When Sir Flyte Rascallian, Master of Hardwick College at Oxford, inherits a selection of paintings from his aunt they are of little interest to the art expert. One painting, however, is a possible Rembrandt. His acquaintance, Ambrose Nussknacker, is a museum curator who would like to have it evaluated. Flyte refuses and it is not long before a college porter finds him murdered. An inventory by the police fails to find the painting among Flyte’s collection. DI St. Just and his assistant Fear are in charge of the case, which becomes a hunt for a murderer and a missing painting. The search takes St. Just back to WWII. An interview with a former member of the Monuments Men reveals a connection between Flyte’s family and a missing Rembrandt during the war.

St. Just studied at Oxford before deciding on a career in law enforcement. During interviews with professors and a privileged American graduate student they have a tendency to talk down to him and brush him off until he surprises them with his own knowledge, often leaving them speechless. When the porter who found Flyte is murdered in a staged suicide, his fellow porters come forward. He had begun to question some of the things that he had observed on the night of the murder. What they share with St. Just confirms his suspicions and finally leads to an arrest. With a curator from a failing museum, a professor hoping to take Flyte’s position and a grad student hoping to possess the Rembrandt for his own reasons, G.M. Malliet keeps you guessing to the very end. I would like to thank NetGalley and Severn House for providing this book.

A seemingly nice master of a college is murdered. He downplayed the importance of a painting he'd inherited, declaring it worth little. Now it is missing. Inspector St. Just and Sgt Fear are on the case in Cambridge. I get so tickled by St. Just's thoughts that he dares not utter. And Fear's notes that record and editorialize. Both men are capable of "polite" responses with an edge that completely fly over the suspects' heads. Love it!

I didn’t realize this was the 6th book in the series, but it worked well as a stand alone book too. I certainly didn’t feel I was missing important details, however, I didn’t feel particularly strongly about any characters. Perhaps I would feel differently if I had the context of other books in the series.

This was an enjoyable read, and I enjoyed how it wove the history of English academia, art history, and WWII into the narrative. The many suspects kept me interested throughout, and it was fun to see how the story unfolded.

The narrator kept a good pace and was engaging.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #SevernHouse for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Arthur St Just is back and this case is regarding the death of Sir Flyte Rascallian , a Master at Cambridge University .
Sir Flyte has recently inherited some artwork and books from a relative .
Are the heirlooms worth as little as he is telling people or is he keeping the true value a secret?
This is an easy to read and enjoyable cosy mystery .
A fair paced read and I found the subject matter interesting .
Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House .

Death and the Old Master by GM Malliet is a St Just mystery. Sir Flyte had just heard from his aunt Beatrice, who was moving into care and needed his help packing. He could hardly imagine it. She’d always been so vital. When he was nearly ready to go she sent him to the attic for five paintings his uncle had especially wanted him to have. They were prepared for travel so he loaded them and left. Four were nothing special, one was. That was what caused all the trouble. And trouble it was but, he had outsmarted them. If cost him his life. And the life of another. All for nothing, as it turned out. Sir Flyte had won.

DCI Arthur St Just was used to awakening to the telephone, as was hist partner, Portia, a crime writer and professor. This one got messy, fast. St Just is a brilliant detective, and he talks to his partner, who is just as brilliant, although differently. He seems to know with whom to speak and which trails to follow. He is companionable, clever, and intelligent. The St Just character and the characters around him are well-written and real, with human problems, as well as crimes to solve. This is a good police procedural and it would take someone like St Just to solve the mystery. It is so worth the read.

I was invited to read Death and the Old Master by Severn House. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #SevernHouse #GMMalliet #DeathAndTheOldMaster

When murder strikes in the heart of Cambridge, St. Just and his trusty sidekick, Fear, are on the case in Death and the Old Master, the most recent release from G.M. Malliet. I love the character names (Sir Flyte Rascallian and Ambrose Nussknacker!!!) and the investigation into the art world. I try not to rush anything by the author (I also enjoy her Max Tudor series), so I took my time with this one. The murder was tricky to solve for me and kept me guessing. Loved it!

Death and the Old Master is book #6 in the St. Just Mystery series by G.M. Malliet.

This series is new to me but I was able to read it as a standalone. I appreciated the cast of characters at the beginning of the book. This book has interesting characters with unique names. It was a complex mystery that kept me guessing. I look forward to reading the earlier books while waiting for the next book.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Masterfully written murder mystery but wasn't what I expected.
The murder takes place early on in the story and the book is a police investigation from start to finish. I had hoped for more action.

Thank you Netgalley and Severn House for the ARC.

DCI St Just and the trusty DS Fear have a tricky one on their hands in this latest of the series that can easily and enjoyably be read as a standalone. Is it a Rembrandt? That's the question surrounding the painting that may or may not have led to the murder of the Cambridge master who just inherited it. Malliet turns a humorous eye on the Cambridge community and the art world all while wrapping in a twisty mystery. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good read that kept me guessing.

DCI St. Just and his sergeant, Fear, were called to Hardwick College, Cambridge. The Master of the House, Sir Flyte Rascallian was found murdered in his rooms. It also seemed that he was in possession of some paintings that he inherited from his aunt, one which might be valuable. As they begin to investigate, there are only a handful of people that knew about the painting and might kill to have it. Then when another murder occurs at the college, St. Just intensifies his search until all the facts point to the culprit.
Another quick paced cozy mystery in the St. Just series now set in a college location with all the infighting and oneupmanship of academia.
Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the opportunity to read this e-galley of "Death and the Old Master".

I've read and enjoyed G. M. Malliet's Max Tudor series, but I'm new to the St. Just series. This is a quick read in the Golden Age Mystery style, with quirky characters, a puzzling murder, and an endearing detective. I'll go back and read more from the beginning of this series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

St. Just and Fear are called in when the master at college is found dead in his study after inheriting some paintings. Fans of cozy mysteries should enjoy it.

I’m a huge fan of G.M. Malliet, who writes in a classic, golden age style, right down to the length of her novels. Like the masters of the genre who came before her, she keeps her books on the shorter side. With their sharp prose and quick but indelible characterizations, authors like Christie, Marsh, and Tey got their stories told in a much briefer manner than we are now accustomed to. I have a dear bookseller friend who insists that you should be able to settle in after dinner, say, and finish up your read that evening. That is indeed possible with a Malliet book. She shares the dry humor of her foremothers, as well as their clever way with a puzzle.

In this novel, her detective, Inspector St. Just, is called over to the Oxford University campus when the body of a professor is found murdered in his residence. His body was found by the porter (shades of Dorothy L. Sayers). The dead man, Sir Flyte Rascallian, was a world-renowned art historian with a particular expertise in Rembrandt. He’d recently helped an aged aunt clear out her home, and she’d pressed a package of small paintings on him, saying his uncle wanted him to have them.

Sir Flyte hadn’t looked at the paintings but when he does, among the amateur landscapes, he finds one that seems particularly engaging. The paintings disappear after his death, so the thought that this one painting might actually have been a lost Rembrandt enters the minds of the investigators.

In true golden age style, the pool of suspects is a small one: a particularly bitter and well-regarded women’s studies professor; her daughter, a recent Oxford drop out; a louche, wealthy American doing graduate studies in art history; and an acquaintance of everyone in the book, an art dealer who was helping the woman professor to assemble a show of women artists. There’s another death and while it seems certain the two must be connected, it’s far from clear just how they are.

St. Just and his second, Fear, solidly peel away secrets of all involved and unearth a connection to the Monuments Men of WWII, who rescued art stolen and hidden by the Nazis. This background plot line really takes a back seat to the personalities and complex relationships that are the foundation of the novel. Malliet’s way with prose, pacing and character make these books wonderful and intelligent reads. This is the kind of novel I can’t put down, and it’s also the kind I can finish in an evening, sad that it’s over and that I now must wait for the next book.

This british police procedural takes place at Cambridge University, featuring detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just. St Just is called in to investigate when renownef art expert and master of the College, Sir Flyte is murdered and the small dusty painting he recently inherited from his aunt is missing. Was it a Rembrandt and why was it kept in his Aunt and Uncles attic all these years? This was a gripping mystery with plenty of plot twists, eccentric characters, and a generous sprinkling of dry British humor.

I’ve always been a fan of G.M. Malliet’s writing, and Death and the Old Master reinforces why I enjoy her work so much. The atmosphere of a university campus is perfectly captured in this latest installment of the St. Just mysteries. This time, the murder victim is a Cambridge master (which, for U.S. readers, is somewhat similar to a dean), who specialized in Old Master artists, particularly Rembrandt.

When the master is found dead, DCI St. Just investigates whether his demise had something to do with the paintings he recently inherited or perhaps was rooted in good old academic jealousy. As a Cambridge graduate himself, St. Just doesn’t shy away from getting a bit snarky with the academic snobs he encounters, which adds a refreshing touch of humor to the investigation.

There’s no shortage of suspects in this mystery, which keeps you guessing as the story unfolds. Malliet also weaves in some fascinating facts about Rembrandt and the looted art from WWII, adding an intriguing historical element that art lovers will appreciate. As always, St. Just and his Detective Sergeant Fear are likeable and well-developed characters, with plenty of wit to keep things entertaining. And let’s not forget, Malliet has a lot of fun with character names throughout the series. Afterall, her murder victim is named Sir Flyte Rascallian.

If you’re new to the St. Just mysteries, I highly recommend starting from the beginning. This is one of those series that’s best enjoyed in order so you can fully appreciate the development of the characters and the world Malliet has created.

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for the ARC. Death and the Old Master will be released on November 5th, so there’s plenty of time to catch up on the series before this one drops!

procedural, due-diligence, local-law-enforcement, murder-investigation, university, england, sly-humor, author, secrets, lies, murders, art-theft, twisty, mystery*****

DCI St. Just, accompanied by DS Fear have acquired the murder investigation of College Master known as Flyty Rapscallion (I know I made it even funnier). The investigation is complicated by an inherited painting once stolen by the Germans and an unrecognized daughter. Along with a terrific story I was delighted to learn some interesting facts about Rembrandt's life.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Severn House via NetGalley. Thank you!
#StJustMysteriesBk6 Avail Nov 05, 2024

Cambridge dons, art experts and history, such a great mix creating an interesting twisty mystery. A very entertaining and gripping read, highly recommended.

I am a fan of G M Malliet's two different mystery series and was looking forward to her return of Cambridge detective Arthur St. Just. This traditional mystery was well worth the wait. DCI St. Just and his fiancée, Portia are looking forward to some quiet time in Cambridge and possible planning their wedding (if their schedules allow!). As in most mysteries a murder occurs, half the suspects have means and motives and there are red herrings aplenty. I particularly liked the way the author's understated style of writing deals with the sometimes small pettiness of college life in a renowned University. DI St. Just is a graduate of Cambridge and often treated with slight contempt as he interviews members of Hardwick College and he enjoys letting them know that he is their an academic equal. There is a satisfying conclusion, though for me the plot was not the most enjoyable aspect of the book. Although this novel can be read as a stand alone I highly recommend the previous books in the series.

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!

I'm a huge fan of G.M. Malliet and St. Just mysteries. This one is a twisty and complex story that bring us into the world of Cambridge colleges, dons, and of art experts
It's a story that mixes past and presente, ambitions, some nasty characters, and some people you would be happy to meet again as you want to know what will happen to them.
The mystery is solid, twisty, and the solution is revealed after a number of surprising twists.
A very entertaining and gripping mystery, highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine