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A review by sadie_slater
The Sibyl in Her Grave by Sarah Caudwell
5.0
The Sibyl in Her Grave is the fourth and, sadly, last of Sarah Caudwell's Hilary Tamar mysteries. Unlike the first three, it's not available as a Kindle edition, but cheap secondhand paperbacks seem to be in plentiful supply.
Like the other Tamar novels, The Sibyl in Her Grave is largely epistolary, with Tamar's detecting (such as it is) mainly taking place from the comfort of a Lincoln's Inn wine bar on the basis of their correspondents' descriptions of the events where they are. In this case, the main correspondent is Julia Larwood's Aunt Regina, whose village investment syndicate seems to be mixed up in a potential insider dealing case which is concerning one of Selena's clients. Tamar and the junior barristers of 62 New Square set out to try to work out what the connection is, and therefore which of Selena's client's suspects is the guilty party, a task complicated by a series of unexpected events in the Sussex village where Aunt Regina lives, beginning with the sudden death of Isabella del Comino, 'psychic counsellor' and one of the more difficult residents of the village.
Although I tend to think that, with the Tamar books, the detection is only an excuse for 300-odd pages of witty banter and arch observation, this one kept me guessing until the end, with plenty of red herrings and dead ends, and just enough clues dropped about some things for the reader to get there a few pages ahead of Tamar. Mostly, though, I simply enjoyed it for the wittty banter and arch observation, and the relationships between both the recurring set of characters and Aunt Regina's friends in her village. It's a delightful read; having read all four, the books are definitely going on my list of comfort re-reads, and to facilitate this I have secondhand paperbacks of the first three coming to join this one.
Like the other Tamar novels, The Sibyl in Her Grave is largely epistolary, with Tamar's detecting (such as it is) mainly taking place from the comfort of a Lincoln's Inn wine bar on the basis of their correspondents' descriptions of the events where they are. In this case, the main correspondent is Julia Larwood's Aunt Regina, whose village investment syndicate seems to be mixed up in a potential insider dealing case which is concerning one of Selena's clients. Tamar and the junior barristers of 62 New Square set out to try to work out what the connection is, and therefore which of Selena's client's suspects is the guilty party, a task complicated by a series of unexpected events in the Sussex village where Aunt Regina lives, beginning with the sudden death of Isabella del Comino, 'psychic counsellor' and one of the more difficult residents of the village.
Although I tend to think that, with the Tamar books, the detection is only an excuse for 300-odd pages of witty banter and arch observation, this one kept me guessing until the end, with plenty of red herrings and dead ends, and just enough clues dropped about some things for the reader to get there a few pages ahead of Tamar. Mostly, though, I simply enjoyed it for the wittty banter and arch observation, and the relationships between both the recurring set of characters and Aunt Regina's friends in her village. It's a delightful read; having read all four, the books are definitely going on my list of comfort re-reads, and to facilitate this I have secondhand paperbacks of the first three coming to join this one.