Death of a Chancellor: A Murder Mystery Featuring Lord Francis Powerscourt

by David Dickinson and David Dickinson

Book Overview

England, 1901: Beautiful Compton Cathedral in the west of England is preparing for a special anniversary to celebrate one thousand years of Christian worship. But a few weeks before the ceremonies are due to take place, the Chancellor, a high official of the cathedral, dies in mysterious circumstances. Only a doctor and the undertaker are allowed to view the corpse. It soon transpires that the Chancellor was one of the richest men in England, and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786714921
• ISBN13: 9780786714926
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
• Length: 313 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

An excellent historical mystery with a unique motive

First Sentence: There was just one figure on the deck of the ship at four o'clock in the morning. The Chancellor of the Cathedral at Compton has been found dead in his chamber by his servant. Together with the doctor and undertaker, they arrange for no one else to see the body. Upon discovering her brother was one of the richest men in England, The Chancellor's sister, married to a wastrel, hires Powerscourt to find out how her brother died and, if murdered, find the killer. After another death, Powerscourt comes to suspect the motives are very different than anything he's dealt with before. Dickinson opened with an excellent opening that drew me into the story and the characters. He has a unique voice with almost a lightness to it that indicates just how much he enjoys his characters and writing his books. I love his characters; Powerscourt, whom the author allows occasional mental flights of fancy and wonderful wry humor; Johnnie Fitzgerald, the Irishman who loves wine and bird watching; William McKenzie, the tea-totaling Protestant Scotsman who can follow a suspect for days, and Powerscourt's beloved wife, Lucy. His secondary characters are equally strong, particularly Patrick and Anne. The historical information may set me running to the internet, but I always Dickinson's research holds true. I appreciated the important, but concise, definitions of the various roles of the church figures, the information on the Reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 and learning the difference between the ritualists and the Evangelicals in the Anglican Church at this time. I do caution that Catholics will probably not like this book. The plot was excellent and built bit-by-bit; body-by-body. There is a very good balance of anticipation and horror and the revelations along with an excellent segment on the motives of murder. The ending was well done, particularly the thoughts and feelings Powerscourt had toward the killer. While someone commented on there being anachronisms, I did not notice them. What I did notice was a very strong sense of time and place. This was an excellent book in a series which has become a favorite of mine and one highly recommend. DEATH OF A CHANCELLOR (Hist Mys-Lord Francis Powerscourt-England-1901/Gaslight) - Ex Dickinson, David - 4th in series Constable & Robinson, Ltd., 2005, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 1841197785

an excellent read

Perhaps the most perplexing of David Dickinson's Lord Francis Powerscourt mystery novels to date, "Death of a Chancellor" proved to be an absorbing read in spite of its sedate pacing. The book opens with the Chancellor of Cathedral of Compton's butler discovering that his master has been murdered in a most horrific manner. Wanting to protect his master's, John Eustace, reputation, the butler, together with the help of Eustace's good friend, Dr. Blackstaff, arrange it so that everyone will believe that Eustace died suddenly of an ailment at the doctor's house, as well as to have the coffin sealed so that no one will see the manner in which Eustace was murdered. All goes as Dr. Blackstaff and Eustace's butler plan but for Eustace's sister. It so happens that Eustace was a very rich man, and his sister, Augusta Cockburn, has hopes of inheriting some of that money. To that end, she's been a constant and regular visitor to her brother's home, and something about the manner in which things have been handled awakes her suspicions that her brother was murdered. And so she hires Lord Francis Powerscourt, one of the best private investigators in England, to look into her brother's death. Newly returned from South Africa, Lord Francis is loath to take a case that would separate him, again, from his family. But his compassionate wife, Lady Lucy, persuades him to take the case. And soon, Lord Francis finds himself in the village of Compton Cathedral, gently probing into the late chancellor's death. Initially, he finds little to substantiate Mrs. Cockburn's beliefs, save that, like her, he too thinks that the butler and Dr. Blackstaff are lying about the circumstances surrounding the chancellor's death. But does that make it murder? And if he was murdered, doesn't his own avaricious and unlikable client, Mrs. Cockburn, rate as a suspect as well given her eagerness to claim her brother's wealth? And then one of the choristers is strangled and his body found roasted on the great spit in the Vicars Hall kitchen. Is there a madman on the loose targeting Compton's churchmen? Lord Francis senses that there is something sinister afoot, and that the killer is mad and full of hate. But even he is unprepared for the scope of what's going on in Compton Cathedral as he slowly uncovers all the cathedral's secrets and unmasks a cunning and ruthless killer in the process... If you enjoyed Anthony Trollope's Barchester novels, you might just enjoy "Death of a Chancellor" as well -- it reads a little like a more sinister version of the Barchester books, full of church politics and complete with differing characters, both churchmen and villagers who make their home in the cathedral village and who take an interest in what's going on in their cathedral. But going back to "Death of a Chancellor," this was an extremely well written and intelligent mystery novel, full of interesting historical facts about the history of the Anglican Church in England that David Dickinson cleverl