Sheila Malory is visiting Oxford, doing research at the Bodleian Library while staying with an old school friend and taking the time to hang out with her son, in his final year at Oxford. She is also pleased to spend time with her godson Tony, the librarian at one of the sub-libraries of the Bodleian, but she is concerned about him when she learns that a little while earlier he had been unfortunate enough to find the body of an elderly woman who had been working in his section when the bookcases looming over her accidentally collapsed on her, killing her outright. It takes little time for Sheila to discover that the woman was hated by many, including some of her own former mentors and friends; but can she find any evidence of murder when even the police have attributed the death to an unhappy accident?.... This is the second Mrs. Malory mystery, set I believe in the early 1990s, and once again I found myself enjoying Sheila’s Miss-Marple-like abilities, which include her natural curiosity, ability to find things out without appearing to be overly nosy and wide circle of friends and acquaintances, even in Oxford years after her own time as a student there. I was rather nonplussed about the fact that, while there are gay characters here who are accepted without regard to their sexuality (rather unusual in the time period in which Ms. Holt was writing), they are rather stereotyped in terms of being superficially pleasant but wicked underneath. I’m not sure if this was a product of homophobia or if it just served the story, but it is troubling; I shall continue reading the series because I like the lead character and enjoy the plotting, but if this attitude turns up in future volumes I will likely rethink that. So, kind of recommended, with reservations. ( )

Once again I enjoyed a mystery with roots in World War II. This time it was Sheila Malory, literary critic and indefatigable volunteer in the village of Taviscombe, who is visiting Oxford and solves the mystery. Hazel Holt was a friend and literary executor of Barbara Pym and one can see why. ( )

In The Cruellest Month, Sheila Malory visits Oxford where her son is studying. She arrives to find him upset by the death of a staff member in the Bodleian Library so, rather reluctantly, she begins to investigate the circumstances and finds that memories from her own past are raked up. Meanwhile, she is staying with friends in one of those chaotic academic households that would drive anyone with an ounce of organisation absolutely demented - it's a wonderful portrait that really enriches this book and makes a wonderful contrast to, say, Gaudy Night (Dorothy Sayers) which I've also just read.

On the face of it a "cosy" mystery, The Cruellest Month is very much in the Sayers tradition, and is my favourite of the Mrs Malory books. ( )

While visiting in Oxford to do some research, Sheila Malory is drawn to investigate the death of a very unpleasant librarian whose death has been ruled an accident. Despite a charming Oxford setting, I found this book disappointing. The heroine comes off as a rather officious busybody. ( )