Review: JOSEPHINE - Gin and Murder

Gin and Murder is the first one of a series of books. They are less well known than many of her works: though they are horse related, the horses are less of an key element to the books. They are aimed at adults: in fact they are murder mystery books. Josephine is following in the steps of her mother, who was alive when this was published. This book is dedicated to her.

It was first published in 1959, though the image shown is a 1990 reprint. All 3 books are quite hard to find, though not as hard as Mystery On the Moor. The "Linford Mystery Library" editions are easier to find than the first, however they are in large print, making them quite bulky. However they are complete and unabridged, so you do not miss out on any story.

I have added it into 2 series: the series should really be called "(Chief) Inspector Flecker", as he is the character that appears throughout the whole series, and quite a key. However, because of the relative obscurity of the books, it may not be obvious to people, and therefore I am also adding a "Adult Murder Mystery" tag, which makes more sense.

The blurb reads:-

When Guy Vickers died after Commander Chadwick's cocktail party, murder was the last thing suspected by East Wintshire. Murder was something one read about in the Sunday newspapers; it just didn't happen to people like them.

But murder it was. And when Inspector Hollis of the County Police began his rather ham-handed investigations, he found plenty of motives concealed behind those conventional façades.

It took a second murder to stampede the Chief Constable into sending for help from Scotland Yard, and when help came in the person of Chief Inspector James Flecker, he began to wonder whether it had been a wise move...

The horse element is somewhat lesser than her horse books. It is mainly confined to the fact that the book is set against a hunting background. Part of the book dwells on the party of the hunting franiterny, and the politics of the hunt. Apart from a couple of visits to the kennels by James Flecker, and a somewhat minimally detailed hunting day, there isn't much horse related. The majority of the story is taken up by Inspector Hollis' and later Chief Inspector James Flecker's investigations.

Although it is meant for adults, it could be read by older teenagers too. There is a small amount of swearing here and there, so it would definitely not be suitable for children. Also, one of the characters in the book drinks a lot, and therefore it makes it also unsuitable for young teenagers.
If you do not like hunting or want more horses, then perhaps this is not the book for you: then you are better off with Josephine's other (fictional) works.

The books is not too graphic: to be honest, Josephine's other adult book: A Place With Two Faces (written under the pseudonym of Josephine Mann) is more so. But then again, that is a different genre: that is a gothic terror novel. If you dont like hearing (in graphic detail) about how the person died, worry not, apart from the cause of death, there is very little detail about the two people die.

I do not know if this is a good or bad murder mystery book: to be honest, I have yet to read any other murder mystery book. Although her mother (Joanna Cannan) was famous for writing detective novels (Rue Morgue Press compare to her to other famous authors at the time, including a friend, Georgette Heyer), it is probably a decent one. Joanna Cannan herself wrote one book which is along the lines of this (having a horsey background I mean) which is Murder Included, which I will review at a later date.

The characters are well thought out, and the situation is believable. It is neither a heavy read or a light one, it falls in the middle. The action flows along nicely, though the plot is not over complicated. For me personally, I was put off in detective/murder novels because I was worried about the plot and the book being very complicated, and therefore hard to follow, worry not. This is not the case.

Still it has a decent enough ending, and everything is nicely sown up, though the ending has a slight twist in it. Enough to keep most people amused, and perhaps not for everyone, but if you can get past the lack of horses. It is enough to keep people who are perhaps interested in murder mysteries but not horses happy. Quite a good book in all, and a decent enough departure from Josephine's usual style.

Review: JOSEPHINE - Plenty Of Ponies

This week's book is Plenty Of Ponies. It was first published in 1949, making it one of Josephine's earlier books (in fact it was her third book that she published).

The blurb reads (first picture):-

'Quite frankly, I don't think much of you Esmonds' said the colonel. 'You've got some of the nicest ponies in this Pony Club, but you don't seem to take any trouble.'

The Christmas holidays promise wonderful adventures for the five Esmonds - but somehow they always end up in disgrace. They let The Turk gallop through hounds, October has run riot in Mr. Simpson's garden - and now they've brought chaos to the Pony Club rally.

However, there's still the Children's Meet, and the Esmonds are determined to redeem themselves - and give the colonel the shock of his life....

The second scan is of a Collins Pony Library edition, which does not contain a blurb. However both editions contains illustrations. The Collins Pony Library edition are credited to Anne Bullen, which are presumably the same ones as the first edition. The other one (a White Lion edition) does not credit the illustrator, but they are the same ones as in the Collins Pony Library edition (and presumably, by Anne Bullen). The cover has been done by someone else, however.

The book starts out with Professor Esmond pointing out their bad points, of which they decide to "improve their characters". However things do not go to plan, even when hunting on Boxing Day the Master gets cross and a Colonel Howard tells them off.

This book is somewhat slightly stuffy, these days people do not think of "improving their characters". However there is a great deal of (mis)adventures to be read in this book, and this makes up for it. Granted, there aren't so many horse filled incidents until near the end, but the relationship of the children is enough to keep you occupied. Perhaps this is not the ideal book to start off with if you have not read Josephine's books before, as this is not her best work. However, it must be remembered that it is an early work of hers, and that is the reason why.

In some ways that old fashionedness sticks out, there is talk of brandy when someone is ill/has an accident, which is not used today in quite the same way (and certainly not given to children) and also of liver pills (which are not used these days either). Also there are frequent mentions of servants and gardeners, which (unless you are very rich) people don't have these days. Also when there is talk of hanging, it also dates it, as we don't have hanging anymore.

It is a book I am not particularly fond of, but if you can get past the old fashionedness of it, it is not too bad. Like All Change/The Hidden Horse, the ponies are a secondary element to this book.

Review: JOSEPHINE - Save The Ponies!

Save The Ponies is this week's book. It was first published in 1984, making this one of Josephine's later books.

The blurb reads:-

It all began when Mandy, Kate, Jeremy and Fergus met Nico and Sophia on the Greek Island where they were spending their holidays. Together they discover that a horse dealer from Athens is illegally buying up the island ponies to use them in a circus. Even Nico's beloved pony, Vrondi, is in danger.

In desperation, the children embark on a dramatic rescue attempt. They set off on a daring bare-back ride through the mountains determined on one thing - at all costs they must save the ponies!

A couple of notes: this is probably one of two pony books set in Greece; the other is Penny and Pegasus by Primrose Cumming and both authors were British. Secondly, there is an exact titled book by Gillian Baxter, however the Gillian Baxter one pre-dates this, as it was first published in 1971. If you do not own this book, please double check that you are getting the right one. Thirdly this reminds me of a book by her sister Christine called Stolen Ponies, which was published in 1957.

This book starts by Kate and Jeremy being bored, having being made to go with two people (Mandy and Fergus) who they aren't really friends with. They all decide to go for a beach walk (they are already at the island) where they meet Sophia and Nico. They tell them about a pony race happening tomorrow.

They all attend the race, which is rather crude by British standards. But the excitement makes up for it. They find some ponies to hire and it is during these rides that they find out that the ponies are being sold to a circus. But the ponies are involved in a sinister plot and that is where a plan of action comes along.

I felt that this was an ok effort. This is one of Josephine's adventure effort, it is not to bad as far as her stories goes. It is a pleasant, light red, however the unusual location gives it an added in-depth which is missing from other book. However if it is was not there it would not be as strong. The greatest strength really in this book is the detail of the difference of cultures and the way in life, as far as ponies are treated and people's attitude. But as this is supposed to be a pony book, it is a great shame.

Review: JOSEPHINE - All Change/The Hidden Horse

The Hidden Horse is this week's book. It was originally published as All Change, but was later retitled as The Hidden Horse. It was first published in 1961.

The blurb reads (taken from the first image, which is the first edition:-

THERE WAS NOT DOUBT at all, the Conway family decided, that that new owner of the Charnworth estate was going to be a thorough nuisance. Their father had been agent to Lord Charnworth for eight years and he had regarded them as part of the family, letting them ride over the whole place as if it had been their own. But with Mr. Smithson, the new owner, things were not going to be the same. The estate was going to be run on strictly business lines and there was not going to be any question of children getting in the way or breaking down fences or gates.

However the five Conways - plus their new friend Nick - manage to have an extremely adventurous beginning to the Christmas holidays. Their father had told Douglas on his first meeting back from school: 'A lot may depend on your behaviour these holidays'. As things turned out, a lot did depend on it!

and the blurb from The Hidden Horse (second image) reads:-

With their parents' tenanted farm under threat from a heartless new landowner, Douglas and this younger brothers and sisters secretly pool their savings to buy back a favourite Jersey cow from a local auction. But on the same day there just happens to be a horse sale, where, unknown to the others, Penny bids for a thin, fifteen hand thoroughbred mare...

The edition shown is a J A Allen edition, hence why the blurb is so short. As per usual with these editions, the majority of the back is taken up with information on the author (and in this case, her two sisters, brother and mother whose surname is mispelt Cannon).

This won an Ernest Benn award: this appears to be given by Ernest Benn (the original publishers) to the best book they published in a particular year. In this case it won the first prize in their Children's Book Competition.

Just a note: all editions except the first one have been revised. This is due to the fact that Josephine included the words "Jew boy", and "bloody" and depending on the publisher it varies what has been taken out. The J A Allen edition (second image) does include the words "bloody" but not Jew boy.

As for illustrations, the first edition contains illustrated by Sheila Rose. The J A Allen (second image) does not contain small illustrations, but they are not credited. These are completely different ones to the first edition.

The book begins with the sad, harsh reality of a death of the land's former owner, and how things are going to change. I can see why Josephine chose to use the (original) title of All Change, but I guess subsequent (re)publishers of this book wasn't pony enough, hence it's retitling.

Because of the sad, harsh reality they have to look at everything financially: the new landowner cares more about money. This leads to unpleasant comments, and the selling of their prizewinning cow (who belongs to the owner of the farm - not the Conways - who are the family in this story). Knowing that she will go for meat because of her age, the children make a plan to attend the auction & buy her back, and that is when they get the horse.

Like last week's offering, The No-Good Pony, this explores family relationships, but unlike The No-Good Pony, the family are not divorced. It does explore change: the lack of willingness of the farmer to change to factory farming, and the local villagers (especially the elderly) to more houses in the village, and the inclusion of central heating.

The only bit that I didn't get was why J A Allen didn't omit about Nick smoking, as smoking is very un-PC these days. As this edition was published in 1989, it seems a rather strange thing to include, especially as it is an children's book. Granted it is an older one (J A Allen suggest age 9-1 3 on the back), but still. It's not really a key element to this story.

I really liked this book. The sudden change of the way of life, not only to the main characters, but other farmers & the village is well thought out. There is an great episode where at the sale, a bull belonging to another farmer breaks out and causes great chaos in the local town!

This is perhaps the least horsey book out of Josephine's I feel, as although ponies are there, it is more of a farming story than a horsey one. Perhaps that is why it was retitled. But don't let that put you off: the standard of writing is extremely excellent (this is one of Josephine's better tales) and it is easy to see why this has won an Award.

A good book which shouldn't be missed.

Once again, I have left the blog without updates.

This is mainly because of time. My computer and I do not live at the same address: I have no landline (and I dont consider it worth it to install a brand new one) and therefore no internet access until weekends. Because of the fact I am involved with other (book and non-book) related forums, and of course, ebay, I dont have time, plus the other things to do.

June and July were always going to be a problem for me: June I am going to be at a wedding, which is nearly 180 miles away, and therefore ties up one weekend. July means that one weekend I am at Wimbledon (not to play though but to spectate - I cant even catch a ball, let alone hit one) and my parents are going to be on holiday. Which means that because I have to rely on them to a certain extent to get me to the internet (the transport to their house is terrible, and I cant drive due to medical reasons), so that leaves 2 weeks without the internet. Or at least sporadic, it means that I have 2 hours max, and therefore I cant guarantee that I can update.

But blogspot/blogger have come up with a radical solution: you can set it to post an update without you being there. Like sniping on ebay, but thoughts/emotions instead of bids. Which makes it ideal and also handy because it saves me the trouble of lugging around a couple of books back and forth......

Because right now, I have The Doping Affair (aka The Pony Dopers) by Christine in my hands. It's currently scheduled to be written about next year, I can now write the review and not worry about it any more. Nor about finding the book: last week I finally realised my copy of Horse In The House by William Corbin was missing, which doesnt matter so much because it's not required for the blog, but it would be annoying if it were a P-T book, though. I finally did find Horse In The House, it was just hiding behind Eleanor Helme's White Winter.

Of course, there is always the downside of time, but at least I can get it all done at weekends when I have more time. That is, provided I have read the book in the first place: some books I have not (take All Change/The Hidden Horse for example) and some I need to re-read (like Christine's A Day To Go Hunting).

I have also added a new tag: Re-named books. Because with some books that have been re-named it is quite easy to miss the fact that both names have been mentioned in the review: and could lead to people thinking I have not reviewed them. Also, if you are looking on ebay/abebooks/other book selling sites and wondering what "xxxx" is about, then you may not realise it has been covered. Of course this only primarily applies to Diana at the moment, Josephine's other re-named fictional book All Change has not been covered, and Christine's only re-named book The Doping Affair is yet to be published.

Of course, a lot of things will be easier once I have done all the P-T's books (or just have Joanna's to do) for people, and I may tweak in the future. I plan to do an index when I am coming near the end, but of course, it wont make sense as I have no exact dates to hand.

So in short, I may not be online, but my blog will be updated thanks to blogspot's handy features.

Review: JOSEPHINE - The No-Good Pony

The No-Good Pony is this week's book. It was first published in 1981.

The blurb reads:-

It was never going to work. The Brodie children disliked the Dalton children at first sight. The Daltons were smooth and elegant, their ponies well schooled and their tack immaculate. The Brodies always looked a mess, their tack was falling apart and they did not even have a pony each.

But now that Mr Dalton had married Mrs Brodie, the children were all going to live together. The holidays would be ruined, and even riding would not be fun any longer with the Daltons about...

Unlike most of Josephine other books, this isnt quite so heavily on the instructional front, I guess this was a sign of changing times, as the main books she wrote during the 1980s where the Moors series, which were more adventure style than instructional. The only exception seems to be her Woodbury Pony Club stories which revert back to that.

It is also a reflection of modern times that this story is a culmination of 2 different families: most pony stories follow a set pattern of mum, dad (even if he is rarely seen or mentioned) and anything from 2-6 children. There is also an au pair in this story: something which has changed, as pony stories until the 1970s, had either helps, servants or maids (depending on the story and whether the edition had been revised or not), but never au pairs (Diana's Only A Pony, also published during the 1980s, had an au pair though, but that has a weird time frame - see the post concerned for further information).

The No-Good pony, referred to in the title is actually referred to a pony called Treacle, a pony which appears to be no good at anything because her jumping is no good, and her dressage isnt much better. But at the end of the story, she isnt no good, she has other talents which make her just as useful (and valuable - not money terms anyway) as the Dalton's immaculate ponies.

It is an easy enough tale, which is quite readable, and unlike the other pony stories things dont go right. Josephine has tackled the subject of what happens when two families come together, a subject also briefly mentioned in the Woodbury Pony Club series, but dealt with in more detail. Whereas with the Woodbury Pony Club series the focus is on the ponies, here it is equally about the children and the ponies.

There is an interesting twist in the end, which makes it more sound Diana's Pony Seeker's series (also published in the 1980s) though.

I like this book, though it's title is pretty uninspiring, and perhaps not the one that grabs you in a list of Josephine's books. Although it may not appeal to every single child out there because of it's people element, it is nevertheless a good book, which is often overlooked.

Review: JOSEPHINE - The Trick Jumpers

The Trick Jumpers is this week's book. It was first published in 1958.

The edition shown is the Collins Pony Library edition, which does not contain a blurb. However Jane Badger has kindly supplied one, taken from the first edition.  It is not illustrated. 

A pony story which has an amusing and original theme. The Trelawnys, an unconventional and artistic family, come to live at Cudleigh, where local pony matters are dominated by the inartistic and ultra-horsey Hendersons. It is not long before the two families cross swords: Benedict, Jasper and Nicolette Trelawny know their riding is far from perfect, but they do not enjoy being told so by Peter and Erica Henderson! Things come to a head when the Trelawnys plan a trick-jumping act for the Cudleigh Horticultural Show, and the enmity between the two families continues until the very day of the Show itself..... The author's outstanding talent for characterisation makes this a pony story with a difference.

This is the book that is unique. If there was a category for banned pony books, this would fall in it. You either love or hate it. It is highly doubtful that today this book would get published, nor even republished. If you are a stickler for safety then this is not for you.

The book starts with the local people criticising the new people and their house: it seems a bit Enid Blytonish to me and certainly prejudiced. Because of this, and their criticism of lack of riding ability, they are soon forced to take part in a musical ride. This is unsuccessful, because of the (lack of) riding standard and they decide to do a "stunt team". The rest of the book is taken up with practising for the stunt team, and (mis)fortunes.

Like I said before, it is either one you love or hate. The idea of a stunt team is not that bad, just that you cant see it happening today. The bit I hate is that is in the beginning and the characters. Yes, we all have people we hate or dislike, but to me there is some downright nasty bits. This to me spoils it in some parts an otherwise good book, I am torn.

I am torn because there are some good parts to this book, but the downright nasty (and sometimes petty) squabbles spoil it. Diana was the one for writing more people and relationships, I can only assume that Josephine put the tension there to prove that just horses are about, doesnt mean that people get on. Maybe it is due to people that is not Josephine's forte, it's something Diana would be better at.

So really, the best judge is you. It's hard to define this book really. There are good and bad parts to all books, this one is certainly different. Fortunately it is not a hard to find book, and the best thing is really to see it for yourself. Provided you arent a stickler for health and safety that is.