Review: The Case of The Undiscovered Corpse (Cambridge Fellows/Alasdair and Toby Mystery ) by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 4.5🌈

It’s wonderful to return to those fabulous Cambridge Dons Orlando Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart, now in their 70’s, still living happily together in Hyacinth Cottage, and teaching at their beloved St. Brides College.

It’s 1952 when a movie producer with an idea for a potentially new film script featuring comes calling for the pair in Cambridge. The script would feature a real life mystery that the couple was involved in decades ago at the Old Manor, the famed Stewart estate. The film would have Orlando and Jonty played by the enormously popular actors, Alasdair Hamilton and Toby Bowe, who just happen to be amateur sleuths themselves.

What follows is a fascinating, complicated story of multiple relationships, decades past family histories, and a murder that was never solved as the WW1 was the focus of everyone’s attention and energies.

It’s outstanding to see the lovely, intelligent and now deeply settled relationship that’s the combination of Orlando and Jonty in their 70’s. Still handsome, sparks flying, the joy of investigating and discovery making everything just sing.

Alasdair Hamilton and Toby Bowe are a bit of a splendid discovery for me. I hadn’t read their stories and will now backtrack and gather those up. They are a remarkable team and combining them together with the Cambridge Fellows makes this a double couples delight , that never flags but builds gently onto each other.

Plus we get to see the brilliant Dr Panasur and others too.

If you’re not familiar with either series, then yes, you’ll be at a loss here. For the settings, scenes , and many a dialogue are awash with memories from other stories and characters now long passed away.

But for those of us who love this couple, the series, and probably the other too, it’s a great story and mystery as well.

Charlie Cochrane being fabulous as always.

I’ve listed the 2 series and their novels below.

I’m highly recommending all.

Description:

Alasdair Hamilton and Toby Bowe are the darlings of post-war British cinema, playing Holmes and Watson onscreen and off. When they’re called on to portray their fellow amateur detectives-Orlando Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart-not only do they find distinct challenges in depicting real people, they also become embroiled in solving a century-old murder.

How did a body lie undiscovered so long in the Stewart family vaults, who’s been covering up the murder ever since and why was the victim killed in the first place?

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

The Case of the Undiscovered Corpse (An Alasdair and Toby and Cambridge Fellows Mystery)

Relates series:

Alasdair Hamilton and Toby Bowe novels:

◦ An Act of Detection

◦ The Case of the Grey Assassin

The Cambridge Fellows Mysteries -Orlando Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart series

✓ Lessons in Love (set November 1905)

✓ Lesson in Desire (set August 1906)

✓ Lessons in Discovery (set November 1906)

✓ Lessons in Power (set Spring 1907)

✓ Lessons in Temptation (set July 1907)

✓ Lessons in Seduction (set September 1907)

✓ Lessons in Trust Summer 1908

✓ Lessons for Suspicious Minds (set Summer 1909)

✓ Lessons for Idle Tongues (set Summer 1910)

✓ Lessons in Cracking the Deadly Code (set February 1911)

✓ Lessons in Playing a Murderous Tune (set summer 1911)

✓ Lessons in Following a Poisonous Trail  (set October 1911)

✓ Lessons in Solving the Wrong Problem (set spring 1912)

✓ Game of Chance (set 1916) – in the anthology Capital Crimes

✓ All Lessons Learned (set Spring 1919)

✓ Lessons for Sleeping Dogs  (set 1921)

✓ Lessons in Loving thy Murderous Neighbour. (set in 1922)

◦ Lessons in Chasing the Wild Goose (set in 1922)