Before Shetland and Vera, Ann Cleeves gave readers the Inspector Ramsay series. Despite 1990 publication in the United Kingdom, the first book in the series, A Lesson in Dying, is only now available in the U.S. It’s a village mystery, with Ramsay only on the periphery of the story before he becomes the primary character in the five books that follow.
Heppleburn is a small village in Northumberland where everyone knows each other, and everyone fears Harold Medburn, the headmaster at the local school. Teachers, members of the Parents’ Association, anyone with secrets dislikes him. When he’s found hanging on the playground during the parents’ Halloween celebration, few people mourn him.
Jack Robson, a widower, school custodian, and councillor finds the body. But, when Inspector Stephen Ramsay points the finger at Medburn’s wife as the primary suspect, Robson disagrees. He recruits his bored daughter, Patty, and the two question their fellow residents, looking for someone else who could have killed Medburn. Robson feels triumphant when there’s another death, knowing Kitty Medburn couldn’t have killed the victim. His triumph is short-lived, and he’s willing to give up, but doesn’t want a killer to find success in the village.
A Lesson in Dying introduces Ramsay, recently divorced, unpopular and aloof at work. He’s a little too quick to jump to judgment in this book, but Cleeves’ introduction says he’s developed more as a character in the future books.
This one is her successful effort to write a “contemporary novel with a Golden-Age feel.” It’s a village mystery with secrets and mistakes. Filled with secrets and mistakes that lead to murder.
Let’s hope it won’t be long before the next Inspector Ramsay mystery is released in the U.S.
Ann Cleeves’ website is https://anncleeves.com/
A Lesson in Dying by Ann Cleeves. Minotaur Books, 1990/2025. ISBN 9781250389862 (paperback), 240p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley from the publisher through NetGalley, with no promise of a positive review.
And before there was Inspector Ramsey, there was Cleeves’s first series, about birdwatchers George & Molly Palmer-Jones, starting with A BIRD IN THE HAND (1986). There were 8 books in the series from 1986-96 and 6 in the Ramsey series, from 1990-97.
Interestingly, the Dallas Public Library has this book in a 2013 version. They have ordered the ebook with this cover, but the 2013 released version is available from Downtown.
Publisher, Date:
London : Bello, 2013, c1990.
Description:
165 p. ; 24 cm.
Summary:
Heppleburn, once a Northumberland pit village, has always been close-knit, friendly, and safe–until the murder of headmaster Harold Medburn. Suddenly, the village seems unfamiliar, uncomfortable. The school caretaker and his daughter pursue their own route of investigation, which should have made Inspector Ramsay’s job a little easier. But hampered by false leads, powerless to pre-empt the killer’s next move, and overshadowed by the evil atmosphere of All Hallow’s Eve, Ramsay finds his own reputation is on the line.
Subjects:
Ramsay, Stephen (Fictitious character) — Fiction.
Police — England — Northumberland — Fiction.
Murder — Investigation — Fiction.
Northumberland (England) — Fiction.
Genre:
Mystery fiction.
ISBN:
9781447253167 (pbk.)
1447253167 (pbk.)
Other Number:
868021628
I’m sure it doesn’t matter which version you read!
Thanks, Jeff. Just never had an interest in the birdwatchers series. Really liked this first Inspector Ramsay book.
Yeah, ditto. I don’t want to insult anyone, and I have had friends who were passionate “birders,” but that never interested me either. I am getting a little kick out of the use of the birdwatching side story in Netflix’s The Residence, even though it has nothing to do (so far, at least) with the main plot.
Hi, Lesa, and thanks for this. You know what a Vera fan I am, and I’ve read her Shetland and Devon books, too. But for some reason I never tried one of Cleeves’s Inspector Ramsay books. Now I will!