And supposing there’s nothing whatever official or approved about this murder?’ demanded Dominic. “Supposing it’s a completely private act, and the police are just as interested in catching the criminal as you are. You think it’ll make no difference to their chances, our keeping back nine-tenths of the facts?”
This statement is made by Dominic Felse part way through The Piper on the Mountain, my favourite Ellis Peters story. Dominic is the youngest character created by Ellis Peters, the woman behind the famous Brother Cadfael series.
Ellis Peters was actually one of several pen names used by British author Edith Mary Pargeter (September 28, 1913-October 14, 1995). Pargeter wrote non-fiction and published her first crime novel, Murder in the Dispensary, in 1938 under the name Jolyon Carr. The author lived in Shrewsbury, and one of the nicest memorials to her work is a stained glass window in the Abbey there. There’s also a webpage devoted to her life, which can be found at http://www.shrewsburyabbey.com/Ellis%20Peters.html.
The Piper on the Mountain focuses on a road trip through Central Europe by four students, Dominic, his buddy Toddy and two girls, Christine and Tossa. The story begins with the death of Tossa’s father in Czechloslovakia, and the group ends up trying to figure out why he died. Most of the action includes Tossa and a detective policeman’s son who frequently solves puzzles.
It reads very much like another favourite Peters’ story, Holiday with Violence, which Pargeter wrote in 1952. That story also features four young people travelling through Europe, although the death takes place on a train and the action occurs in Venice.
There are also several stories in which Dominic’s father George is the main protagonist and one in which his mother, a woman with the unlikely name of Bunty, solves the mystery.
All the Felse family stories are great fun to read, primarily because they include so many details about family life. The stories featuring the son, Dominic Felse appeal to me best because they take place during short trips through exotic locales. It’s fun to combine travel writing with mysteries that get solved. Few stories in life can be readily explained and tidied up within a few hundred pages.
The Felse Family series includes:
- Fallen into the Pit, 1951 (published under her own name) (George and Dominic)
- Death And The Joyful Woman, 1961
- Flight of a Witch, 1964
- A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs, 1965
- The Piper on the Mountain, 1966 (Dominic)
- Black Is The Colour Of My True Love’s Heart, 1966
- The Grass Widow’s Tale, 1967
- Mourning Raga, 1969 (Dominic)
- The House of Green Turf, 1969
- The Knocker on Death’s Door, 1970
- Death to the Landlords, 1972 (Dominic)
- City of Gold and Shadows, 1973
- Rainbow’s End, 1978
