Written by British born Australian writer Maggie Joel, The Second-Last Woman in England is a novel centred on class, snobbery and hypocrisy in post war England as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth looms. It was published in 2010.
Unusually, the prologue reveals that as the royal family emerged onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace, wealthy Harriet Wallis fired six bullets into her husband Cecil. Two struck his heart and he died instantly. Thus, Mrs Wallis became the second last woman to be hanged in England,
What the prologue did not reveal was Harriet’s motive, the fact that she had killed before, and that Cecil had stared down the barrel of the same gun just minutes earlier, held by another member of the household. I loved the book and it received very good reviews. I cannot agree with this rare, one star rating on Goodreads.
Galloping though the book would risk missing gems like this;
‘Julius had a couple of his school chums here – Alistair, and a boy called Pemberton, whose father was in tinned mackerel…’
Or an exchange between Harriet and Cecil on Christmas morning after a gold snuffbox was unwrapped;
Harriet – Never mind that. It’s from the Carsons. We didn’t send anything to the Carsons this year.’
‘Didn’t we? Why on earth not?’
‘They’re in Egypt. Besides, we sent them something last year – toiletries I think – and they didn’t send us anything.’
‘I see. So next year we send them something because they sent us something this year, but they don’t send us anything as we didn’t send them anything?’
‘Yes.,,,Would you believe the Park-Crichtons only sent us a card? A rather cheap one at that.’
END-GAME
At one point the murder victim is trying to solve the final clue in the Times crossword puzzle.
‘A gamble on some sunshine is treacherous’ – seven letters, ending with ‘s’. The clue would have made a perfect alternative title to the novel, because the answer forms the core of the entire story.
So what was the seven letter answer to the clue? Gamble – Bet Sunshine- Rays….BETRAYS!
There were so many betrayals, including that of Mother Nature, who delivered rain instead of sunshine on Coronation day.
Waiting in the rain for the Coronation Procession.
Harriet and Cecil Wallis were not standing in the rain. The couple were at home with family and friends, drinking champagne delivered by Harrods. and about to eat a crab souffle. They were watching proceedings on a television set purchased for the occasion from Peter Jones of Sloane Square when the shocking crime occurred.
Contrary to that one-star reviewer, the plot reveal in the prologue did not reduce the suspense for me one iota.
By the way, one betrayal I did not see coming was the most shocking of all.
NOTE – As I was writing this review I googled The Second-Last Woman in England. This is what came up from Microsoft’s Copilot.
Oh dear, the perils of AI. Mind you, it says much for Joel’s writing, particularly a sense of place, that two reviewers said they too thought the novel was based on a real murder.
FOR OTHER BOOKS BY MAGGIE JOEL, CLICK HERE.
