Review: JOSEPHINE - They Died In The Spring

They Died In The Spring is Josephine's second book that is intended for adults. It is also the second in the Chief Inspector Flecker series. It was first published in 1960. The picture to the right is of the first edition. It was made available as an ebook by Endeavour Press in 2017. That has been out of availability now. However the entire series is available as a entire ebook boxset  entitled Home County Mysteries by Lume Press in 2025. 

The blurb reads:-

Though he knew Colonel Barclay had antagonised the inhabitants of Winmore End by his threat to plough the village cricket field, Paul Barclay insisted afterwards that no thought of murder had occurred to him when he found his father's body sprawled on the track though the woods, with a shotgun beside it.

It was Dr. Hedley, the pathologist at Crossley Hospital, who gave the alarm, but by the time the body was in the mortuary and the larch plantation, much trampled by the search party, was devoid of clues. Then Hilda Schmidt, the Sinclairs' foreign home help, failed to return from a jaunt to London, and the Bretfordshire police, making no headway, asked for help from Scotland Yard.

Detective Chief Inspector James Flecker soon learned that the bombastic Colonel had fallen foul of a good many people, including his own family, and that Hilda Schimdt was not beloved by all. As Flecker's inquiry gathered speed, several solutions presented themselves and the most likely was one which, for reasons of his own, he contemplated with aversion...

Although it does come in the same series as Gin and Murder, it does not feature the same characters (bar Chief Inspector Flecker) as it, so if this is the only one that you can get hold of, it doesnt matter. Although I think that in general murder mystery books, bar the police, do not feature the same people (though I am no expert). It is also not set in the same villages or areas as Gin and Murder either.

Unlike Gin and Murder, there is no horsey element to it (bar a bit when a suspect says what she did with her horse that day - she went to a hunter trial). If you are reading this because you like murder mystery novels and came across Josephine's Pullein-Thompson's work, don't worry. However, if you only want to read this because of the horsey element, then it may not be for you. If like me, you want to read every single one of the Pullein-Thompson's books, bar their non-fictional work/anthologies, then go ahead. It is written to the same high standard as Gin and Murder.

(Oh and the slightly horsey element does return in the final book of the series: Murder Strikes Pink.)

To me, the plot is still decent enough, but this book was not as enjoyable as the previous ones. To me, the plot wasnt so strong and bar the horsey element, not enough to keep you hooked. Whereas Gin and Murder was quite a clever and intriguing plot, this one wasnt. Also, the pace of the book is faster than Gin and Murder, and therefore a little confusing at times. Again, like Gin and Murder, the majority of the book is taken up with the investigation.

Also, like Gin and Murder, there is a little swearing, though again pretty much minimal. Two things that I dont like about this book is that one character said that all people with mental health problems should be locked away (and the key thrown away). Also, someone in the book was referred to as having a "schizoid personality". Just because you have a mental health problem does not make you a murderer and it is this kind of talk that promotes stigmatism these days. Though, upon reflection, Josephine was writing a book set in the late 1950s/1960s, and at that time, people with mental health problems were generally locked away, forgotten about in hospitals. Neither was the treatment around that there is today. In fact statistics show that people with mental health problems are more likely to be a victim of crime rather than the perpetrator.