Sadly, this is the last of the Flaxborough Chronicles. In this final appearance, Inspector Purbright attends a funeral service as Chief Constable Chubb's representative only to find that the widow has been locked in her house. Going to the rescue leads to a mess of unanswered questions that stretch back several years. Why did the deceased have valuable antiques that he had not purchased, items that had previously been owned by others in the village? As Sgt. Love and the Inspector begin to speak to the residents of Mumblesby and those from Flaxborough with long memories, Purbright begins to feel something is going on beyond outraged family members. Inconsistencies in interviews from a previous inquest, possible arson, and an attack on a house with large machinery are just some of the oddities that crop up. All the traditions and prejudices of rural English life are present and influence the outcome of the investigation.

For those who have followed the career of Inspector Purbright from the beginning of the Flaxborough mysteries, this book will be a fond farewell to beloved characters. Purbright, Love, Chubb, Malley, Teatime and the others are all part of finding the answer to what's been going on. If you haven't yet tried this series, but enjoy British mysteries that are not too political or inordinately long in length, then you should pick up one of the titles.

I love the Flaxborough series and liked this one even if it's not one the best instalments.
As usual I loved the settings, the quirky characters and had a lot of fun reading it.
Even if it can be read it as standalone I would recommend it to people who already read other in this series.
Many thanks to Farrago and Netgalley for this ARC

I would like to thank Netgalley and Farrago for a review copy of Whatever's Been Going on at Mumblesby the twelfth and final novel in the Flaxborough Chronicles series of police procedurals, originally published in 1982.

When local solicitor "Rich Dick" Loughbury dies his estate contains some expensive pieces with mysterious antecedents which surprise both Inspector Purbright and the estimable Miss Lucilla Teatime, recently established as an antiques expert. What intrigues Inspector Purbright even more are the pranks being played on his widow, Zoe. As he investigates further he stumbles across the apparent suicide of a local woman the year previously and adds it into his puzzle of events in Mumblesby.

I thoroughly enjoyed Whatever's Been Going on at Mumblesby which takes a humourous look at the class divisions in a small village and has a good mystery thrown in as a bonus. As ever the plotting is ingenious and while all the clues are there I failed to pick up on them so the resolution came as a surprise and an "oh, of course" moment.

The joy of the novel, however, lies in the writing. The plot does not rely on the absurd as much as some of the other novels although it does have its moments, like the piece of the true cross, but the humour is still there in abundance. It lies more in the arch tone and the pithy character sketches which imply so much more than is actually said. I particularly liked the way the other residents talk about and treat Zoe Claypole Loughbury, daughter of a publican and very definitely not one of us. They may be in for a surprise!

Inspector Purbright is in his own understated way the star of the novel. His method consists of sharp thinking and conversation which affords Mr Watson the opportunity to draw his characters rather acidly and never miss the soft spot and all the time hint that Inspector Purbright is thinking feverishly under his laconic facade. It's all a bit tongue in cheek, so highly amusing.

Whatever's Been Going on at Mumblesby is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Sad to say, this is the last in a series of 20th century British police procedurals written by the late Colin Watson currently being republished by Farrago. I have thoroughly enjoyed the entire series and found them to be intriguing mysteries written with wry humor.

The title of this last book seems rather odd and clumsy but it fits the story precisely--just what HAS been going on in the village of Mumblesby?? Theft? Blackmail? Murder?

Inspector Purbright is intuitive and has a keen wit and can solve the case with the help of his sidekick Sergeant Love, if only the very proper and class-sensitive Chief Constable Chubb doesn't prevent him from digging in high places for the truth.

Many thanks to Farrago for providing me with advanced readers copies of this entire series via Net Galley for an honest review. They were delightful reading and I'm grateful for the opportunity.

I look forward to re-releases of Colin Watson, Flaxborough books and this is as good as any. Everything happens in the local village of Mumblesby, the death of a solicitor brings Inspector Purbright into some strange going-ons in the village and as usual one thing leads to another. His superior Mr Chubb isn't pleased - the good people of Mumblesby are quite 'posh', but Purbright knows how to get round him, having had many years experience.

All together an interesting and fun read with the usual gentle, slightly tongue-in-cheek look at country twon and village way of life.

Gentrification takes its toll

Mumblesby used to be a decrepit farming village not far from Flaxborough, but now it has been bought up and polished by a new set of rather tony people. One of their number, a lawyer, has croaked and DI Purbright is relegated to funeral duty. But when the wife is found locked into her room and the house set on fire, the tedious official business suddenly changes direction. DI Purbright notices the extraordinary quality of the artwork and begins to suspect some kind of fiddle, as does Miss Teatime who pays a bereavement call and to scope out a possible swindle. DI Purbright and Miss Teatime are aging into a quiet, chaste flirtation that I enjoy very much. Two sharpies who appreciate each other.

Once again sex and antiques are the center of the plot and once again I've picked up some new 1980s slang. This, #12, is one of the best of the series. Alas it is the last, as Mr. Watson died the year after its original publication.

"Whatever's Been Going on at Mumblesby?" by Colin Watson (Farrago). It was first published in 1982 by Methuen and has been reissued many times since.

Not one of Colin Watson's better ones, but still very enjoyable, with a very fast moving plot that sometimes leave one a little behind. It is a book that needs to be savoured.
Like all Watson's books, it has the special type of humour that has become his trademark in his books. Honesty if you like Colin Watson you cannot help but enjoy this.

Initially, I wasn’t impressed by this book. It seemed that every sentence had four or more commas and thus had more clauses than a Santa convention. I noticed that I was re-reading some sentences two or three times.

Then I realised that the effect was giving an impression of fussiness – just like the people and the homes that Watson was describing at that point. Shortly afterwards, I was turning the pages eagerly, keenly enjoying the writing and the plot.

My only other criticism is that some fascinating characters are introduced but we don’t see enough of them.

Don’t do what I did – I read it too quickly and didn’t give enough time to savour prose such as this in Chapter 6, where Sergeant Sydney Love is trying to obtain information in the pub… “She chain-lit another cigarette and ground the discarded stub into the ashtray as if into the face of an enemy. Love wondered if this would be a good moment to begin the establishment of confidence. He glanced at the small quantity of colourless liquid in Mrs Whybrow’s glass. It looked like something pretty expensive. Better not rush things.” And see? Not a comma in sight!

This is the first book by Colin Watson that I have read. It’s a light read, not at all taxing (once you get accustomed to the forest of commas) and highly enjoyable. I didn’t have many laugh-out-loud moments, but I did have a smile of happy appreciation the whole time. There is gentle humour on every page. And I wanted to read the book in one sitting. It’s huge fun and I’m so glad I’ve found this author. Colin Watson’s first book was published in 1958 and Whatever’s Been Going On at Mumblesby was published in 1982, the year before he died, aged 63. That perhaps explains the slightly old-fashioned style, but there are eleven other books in his Flaxborough Mystery series. I added all of them to my Amazon wish list and purchased the first one within twenty minutes of finishing Whatever’s Been Going On at Mumblesby.

The last, but by no means the least, tale in the Flaxborough chronicles from Colin Watson. Odd behaviour and goings on in the local town of Mumblesby gets Purbright's nose twitching. Things are not what they seem and soon Purbright is in the trail. Plot apart, the joy of this, as with the rest of the series, is the wry humour, satire and prose injected by Watson which is a consistent delight. Furthermore, these stand the test of time admirably and I applaud the publishers for the first class re-issues of this wonderful series - the pleasure has been all mine.

Well, you discover something new every day, right? I've never heard of Colin Watson or the Flaxborough Chronicles before, but I think even those who heard of him would like to rediscover this series.. It's not every day that you read such a well-written story, in such a witty style...
Mumblesby is apparently a dormant village where nothing ever happens, except it does. And only an intuitive, skilful detective such as Purbright will look for clues and uncover secrets through pure logical deduction. No crime scene investigation, no interrogation techniques, no gadgets... making the series still enjoyable and believable almost 36 years after its first publication.

My review has been posted to Goodreads.

Review has also been tweeted as usual.

Thank you! :c)

This is the last of Colin Watson’s Flaxborough mysteries and, in spite of its rather clumsy title, it’s another very good one.

The death of prominent Flaxborough solicitor “Rich Dick” Loughbury reveals some odd transactions involving art works and curious behaviour by some other local notables, which cast doubt on the suicide of a local woman some time before. Needless to say, Inspector Purbright investigates in his typically polite but doggedly perceptive way, with Miss Lucilla Teatime making a very welcome appearance.

As always, the chief pleasure of the book is Watson’s wit and his nicely barbed observations on things like pretentious restaurants and other local foibles. It’s perhaps not one of his very best; the plot is decent but borrows some key ideas from Dorothy L. Sayers’s Busman’s Honeymoon and the sharpness of the observation isn’t quite what it sometimes has been, but it’s still a very enjoyable read. I’m very sorry to have come to the end of this series – it has been a delightful find for me and I can recommend all of them very warmly.

(My thanks to Farrago for an ARC via NetGalley.)

I love Colin Watson's Flaxborough adventures. In this one appears all the normal characters including Miss Teatime and a new character who Just is a hoot. The wonderful red herring right up front which lead to the wonderful tale that followed. The characters are always described in the most interesting way and the plot is always well thought out. One thing I will say, the wives in this story put up with rather too much!

After the last couple of books in this series slowed down a bit, this one picks up again especially with the return of Miss Lucy Teatime whose fragrant exterior hides a nice line in expletives, a penchant for fine whisky and a fertile brain for schemes and scams. Watson's eye is sharp, his pen even sharper - a witty skewering of Middle England pretensions and the cosy crime genre.

So farewell, then, to Flaxborough, or rather Mumblesby, in this ultimate outing for Inspector Purbright, Chief Constable Chubb and Sergeant Love.

Antiques and adultery feature largely in this comic mystery arising from the death of a local solicitor whose house apparently provides a home for a piece of the True Cross.

Why was “Rich Dick” Loughbury’s widow locked in the bathroom on the day of his funeral and a fire set in the house? Why, later, is its gable end knocked down? Where does the suicide of farmer’s wife Bernadette Croll fit in?

Some of these questions are answered…Does anyone ever really know what Lucilla Teatime is up to? Others are left, intriguingly, to the reader’s imagination.

Most crimes involve sex and money, Cupid and cupidity, and this proves no different. The solution is, however, very ingenious.

Fans of Colin Watson will love the storyline and be downcast that it was the last of the Chronicles.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrago for the digital ARC.