The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann
What's It About?
A quirky group of seniors attempts to solve one murder while covering up another.The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp was published in 2020 in the original German as Mord (Murder) in Sunset Hall, written by former resident of Munich and Berlin Leonie Swann who now resides in the presumably corpse strewn English countryside. This brilliant writer uses a pseudonym for her genre defying original cozy mysteries featuring memorably quirky characters. She works closely with her English language translator Amy Bojang who adroitly softens her Germanic Bauhaus edges and rearranges those pesky pile-ups of verbs at the end of sentences.
While studying for a doctorate in English Literature, the author was inspired to dash off a debut novel, Three Bags Full: a Sheep Detective Story about talking sheep that solve the death of their shepherd. In short order, she found an agent who triggered a bidding war with several publishers and when released in Germany in 2005 became an international best-seller. It has since been published in over 30 languages and spawned a sequel. The doctorate remains on hold.
Hold on to your hats and prepare to be blown away by The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp. Many decades ago, two sets of identical twins were born in the quiet English village of Duck End. They were Agnes and Alice Sharp who grew up in a large and comfortable home with a pleasant garden and a beautiful, large apple tree perfect for climbing and hiding from their smarmy stepfather Titus Coldwell.
When they were about nine years old he came to an unanticipated end one afternoon when a heavy sledgehammer mysteriously dropped from the tree onto his head. A few hours later when his body was discovered by their distraught mother the tool had vanished. The crime remains unsolved all these years later.
The other twins, the same age as Agnes and Alice, were named Mildred and Isobel Puck. They were local landed gentry whose parents lived down a tree-lined lane on an estate with a rather grand manor house, impeccably groomed gardens and a full retinue of servants including a chauffeur.
The number of staff decreased over the years but still included a driver. No one can recall why the four girls had a falling out sometime in early childhood and seldom spoke. Mildred was an invalid who never fully recovered from a massive stroke and Alice (Agnes thought) had simply disappeared one day.
PREPARE TO BE BLOWN AWAY
The novel begins with an eventful morning for the residents of Sunset Hall. The house had been nameless until some local wags erected a crudely painted sign outside their front door derisively proclaiming “Sunset” to mock the household of unrelated senior citizens. Instead, the residents embraced the suggestion and commissioned a nicer sign. Agnes Sharp, age 78 or 87, depending on the time of day and the severity of her tinnitus, had reached the sensible conclusion several years ago she would “not go gentle into that good night.” The family home was solely hers and about five years ago, she invited several old acquaintances to become housemates instead of being trundled off by well-meaning relatives or forced by infirmities into an “assisted living facility”.
Duck End’s overpriced Lime Tree Court actively seeks out local seniors, particularly those with desirable homes to sell. It offers supervised care but few benefits. Their patients are akin to inmates, subdued by overmedication, subsisting on bland diets and no alcohol. Days are filled with kindergarten styled craft activities and the background hum of television.
The Sunset Hall folk would be likely to start a revolution if forced into housing there. They wish to choose how they live and eventually will die: with dignity. Perhaps, they already have by setting an example of alternative living. Some of the villagers erroneously regard them as aging hippies living in a commune and speculate about the activities that go on there.
The residents are all elderly and rather eccentric. Author Leonie Swann doesn’t provide specific ages, clear physical descriptions or surnames nor does she inform the readers what professions these seniors had before retiring with pensions or which ones were married and if they have families.
One is able to surmise they all were somehow involved in intelligence operations with either the police, the SOE, the military or MI5. They all harbor some dark secrets about their past professions and most if not all had been trained as marksmen. They have their own rooms plus the common areas, share household expenses, take turns cooking and employ a cleaner. There are house rules and any issues are addressed in weekly group meetings.
A FUN UPLIFTING STORY
In addition to homeowner Agnes, there is Winston who is mentally sharp but has mobility issues. Marshall worries about memory gaps but is computer savvy and is in charge of placing grocery, sundries and restaurant delivery orders. He dons a well-maintained dress uniform and a vast array of medals when attending functions. Bernadette is blind but quite capable in other ways.
Edwina practices yoga for many hours daily and is extremely fit. Her slight vagueness is attributed to the torture she withstood when captured behind enemy lines. Edwina helps with gardening and is the primary caretaker for Hettie, a large box tortoise. Hettie is a fully participating character in The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp. This sentient being doesn’t speak but one can read her thoughts which often consist of “shoes”, “hands offering lettuce” and the like. Lillith Wright’s passion had been gardening, flowering plants, food and fruit.
Lillith was dead in the shed with a bullet through her head. On this unusually busy morning, however, the more pressing issue for Agnes is getting the stairlift repaired so wheelchair bound Winston can descend for meals. It’s awkward to have him sitting at the top of the stairs with trays brought up.
A vehicle pulls up to the house and out sweeps Charlie, the newest boarder, whom they had temporarily forgotten about. She is a still lovely, flamboyantly dressed individual who breezes in, her doting adult grandson trailing behind with many suitcases, accompanied by a very large, quite hairy wolfhound named Brexit who will also be joining the household. She quickly offers to teach Edwina Tai Chi and suggests hosting an Indian meal to celebrate her arrival.
Not long after, Marshall’s pudgy young grandson Nathan is dropped off. His parents are warring and Marshall’s daughter impulsively decided the child would benefit from a visit to grandpapa. Nathan is about ten, obsessed with transformers, nutella and sweets and disappointed at the lack of television and video games but is willing to make the best of it.
AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT
The stairlift is repaired. Before they can sort out the problem of Lillith, the local police arrive with the news that a neighbor down the lane has been brutally murdered. This does come as a great surprise but gives these crafty seniors the opportunity to “discover” Lillith’s body and attribute her death to Mildred’s killer.
When a few days later, another woman is found dead in her home and the police determine they were all killed by the same antique weapon, they begin to fear someone is out to kill the village seniors. The hunt is on and their investigation begins. A fine romp ensues with many twists and turns!
The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp is an absolute delight. In an interview with Talia Tyndall of The Strand Magazine, Leonie Swann said, “One of my main concerns while dealing with my aged protagonists was that my characterization might be inadvertently cliché or patronizing. I wanted to show some of the challenges and pitfalls of physical and mental decline – and show them halfway realistically – without ever touching the dignity of the characters. Ultimately this is supposed to be a fun, uplifting story, not a tale of woe. It is about people coping, sticking together, a story about how you can be free and achieve things despite your limitations.”
Readers can rejoice as a second novel Miss Sharp Macht Urlaub has already been published in Germany and should be published in America sometime in 2024 with a tentative title of Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime.
About the author:
Leonie Swann grew up near Munich and earned degrees in philosophy, communications, and psychology from Munich University and the Munich School of Philosophy. Her debut novel, Three Bags Full, was published in 2005 and became an instant hit, leading the German bestseller charts for months. It has since been translated into twenty-six languages and won the prestigious Glauser Prize for crime fiction in the debut category, as well as the PETA Award. She has now published six books and lives and works in the English countryside near Cambridge.
