What an amazing discovery of this delightful book by Colin Watson, and how wonderful to learn there are more where this came from.

This is an old-style British police procedural with good, solid detective work that takes place in the respectable seaside town of Flaxborough in 1957 or 1958. It is a little gentler and more slow-paced than today's non-stop-action thrillers, but that does not mean it is in any way lacking in suspense, complex plotting, well-developed characters, or a seemingly endless supply of ingenious ways to die.

Prominent citizens of Flaxborough are dropping like flies, and it falls to Detective Inspector Purbright and his team to figure out what is going on. Suicide? Accident? Murder? There are clues aplenty, but they don't always lead in the right direction. And just when you think you've got your suspect, he dies.

The ending is a surprise, believable but unexpected and a marvelous lead-in for the next book in the series.

And if nothing at all happened in the storyline, the language alone would be worth a read. It is droll and dry and funny, sometimes laugh out loud funny. I often found myself doing a double-take at some particularly outrageous turn of phrase, or just stopping to read a sentence or paragraph over and over just because the wording was so devilishly clever.

I received a copy of Coffin Scarcely Used from NetGally and Farrago Books. I loved it, and am on my way to read Bump in the Night, the second book in the series, right now.

Colin Watson was a well-known writer of crime fiction set in the fictional small town of Flaxborough during the late 1950's. Farrago Books is bringing back new editions of the series beginning in February. For those who have an interest in British crime fiction, Coffin Scarcely Used is a treat. The town of Flaxborough is filled with quirky characters, both likable and unlikable. The main character, Inspector Purbright, is perhaps not the most charismatic but provides gentle humor and a dogged determination to solve the case. There are more twists and turns in the investigation of the related deaths that I could count. It kept me on my toes and I have to admit, I did not see the solution coming!

Thanks to Farrago and NetGalley for an advance copy. The opinions are my own.

I read this book thanks to NetGalley, and I pushed it up my reading list in order to have it coincide with its republishing. This book was originally published in 1958, and the difference in 'Vintage mysteries' are very clear when it is written by someone who actually lived in the era.

This is based in a small town of Flaxborough and the local constabulary is decidedly trying to get to the bottom of the case before Scotland Yard needs to be brought into the scenario (unlike most others that I have read, where Scotland Yard are the heroes). There is something to be said for local knowledge of the people of the town.The tale starts in an innocuous fashion, with just the funeral of someone we know very little about. A few months in to the future, there is another death. This death starts our Inspector Purbright down a path to identify the kinks in the case.The revelations are complicated and the ending was quite a surprise to me although I had given up on trying to guess the outcome.

The narrative has a very round about way of coming to the point and even though it might not appeal to a lot of people, I enjoy it ( I feel like giving myself a self-congratulatory pat when I decipher what the actual joke in all of the explanation).Overall, it was good read and I am looking forward to trying the next in the series and hopefully it gets better from here.

This was a fun read with great characters and lots of twists.

I was wooed to this murder mystery because the reviews likened this to a humorous mystery novel. As someone who likes humor in my Mysteries I said let’s jump in. The book had a couple parts where I chuckled but no place did I laugh my face off. Another reviewer said that she started with Book 2 which was funnier, we will have to see. I found the way to the conclusion to be very well written. Overall I think this is a well written mystery and I became obsessed with the characters. Almost instantly I was taken with Purbright. I found him to be brilliant. Will try the others and I will report if they get funnier because I was hoping for a little more humor in this one. The cover of this and the other two being released over the next couple weeks are amazing!

Synopsis: In the respectable seaside town of Flaxborough, the equally respectable councillor Harold Carobleat is laid to rest. Cause of death: pneumonia.
But he is scarcely cold in his coffin before Detective Inspector Purbright, affable and annoyingly polite, must turn out again to examine the death of Carobleat’s neighbour, Marcus Gwill, former prop. of the local rag, the Citizen. This time it looks like foul play, unless a surfeit of marshmallows had led the late and rather unlamented Mr Gwill to commit suicide by electrocution. (‘Power without responsibility’, murmurs Purbright.)
How were the dead men connected, both to each other and to a small but select band of other town worthies? Purbright becomes intrigued by a stream of advertisements Gwill was putting in the Citizen, for some very oddly named antique items…
Witty and a little wicked, Colin Watson’s tales offer a mordantly entertaining cast of characters and laugh-out-loud wordplay.

I read an ARC and chose to write an honest review

This was a difficult book for me to "get into". I love British mysteries like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, etc., but this one was difficult for me. It moved slowly at first and there were a lot of jargon/slang used that I didn't understand. As I continued to read, the story started to get interesting, but I had to read about 50% of the book before this happened. The ending was a surprise, some twists in the plot.

This was a real breath of fresh air and took me back to the days of Agatha Christie where jolly decent folks in an idyllic English village setting had their quietude and passivity of their rustic provincial lives disrupted by one murder after another. Nasty business, but there is no reason why all of this can't be tidied up in a polite civilised manner. In comparison with no holds barred harsh brutal reality that crime fiction has evolved into today, (and there is nothing wrong with that) it redresses the balance to go back to the golden age of whodunnit and murder mystery. There is a strong market for this type of fiction evidenced by television with Midsomer Murders and Death in Paradise.
Originally published in 1958, the story is set in the fictitious coastal town of Flaxborough where six months after the death of a town councillor his next door neighbour was found electrocuted and his mouth stuffed with marshmallows! I took my time savouring this one, loved the humour, and was unable to predict the ending, which took me completely by surprise.

Delightful police procedural of wit and charm.

First published in 1958, so presumably set in the few years preceding that (although there are no clues to this and it could be earlier), but anyway set, perhaps in coastal Lincolnshire, in an age before computers, mobile phones, SOCO and modern forensics. It is rather pleasant to take a step back in time to see how it used to be done, or at least how Detective Inspector Purbright does it.

Colin Watson writes beautifully with vivid descriptions and with a humour that prompts a smile on every page.

The village of Flaxborough seems like any British mystery novel village, but like all those villages, it has its secrets. Inspector Purbright and Sergeant Love, the detectives of the series, know those secrets and are even prepared to guard them. But when a pillar of the community turns up electrocuted in the dead of night wearing bedroom slippers, with a mouth full of marshmallows, some investigation is required.

Purbright and Love don't have much experience with murder, and the reader gets to go along with them as they cope with an extremely convoluted set of clues. The mystery is complex but tightly plotted, the descriptions are rich and incisive, and the characters are memorable.

The book is also very well written. The quality of the writing is such that novel readers should read this even if they aren't mystery fans. Watson routinely uses the precisely right word at the precisely right time while producing an accessible, fun, and witty story.

Watson writes exceptionally well and I enjoy his brand of humor. Unfortunately though, the plot was unnecessarily convoluted and the solve wasn't particularly well done.

Much of the tone of the book is also irritatingly sexist. Forgivable in an older book where that would have been the norm, or when done deliberately either to humorously skewer the offending male character or accurately reflect attitudes of society in the past. But this book was originally published in the 1980s and meets none of the aforementioned criteria. I was actually amused by it until I realized Watson a) had set his book contemporaneously with the time it was published, as far as I could tell, and b) definitely wasn't kidding.

I've read plenty of mysteries with far weaker plots and solves, and Watson does write well, but on the whole this was underwhelming and kind of irritating.

Fun, cozy mystery that is better explained as a cast of crazy characters all with their own charms.

While this book has some great lines and the author has a wonderful grasp of language, I found it very difficult to get deep into the story and ride along with any of the characters. It could be the writing style after reading so many mysteries from present-day authors. There was just something that I could not reach or connect to that would bring me closer than an outside viewer of detailed events happening on the page. I learned that this book is part of a television series. I'd like to give that a try to see if maybe it's just my inability to invest in any of the characters because of the writing style. Or I may just put this one aside for a while, then give it another try a couple of months down the road.
It's worth picking up to give it a read if you enjoy a mystery from an earlier time.

British Mystery Filled with Odd Characters

Flaxborough is a seaside town where little happens. Purbright, the amiable Detective Inspector, is intrigued by the funeral of Harold Carobleat. Usually, when a town notable dies everyone turns our for a good show. In this instance, Carobleat is mourned by only his wife and doctor.

The town is quiet for six months then Carobleat’s neighbors start dying, or being murdered. Purbright favors the latter hypothesis. Although he receives little encouragement from his superior, he starts looking into the causes of death and finally convinces his superior that a killer is loose.

Written in the 1950s, these mysteries are typical of the time. The books move along with Prubright looking for clues, but the pace is not fast. The writing is filled with subtle British humor. If you’re used to hard-boiled mysteries the leisurely pace and laid-back humor may take getting used to.

I found the solution to the mystery too easy to guess, but it was fun to keep reading to find out how Purbright would uncover the clues. It was quite interesting.

This is the first of four mysteries by Colin Watson that are being republished by Farrago books. If you enjoy a cozy mystery with oddball characters, I recommend this one.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

The Flaxborough Mystery series was new to me. Glad that it is being offered once again to new readers. This book was a great introduction to DI Purbright's investigative methods and his unexpected wit. The author’s use of an unnatural funeral, strange ads, sinister marshmallows, and the supernatural kept the reader guessing about the identity of the murderer and his motive. Colin Watson’s plot was ingenious.

What I have read in the past, which has been published by Farrgo, never fail to disappoint, this book is no exception. Funny in a dry sense, a good and intriguing mystery and just so different from other books, I really enjoyed it and an certainly look forward to reading more both by this author and publisher.

I do like a good vintage-style clue-hunt in a book. The plot of “Coffin Scarcely Used” grabbed my attention, with the subject of electrocution involved in the shocking death. I enjoyed the leisurely dynamic between detectives Purbright and Love, with just enough wit to go 'round. And Flaxborough seems like a charming enough English town – it's just the type I would like to visit – if murder didn't just take place, of course.

There's some humorous bits of conversation in the story, like the following:
“'What killed him?'
'Failure of heart, naturally. But before that there was asphyxia and before that shock from the electrics and nothing before that except joys and sorrows and delusions, dear chappie.'”

Caution to the discerning reader: There is some mild foul language used throughout the book. Also there is mature, adult content alluded to, as part of the clues to the mystery.

Overall? I found the murder mystery itself to be intriguing. Usually I would be glad to know that some old-fashioned, vintage books are being republished for modern readers to enjoy, except that there were elements included in the story that I, personally, just didn't care for. I won't be pursuing more books in the Flaxborough series.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book; I was not required to post a positive review.

A series of strange deaths do not necessarily lead to a murderer. Or, do they? A convoluted path leads us on a journey that must be read to be believed.

This was a lovely little mystery. Full of dry humor and wit, though the mystery is easy to solve by the midpoint. It’s a little dated, but rather charming.

Can't put my head around this book. Tried twice and could not keep on reading.

A solid 3.5 on this book. I enjoyed reading this book, with its subtle British humor. I think that the main character will flesh out more in the other books in the series. It was a nice bit of mystery and a quick read. My rating will be higher once Purbright is a little more solid as a lead character. Highly enjoyable antics throughout.