Sat 23 May 2015
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: FRANCES DUNCOMBE – Death of a Spinster.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[4] Comments
William F. Deeck
FRANCES DUNCOMBE – Death of a Spinster. Charles Scribner’s Sons, hardcover, 1958.
Dee Galbraith, trained as an anthropologist but working part time as bookkeeper in a charity consignment shop in Byfield Center in upper Westchester, decides to do an anthropological study of the town. A woman who also worked in the shop but whom Mrs. Galbra!th had never met commits suicide there.
From the data that Mrs. Galbraith accumulates in her survey, it becomes evident to her, though not to the police nor, I confess, to me, that the woman was actually murdered.
Byfield Center is fairly inbred, close knit at the top, protective of certain of its own, and well supplied with gossips. Mrs. Galbraith’s views become widely known, her step-daughter is bad|y injured by a hit-and-run driver, and an attempt is made on her own life. Someone obviously thinks she knows more than she actually does.
The novel — a first and, unfortunately, a last — is well written, and Mrs. Galbraith is a most believable heroine. She is intelligent but subject to blind spots. She does go to the police, but when they fail to appreciate her information, she continues to investigate.
All of her actions, with the exception of her eluding her protectors at the end of the book, are reasonable — that is to say, human and thus occasionally fallible. This is not a novel with a puzzle that most readers will be able to solve, but it is worth reading to discover Dee Galbraith and an interesting study of a small community.
May 23rd, 2015 at 2:02 pm
I am not sure, but the middle initial is correct, and the theme of a small town community in New York state is similar. Another book, non-fiction, by this author may be Katonah, The History Of A New York Village And Its People, by Frances R. Duncombe. The Book Press, Brattleboro, Vermont. 1978.
May 23rd, 2015 at 4:10 pm
Too cozy for my tastes, however attractive the sleuth. If I wanted small town atmosphere I would go outside. No, wait, it isn’t safe outside between the floods and the police and city hall being shut down because of corruption that got everyone fired.
But then that’s what is so nice about living in the real Mayberry USA; Andy is dipping in the till, Barney is a sadist, Opie is a home invader, Gomer is a child molester, Floyd is a bookie, Aunt Bee is selling weed with the turnip greens, the water is unsafe to drink, the streets are never repaired, dangerous dogs run loose, yards are grown up three feet high, the teens think they are gangstas, and every one flies the Rebel flag and packs firearms.
Small town life is so restful and bucolic.
May 23rd, 2015 at 5:29 pm
You may be right about this being a cozy, but when I read Bill’s review, I couldn’t quite tell. It may be one of those books that does find a lot going on in a small town that the residents would rather keep covered up, or some of them at least. Then watch out when the lid comes off!
But, no, it doesn’t sound like my kind of book, either. Nor am I about to try to find out. The least expensive ones I could find quickly online were in the $20 plus range, too much to invest just for curiosity’s sake.
July 8th, 2015 at 7:22 am
This was not her only book; she was primarily a children’s author. Middle name of Riker.
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AFrances%20Duncombe