Overview
""Ellie, the headmistress wants to see you." Words to strike terror in the heart of any inmate of St. Roberta's boarding school who has failed to turn in her Latin prep, left out London on a map drawn of England, or prowled the ruins of the medieval abbey in the dead of night. Ellie has been guilty of all these sins and more." "Fortunately, however, she is no longer a pudgy, insecure adolescent but a happily married interior designer with three lively children and a beautiful home by the sea. The only cloud in the sky on this lovely day in June is the message relayed by her friend Dorcas, who became games mistress at St. Roberta's when the former coach, Ms. Chips, retired. Having heard of Ellie's success as an amateur detective, the headmistress, Mrs. Battle, wants her to come and find out who has stolen the Loverly sports trophy and is seeking to bring embarrassment to the school." Her less-than-rosy memories of St. Roberta's notwithstanding, Ellie cannot refuse Dorcas's entreaties and finds herself in the thick of boarding school life, where an apparent schoolgirl prank soon gives way to murder.Synopsis
It’s back to school for plump girl turned Thin Woman Ellie Haskell!
“The headmistress wants to see you.” Words to strike terror in the heart of any inmate of St. Roberta’s boarding school. Fortunately for Ellie, she is no longer a pudgy, wayward pupil but a happily married mother and interior designer with a beautiful home by the sea. Still, thanks to her success as an amateur local sleuth, Ellie has been summoned.
GOODBYE, MS. CHIPS
St. Roberta’s needs Ellie’s help now that the former games mistress, Ms. Chips, has retired. Could Ellie please come back on campus and find out who has stolen the Loverly sports trophy—and is seeking to bring embarrassment to the school? Her less than rosy memories of being a student notwithstanding, Ellie cannot refuse headmistress Mrs. Battle’s entreaties. Soon she finds herself in the thick of boarding school life, where an apparent schoolgirl prank gives way to murder.
“Engaging Ellie provides a peek at boarding-school charms and horrors while solving one of her more intriguing cases.”—Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly
At the start of Cannell's meandering 13th Ellie Haskell mystery (after 2007's Withering Heights), Ellie's dear friend Dorcas Critchley, the games mistress at St. Roberta's boarding school, asks the amateur sleuth to investigate the theft of the Loverly Cup, a trophy awarded annually by "Lady Loverly of the Hall at Upper Swan-Upping to the winner of the area schools' lacrosse championship match." A former "inmate" of St. Roberta's, Ellie returns to campus, where she's forced to rub shoulders with old classmates she would rather avoid. The suspicious death of Marilyn Chips, a retired coach whose skills enabled the school to retain the trophy for many years, makes the loss of the Loverly Cup, if not irrelevant, certainly less important. Ellie and her housekeeper, Mrs. Malloy, enchant as always, though the student characters, in particular Ellie's precocious detecting pal, 14-year-old Ariel Hopkins, may strike some readers as too adult. Witty dialogue helps offset the slow pacing of this alternately funny and stodgy cozy. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Editorials
Publishers Weekly
At the start of Cannell's meandering 13th Ellie Haskell mystery (after 2007's Withering Heights), Ellie's dear friend Dorcas Critchley, the games mistress at St. Roberta's boarding school, asks the amateur sleuth to investigate the theft of the Loverly Cup, a trophy awarded annually by "Lady Loverly of the Hall at Upper Swan-Upping to the winner of the area schools' lacrosse championship match." A former "inmate" of St. Roberta's, Ellie returns to campus, where she's forced to rub shoulders with old classmates she would rather avoid. The suspicious death of Marilyn Chips, a retired coach whose skills enabled the school to retain the trophy for many years, makes the loss of the Loverly Cup, if not irrelevant, certainly less important. Ellie and her housekeeper, Mrs. Malloy, enchant as always, though the student characters, in particular Ellie's precocious detecting pal, 14-year-old Ariel Hopkins, may strike some readers as too adult. Witty dialogue helps offset the slow pacing of this alternately funny and stodgy cozy. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Kirkus Reviews
The search for a missing trophy is complicated by misdeeds of the past. Ellie Haskell (Withering Heights, 2007, etc.) has no desire to return to St. Roberta's, the boarding school where she loathed sports and hid a guilty secret. But when her old friend, new games mistress Dorcas Critchley, arrives as an emissary for headmistress Mrs. Battle, Ellie agrees to visit and search for the Loverly Cup, which is due to be passed on to the school that wins that year's lacrosse championship. Ms. Chips, the beloved retired games mistress who recently inherited a tidy sum, has provided a perfect excuse for Ellie's arrival by endowing a campus house as a haven for alumna seeking a respite from life's cares. When Ms. Chips dies in a fall, Ellie and her sleuthing partner Mrs. Malloy must sort through a suspicious lot of students, including spirited Ariel Hopkins, Ellie's relative; Gillian Parker, a talented musician who is at St. Roberta's only because her aunt is the matron; and Gillian's best friend. There are also suspicious adults. These include the matron; a shifty gardener and his meek wife; and Philippa Boswell, whose life Ellie feels she ruined by not coming forward to exonerate her of a rules infraction. They uncover deeply buried secrets that expose a malevolent murderer and wash away Ellie's guilty feelings. Engaging Ellie provides a peek at boarding-school charms and horrors while solving one of her more intriguing cases.From the Publisher
Praise for Dorothy Cannell and Withering Heights“Cannell is a master of subtle wit and humorous asides that lift her cozies to great heights. Before the influx of writers trying to out-humor Janet Evanovich, there was Dorothy Cannell. Long may she write!”—-Library Journal
“A veritable meringue of a book, light and crisp and airy, but with enough of a puzzle to engage as well as entertain the reader.” —-The Denver Post
“It is the absurd predicaments of her central characters that readers find themselves recalling, and Cannell is cunning at devising outlandish situations for them.” —-Chicago Sun-Times
“Witty…a funny, entertaining puzzler.” —-Publishers Weekly
“Archly literate and witty, with a soft center.” —-Kirkus Reviews
“One of the year’s funniest and most engaging mysteries.” —-Elizabeth Peters, New York Times bestselling author of the Amelia Peabody mysteries