Death Mask (1959)

Edith Pargeter's mystery career began long before she started writing the Brother Cadfael series as Ellis Peters.  Some of her earliest published titles were mysteries.  As "John Redfern" and "Jolyon Carr," she wrote several books with titles like Murder in the Dispensary just before and during World War II.  She then turned to writing novels and a few mysteries, mostly under her real name.  It was only in the late 1950s that she started writing under the name Ellis Peters.  (Some of her books from earlier, such as Fallen into the Pit, have been republished as by Ellis Peters.)

Death Mask, published in the UK in 1959 and in the US in 1960, is one of those early Ellis Peters titles.  It is a standalone told in the first person by Evelyn Keith, a man in his mid-30s who has returned to England after living in the Middle East.  A mere three hours after returning to England, having lost his job, he runs into the love of his life, Dorothy Almond. Dorothy is the widow of Bruce Almond and the mother of 15-year-old Crispin.  Crispin was living with Bruce at his archaeological dig in Greece when Bruce was crushed by a lintel on a temple in the middle of the night.  Evelyn ends up accepting Dorothy's offer of a job tutoring Crispin, who is now refusing to attend school or accept any kind of tutor.  When Evelyn meets Crispin, he quickly discovers that there is something going on with Crispin besides typical teenager attitude.  Maybe Bruce's death wasn't the accident everyone else thinks it was . . .

I liked this Ellis Peters pretty well.  It is really suspense, with very little detection.  That's OK, though, because the suspense is quite good.   Also, we do get Crispin's account of his detection Greece before getting taken back to England by Dorothy.  The setting is in the Mendips of England, with some very specific Mendip scenery, which is enjoyable for those who enjoy seeing the world in their mystery reading.

I am however giving this title 4 stars on Goodreads because it has that typical Ellis Peters flaw, sentimentality.  At least, I think it's a flaw.  Not all of her work is sentimental, but a lot is, and I find it rather cloying.   Crispin reminds me a lot of Dominic Felse in Peters' Felse family series, especially the Dominic of Fallen into the Pit, and the narrative tone is similar, even though this book is narrated by Evelyn and that one is third person.

For VMRC, this title satisfies the category Genuine Fakes.