Helpful Score: 4
Sarah Caudwell died in 2000 and only wrote four books featuring Hiliary Tamar, Oxford Don, of ambigious gender. Caudwell was an English barrister and novelist. The four novels feature a group of junior members of the Chancery Bar in London, in addition to Tamar: Julia Larwood, Selena Jardine, Desmond Ragwort, Michael Cantrip, and Timothy Shepherd. The novels are told in the first person by Tamar, to whom Cockburn refused to assign a definitive gender. Typically, one of the lawyers is sent away on business and Tamar acts as a virtual consultant, solving the crime via a knowledge of arcane English law and a capacity to combine the small details of the case in a way that reveals the truth. If you like British cozies and \"arcane English law\", here\'s your cup of tea.
Helpful Score: 3
Sarah Caudwell's Hilary Tamar (not once in a single book can we figure out if Hilary is male or female--YOU try that!) mysteries are wild, wacky, well-plotted--nothing short of wonderful! Only Ruth Dudley Edwards comes close.
Melanie S. (tolkienesque) reviewed The Shortest Way to Hades (Hilary Tamar, Bk 2) on + 2 more book reviews
I love Sarah Caudwell--I only wish she could have written more. A good mystery PLUS really fun, entertaining, and complex language.
Witty mystery.
