fun to read and well written.
annareadsmysteries's review against another edition
5.0
This novella was sent to me by the universe, as I would not have picked it up otherwise.
So how did I get my hands on it you ask?
In October, I embarked on a cruise and decided to raid the onboard library. This particular library had a swap-a-book section, where you could take a book and leave a book. An old lady walks in with a stack of books and sees me reading a murder mystery. She hands me the title, states 'You might like this' and leaves. So I read the synopsis, I see there are murders in this book and say, sure, let's read it.
Now mind you, it took me a good while to end up reading it, with having an already prepared TBR for December and having started an enormous list of books in November - but I've finally got there and I can't stop raving about it.
READ this novella people - it's super short, very funny and the best murder resolution that I've read in a long while.
Without giving a lot away, we follow a newlywed couple, who work for the theatre and one of their colleagues gets murdered. They call in a professor friend of theirs, who is Crispin's 'Poirot' called Fen. (while never mentioned in this book, I imagined him to be Asian)
But my god, the humour, the wit - where was this author all my life?
Honestly, do yourself a favour and read it. I can't believe I finished this on the 30th of December and it's the best book I've read in 2023.
So how did I get my hands on it you ask?
In October, I embarked on a cruise and decided to raid the onboard library. This particular library had a swap-a-book section, where you could take a book and leave a book. An old lady walks in with a stack of books and sees me reading a murder mystery. She hands me the title, states 'You might like this' and leaves. So I read the synopsis, I see there are murders in this book and say, sure, let's read it.
Now mind you, it took me a good while to end up reading it, with having an already prepared TBR for December and having started an enormous list of books in November - but I've finally got there and I can't stop raving about it.
READ this novella people - it's super short, very funny and the best murder resolution that I've read in a long while.
Without giving a lot away, we follow a newlywed couple, who work for the theatre and one of their colleagues gets murdered. They call in a professor friend of theirs, who is Crispin's 'Poirot' called Fen. (while never mentioned in this book, I imagined him to be Asian)
But my god, the humour, the wit - where was this author all my life?
Honestly, do yourself a favour and read it. I can't believe I finished this on the 30th of December and it's the best book I've read in 2023.
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
Not my favourite Fen title, but a good one nonetheless! As always, the silly tone of much of the surrounding story makes the quite nasty and sad ending feel rather surprising. That, however, is a regular paradox of the Fen mysteries.
sandin954's review against another edition
3.0
Classic golden age type mystery featuring Gervase Fen, an Oxford don, who is a well known crime solver. The book is set just after World War 2 in Oxford where an opera house is preparing to perform Wagner for the first time since the war but murder soon intervenes. The plot was suitably tricky, the characters all well rounded, and I enjoyed picking up bits and pieces about Wagner while listening. The audio narration was performed by Philip Bird who did a stellar job.
mizpurplest's review against another edition
3.0
I was fairly excited to read this book, having just really enjoyed another Edmund Crispin novel. Unfortunately, I rapidly discovered I was actually just rereading the same book.
I knew that the setting would be the same, and that the theme would be theater people, but I was unprepared for just how similar the two books were.
- The first few chapters focus on how much everyone hates one particular character.
- The hated character dies suspiciously.
- Everyone has a motive; no one has an alibi. Several people announce that they had considered killing the dead person themselves.
- The police think it is suicide; Gervese Fen thinks it is murder. Everyone tells Fen he should leave well enough alone because the world is better off without the dead person.
- Fen spends quite a while with a moral dilemma; meanwhile, two couples fall in love and become engaged.
- One member of the newly engaged couples is also murdered. Everyone is surprised and alarmed.
- By the end, the murderer(s) is dead, saving Fen from his dilemma.
I liked the first one enough to give Crispin another shot, so I've got one more book to read. If this one has the same plot, I give up.
I knew that the setting would be the same, and that the theme would be theater people, but I was unprepared for just how similar the two books were.
- The first few chapters focus on how much everyone hates one particular character.
- The hated character dies suspiciously.
- Everyone has a motive; no one has an alibi. Several people announce that they had considered killing the dead person themselves.
- The police think it is suicide; Gervese Fen thinks it is murder. Everyone tells Fen he should leave well enough alone because the world is better off without the dead person.
- Fen spends quite a while with a moral dilemma; meanwhile, two couples fall in love and become engaged.
- One member of the newly engaged couples is also murdered. Everyone is surprised and alarmed.
- By the end, the murderer(s) is dead, saving Fen from his dilemma.
I liked the first one enough to give Crispin another shot, so I've got one more book to read. If this one has the same plot, I give up.
quietjenn's review against another edition
3.0
Ah, Fen. I've missed you. Not quite sure why I waited so long to get back to you. If you like your vintage mysteries with a dash of absurdity and humor, Crispin isn't a bad way to go. Swan Song wasn't *quite* as rollicking as a book whose descriptions begins with "Hurrah!" ought to be, but still lots of fun and it goes down quickly. Also, it's very twisty, in a good way. It's not necessary to have read the earlier books to enjoy it, although if you have, some of the bits will be even funnier.
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
I do love me an academic mystery. And Edmund Crispin's delightful series starring Gervase Fen--the Oxford don and quirky amateur detective--is a marvelous example of academic mysteries done right. There is witty, sparkling dialogue. There is intellectual name-dropping--"There goes C. S. Lewis," said Fen suddenly. "It must be Tuesday." There is unashamed references to fellow Golden Age sleuths (H.M., Mrs. Bradley and Albert Campion). There is the entertainingly mad brother of the deceased. There is brilliant humor--it's worth the price of admission just for the description of Fen driving his sporty little red car, "Lily Christine." Oh...and, incidentally, a cleverly constructed "impossible" crime. Impossible, that is, if it's murder and not suicide.
Swan Song gives us murder at the opera. An Oxford opera house is putting on a production of Die Meistersinger and while the star of the show, Edwin Shorthouse, may sing like an angel most everyone who knew him thought his origins were from a much warmer climate. His drunken advances to every available (or even unavailable female) doesn't do anything for his popularity with the ladies...or their male friends and spouses. And his insistence on misunderstanding direction hasn't won him any points with the conductor. So, it's no surprise that few tears are shed when Shorthouse is found swinging at the end of a hangman's noose in his dressing room late one night. The trouble is that while there are plenty people with motive, there just doesn't seem to be any way that someone could have murdered him. The police are prepared to accept a case of suicide. But a stubborn coroner's jury will have it as murder. And then there are attacks on the wife of one of the other singers. A second member of the cast will die and a third will be attacked before Fen will reveal how a man can be murdered by hanging with no one else in the room--and how revenge can extend beyond the grave.
This is great fun and Crispin's writing is a delight. Very reminiscent of Dorothy L. Sayers--which probably explains why I like it so much. Four stars.
{This review is mine and was first posted on my blog at http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2012/04/swan-song-review.html. Please request permission to repost any portion. Thanks.}