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Lady Elizabeth Hartleigh Compton is caught in the middle, between the England before World War II started and the England that is coming into being as a result of the changes brought by the war. When both her parents are killed in a bombing raid in London, she became the de facto head of the village of Sitting Marsh, with all the expectations that position brings with it. Unfortunately, the position does not bring with it sufficient funds and staff for Elizabeth to be able to meet those expectations in the manner to which those around her are accustomed. So she eats in the kitchen with the help, instead of alone in the dining hall. She tootles around on a motorcycle instead of on horseback. Her cook makes do as best she can, what with rationing and the like. Due to the war, all the able-bodied men between adolescence and old age are gone, leaving old men to come out of retirement to be gardeners and policemen, and leaving American GIs to fill the romantic void. Elizabeth is in love with one of these Americans, Major Earl Monroe, who has a wife and family back in the States. One of Elizabeth's maids, 16-year-old Polly, is in love with a wounded American, Sam. Several of the young women in Sitting Marsh have had romances of one sort or another with various Yanks, which has caused some degree of turmoil and angst in the families of these young women. The Major asks Elizabeth for help. Four of his young men have died, and the circumstances are unusual. All have red hair. All died after spending time at the local pub, the Tudor Arms. All were poisoned. The Major feels badly enough when his men are killed in the line of duty, but this is particularly galling for him. And the villagers show no interest in helping the Americans with their inquiries. The local constabulary are useless, at best. Elizabeth is in the (one might say unenviable) position, as Lady of the Manor, of being able to ask questions of the locals and get some answers, of knowing who should be asked questions of in the first place, and of still having enough authority to do this with minimal risk to herself. Elizabeth considers it her duty to help, and this feeling is bolstered by the obvious fringe benefit of allowing her to spend more time with the Major. There are some sub-plots involving Elizabeth's ancient butler, Martin, and his spectacles; a scavenger hunt run by Rita Crum, president of the Housewive's League; the new people in town, Dick and Annie Adelaide; and Winston Churchill. I found BERRIED ALIVE to be not particularly engrossing. It is the sixth in the Manor House Mystery series, and perhaps if I had been following it from the beginning, the flaws in this book wouldn't have bothered me as much. Elizabeth's feelings of obligation didn't seem compelling to me, particularly with respect to four men she'd never met. I can understand her wanting to do something to please Major Earl Monroe. I can understand her unwillingness to put her reputation (already a little shaky, since she divorced her first husband) on the line by having a romance with a married American. But the tamped-down passion bit wears very thin very quickly. Earl, as the stoic yet caring man, doesn't come across very well. I had a hard time keeping track of which housemaid was who. I never got a feeling that anyone was upset enough to go around poisoning people, even when I knew who did it. If you like this time period, if you like your violence very off-stage, if you are looking for a quick read that won't require a lot of effort on your part, then BERRIED ALIVE will probably meet your needs. I'd read more Kate Kingsbury if it came my way but, based on this book, she's not a writer I will search out.
Reviewed by P. J. Coldren, April 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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